The Law

The Law is a name that doesnt turn a person on to read this book. The book itself is a reflection of our present day culture that is in need of a renewal of the values that this nation once held dear. As a young man I heard men that I looked up to say things like the lord willing we will have a good crop . These were men who were not church going people but the culture praised hard work,truth,and generally values that dealt with having good character. Women were respected and children protected from bad language and men had honor. The present generation and the ones that came before have been on a slow downward path that this man MR. Bastiat is warning his nation France about . Our nation was the greatest nation ever to bring a people to real freedom but we have lost it to the desire for free stuff and we no longer have a love for the things we create with the work of our hands. If the culture will return to the founders values there is hope. I am 73 and dont think it will happen in my life time, but could if The Law written by Frederic Bastiat were to be in braced by the home ,the church, and the government there would be hope.

I listened to the Audible version x 3 and couldnt get over how 170 year old essay felt totally contemporary. It talks about failing public schools, banksters extracting dividends from governmental connections, protective taxes for the connected manufacturers, regulation as barrier to entry etc. Law can pervert to violent means of plunder and we witness this progression on nearly daily basis in present day USA. On top of that - great foreword by Thomas di Lorenzo, a treat in its own right.

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I can’t believe I had never heard of and wasn’t taught this in school! Bastiat (1801-1850) laid out and explained the most fundamental and vitally important concept, that the law is simply justice, just before his prediction came true, I.e. the French Revolution. The parallels with what is happening right now in America is truly eerie! It’s as if the goals and methods that Bastiat explained about his government are identical to our current government. Reading this was like watching the Wizard of Oz when the curtain was pulled back, revealing that poor man who thought he was doing what was best. I realized that the true power of America is in our individual liberty and that protecting our liberty is the only true purpose of the law.

This short book (about 55 pages) just confirms the old adage that some things never change. King Solomon wrote centuries ago that there is nothing new under the son while in other places it explains selfish self serving politicians cant be trusted. Still other scriptures explain, mankind is inherently selfish, self-serving motivated by greed, fame and fortune. I dont know if the author was a Christian as I have only made it to page 30 with highlighted sections on almost every page. But he was definitely a fan of the freedoms promised to Americans in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. How little did he know that the southern Democrats would start the US civil war that would prove where ever Socialists get elected into office, its just a matter of time before their elitest Jim Crow like laws will steal citizens liberty. Self serving corrupt politicians believe their intelligence is superior to their subjects and will say anything to convince the masses that with empty promises of equality their edicts will lead to prosperity. Instead it leads to insecurity, oppression, servitude and poverty of the masses. If you dont understand how or why the Socialist agenda always leads to a society of enslaved subjects this book will explain it in plain English. If only it was required reading for every American that was seeking a job at all levels of government and every branch of government. Maybe than Americans liberty would not be vanishing like a sunset over the horizon before your last breath on earth. The timeless truths of scripture of the sinful and corrupt nature of man governing with selfish desire and control were confirmed in biblical times. Again in the 1850s by this author and are today on every MSM news show around the globe. Godless men governing by pride, selfish control and desire seem to infect and destroy every country, and its peoples hope to survive tyranny from dictators around the globe. Sin is a heart condition that is only subdued by an intentional personal relationship with Jesus Christ as mankind learns to love others as themselves and seek what is right, true and honest for all of Gods creation. Partisan politics promoting class warfare, hate, violence, and the Socialist religions based on mans theories (evolution, class warfare, lawlessness, sexual promiscuity, population control, climate change, CRT, etc) in every country around the globe inevitably result in oppression, persecution, depression and death of the people at the hands of dictators and tyrants. Read this book and maybe youll begin to understand why the socialist agenda always creates this vicious cycle of hatred and oppression that kills every nation infected by these socialist poisons promoted to the people while protecting the selfish interests of the wealthy tyrants in charge. If Gods people will humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, God will hear their prayers and heal their land.

