Frédéric Bastiat Reflection

Socialism is Plunder

Bastiat begins by highlighting the importance of the individual to defend their person, liberty, and property. He states that since individuals cannot use force to plunder, a government should not be able to either. According to Bastiat, socialism is plunder. Plunder is the act of consuming the labor of others. With the added power of the government under socialism, lawful plunder is going to happen. Lawful plundering is when the law permits plundering. Greed sometimes is the main motivator of lawful plundering. It's almost instinctual that mankind can satisfy its desires while doing the least amount of work. Bastiat believed that when the law is plundering, the people whose labor is being plundered will try to enter lawmaking. However, they will just plunder another group of people's things instead of fixing the root of the problem. I think thar this statement is far from the truth. People who have been in unjust situations do not want to carry on the injustice to another group of people. That just would not make sense. Bastiat is painting with a broad stroke brush and making a hasty generalization. However, I do not think that the government should be able to lawfully plunder in the first place. If you remove the ability to lawfully plunder, you remove the injustice that can take place.

Excessive Government Effects on Life

Bastiat brings up the point that the law is supposed to protect injustices from happening, not cause justice itself. When more laws are made to create justice, it removes the need for the individual to make their own decisions and use their intelligence. People should be motivated to make their own choices concerning their wellbeing and be motivated to work hard to earn money for themselves. Under socialism, the act of forcing justice removes the need for individual motivation.

Education

As said before, Bastiat believes that laws should protect injustices from happening instead of creating justice itself. He even has this view on education. The tone of the text is very patronizing. He views education as something that should not be forced upon a person but be a choice. He coins the term “artificial unity” which is what socialism causes. However, I disagree with this standpoint regarding education. Education is something that I believe should be easily accessible for everyone, regardless of economic class. I understand where he is coming though however, because he is focusing on the principle of being forced gather. However, if we leave the choice up to the children whether to go to school or not, they are not going to understand the importance of it. I think school is an example of something that should be mandatory. School is related to economic success, so therefore, we are giving people a better chance of moving up the economic ladder by going to school.

Suffrage

One critique I have about Bastiat is his view on suffrage and universal suffrage. He says that the right if suffrage depends on incapacity, and people are denied suffrage based on what the system deems as incapacity. He critiques the Greeks and Romans view of suffrage being a right granted at birth. He said under this belief, women and children would be granted the right to vote, and this would be disastrous for the community. He says that women and children are incapable of voting. They are incapable of voting because their votes affect the entire community. This view alludes that women and children do not have the mental capacity to think critically and understand how their actions affect others. This is partially true. While children’s brains are not fully developed, and they are often selfish by nature. With maturity, they begin to think more critically and make more sound decisions. On the other hand, adult women should have the right to vote because their brains are fully developed, and they are able to think critically. It would be absurd to discriminate the right of women's suffrage because they have the same developed brains as the males in society. This belief also contradicts Basiats previous argument: things should not be forced, and people should have a choice. Shouldn’t under this stance women have a right to choose whether they want to vote?

The Candlemakers’ Petition

The candlemakers petition makes a good point about competition and choice. The candlemakers want the people to be ordered to close all windows and anything that lets the sun into a building. This would raise the need for candles and artificial lighting and raise the candlemaker’s profits. How ever by using the sun, the commonfolk will have to spend less money overall. Bastiat wanted to compare this to tariffs that force the people to buy imported goods. Instead of forcing the commonfolk to spend their money on imported goods, it would be cheaper and more beneficial for all if they utilized the resources in their own country.