I first encountered and read this extraordinary book when an adult student taking a course in American history and the development of its Judeo-Christian legal system in the mid 1980s. The Law and the courses other required reading, The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, (W. Cleon Skousen, author) absolutely and dramatically changed my path as an American citizen. They provided me a core education in my nation and many aspects of world history that either had not been taught to me or had fallen on deaf ears. (I fear the former more true.) I understand that Civics as a required course for high school graduation is a subject long obsolete. In 2020, we may well reconsider what is required from those who teach our progeny. I cannot rightly offer an eloquent critique of The Law but to advise you to get it, read it (even with a good dictionary or thesarus at hand), keep a permanent copy, and give one to those who seek your vote. (For them, you may give pop quizes.

This book changed my view of the world, and my peers, and my expectations of life. A concept so simple and straight forward. Translated from early 1800s French, it can take a small adjustment to wording if you arent used to it. So amazingly far ahead of its time, you realize that none of the current political world is new. This has all been tried before...

It is unfortunate that society today has strayed so far from the principles of limited government and as a result we are slowly losing our liberty. The protection of our freedom is paramount in Bastiats call to arms(by casting ignorance aside)against those who would inflict socialisms shackles upon people. Such is the delusion today, one that seeks to spread the wealth while damning us all to support those with vested interests & entitlements. Bastiat states, Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. Law DOES NOT create justice. The role of law is to prevent injustice. Today, Bastiats words ring true, There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious. Our public education has an agenda and it seems to run counter to this book. All we have to do is look at the quality of the students education of today compared to those who were taught before public schools were fully implemented in this country. Sadly lacking to say the least considering the fact that our literacy rate is deplorable compared to the 1800s. Few Harvard graduates today could have entered the Harvard freshman class in the 1600s! *Harvard students then entered college at 16yrs. of age, graduating around 18 or 19! The college graduation requirements back then far exceed the requirements of today. THE LAW should be required reading in every college, unfortunately, due to the political intent of many a university this will probably not occur any time soon. We live in an interesting time, where, with the click of a mouse a question may be answered. Sadly the questions weighing heavily upon the minds of many of our youth lack the gravity of our current situation. More importantly, it shows ignorance or complete disregard for what our forefathers and so many others like Bastiat have established. People with complete lack of regard are enjoying the very fruits of their labor, while allowing the luxury of freedom to slip from our grasp. Bastiats THE LAW is a timeless read that can be easily digested in a day. I strongly recommend this translated edition by Dean Russell. Compare these two translations: Feb 6, 2009 edition from Seven Treasures Publications: Existence, faculties, assimilation - in other words, personality, liberty, property - this is man. It is of these three things that it may be said, apart from all the demagogue subtlety, that they are anterior and superior to all human legislation. Dean Russell translation: Life, faculties, production - in other words, individuality, liberty, property - this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it. Keeping a positive attitude he said, And now the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: may they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgement of faith in God and His works. If Bastiat were alive today he would shudder at what has become of his beloved homeland and stare in disbelief at what is becoming of ours. *TEACHING THE TRIVIUM by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn

What a simple and poignant essay on governments and politicians. This is an absolute must-read primer on government bodies and politicos constantly overstepping their bounds. In a world chock full of superficial and vapid political arguments spewed by mainstream media and propagated by indolent social media shares owing to humans natural predilection for inflammatory headlines and negativity in general, this book offers deep and simply stated insight into a theoretical manifesto of what a fair government should subscribe to. History repeats itself. Seemingly, its all its been doing in the annals of mankind. The similarites, nay the identical political atmospheres, drawn between now and Bastiats 19th century references of American and Europe should make any thinking citizen, of any country, motivated to understand what a country is and the role of its governing body. This book is not a bible. It is just an additional thinking voice in a world which has become diluted by inane debate and issues. Read this book and think with it.

Bastiat is a magnificent thinker and writer. His ideas about the role of law and law as the protection against plundering by some against others, and the perversion of law to aid the powerful at the expense of the less powerful, are timeless. He wrote around the time of the 1848 French Revolution and was personally in the thick of it as an elected official, and passionately interested in persuading his fellow countrymen not to pursue self-defeating economic policies such as trade tariffs, monopolies and misguided government “philanthropy” — all of which he argues — successfully in my view— to be unjust to society in general. His fear, he writes, is that the revolutionaries were itching to sock it to the people they saw as socking it to them, and in the process of doing so would repeat the same mistakes as the government they were ousting, and thus set the stage for the next revolution, ad infinitum.