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Alyssa Rooks
Dr. Trost
Feb. 3, 2023
Frédéric Bastiat Essay
Bastiat covers three main topics of government, law, and petition in his writings. As said in the “Government” video, Bastiat shows his opinion when he explains that the government is, “That great fiction” (“Government” essay video). I agree with him on this personal definition because the government will never make sense to me. Although the government is real, I do not feel as if it is fair, sometimes, and the government is scamming the citizens. I do think that people like to profit off others that do their labor. For example, a new website, Shein, has gained a ton of popularity over the past year because they have cute clothes that are very cheap. These underpaid workers that work in these big factories must go through harsh work every single day, so people can brag about their cute, cheap clothes; I think that this is a form of profiting off others, even if it is not direct. Bastiat also exposed his opinion of the government when he claimed, “In order to give, the government must first take” (“Government” essay video). I completely agree with him because the government does what it needs to be successful, instead of doing what is good for the citizens. The government has many secrets that few people know, but one thing everyone knows is that it is unfair. The government is supposedly here “…to cause justice and security to reign” (Frederic, 2011, p.107). This quote shows how the government needs to protect the citizens with their full effort. Nowadays, there is a lot of racial discrimination amongst citizens and social injustice is found everywhere. Personally, I do not think that the government has done their best to try and fix any part of it.
The video about “The Law” shows how the three main components of laws are, “Liberty. Equality. Fraternity” (“The Law” Essay video). I think that everyone has the liberty that the government has provided which is basically free will. Equality has gotten better over the centuries, but it is not fixed, at all. Fraternity deals with the aspect of brotherhood and sisterhood and I like to think of that as my friends and family. I think that these three words are similar because they deal with compliance and trust among others. Legal plunder is an important part of the “The Law” since Bastiat tells us that, “Legal plunder is in human greed and misconceived philanthropy” (“The Law” Essay video). Legal plunder is a very confusing concept to me because slaves can be legal, but an 18-year-old has the right to vote but cannot drive a rental car. There are many unjust and debatable laws, since a young adult has the right to have a role in the control of the government, but still cannot do simple things. The Law connects with the government, and we can see that when Bastiat claims, “Law is organized justice” (Frederic, 2011, p.62). The law is made from the opinions of few people which does not sit right with me. I think if everyone were having to follow a law, then everyone should have a say in it.
In the video containing the “Petition” essay, Bastiat talks about the unfairness of trade amongst foreign countries. I think that the blockade of imports would only cause more tension with foreign countries. All trade would have to be fair trade for it to work, obviously, but blocking it off completely would cause chaos. Other countries will not be provided the goods they need and will just keep growing more and more of what they already have. He explains how one should not take something for granted when he says, “If you urge that the light of the sun is a gratuitous gift of nature, and that to reject such gifts is to reject wealth itself under pretense of encouraging the means of acquiring it, we would cau- tion you against giving a death-blow to your own policy” (Frederic, 2011, p.230). I think he means that if one is willing to see the good in the bad, then they will find happiness wherever they go; if one sees the bad in everything, then they will not be happy or satisfied with anything. There is most likely a medium where everything is neutral, but neutral is not good enough for a lot of people. This shows that Bastiat really pushed for more people to see the bright side of things, so they could be happy with how little or how much they had.
Overall, Bastiat exposes the unfairness within liberty, the government, trade, and law. He shows how he thinks these are unequal and unfair in different ways to him specifically and to citizens. I, for the most part, agree with Bastiat because I do not think the laws and government have done the best job to protect us, since the government is a scam, and many laws are unjust. I am not very familiar with trade among foreign countries, so I do not have a valid opinion on that aspect that he wrote about. He covered many different topics in just those three writings which shows he was a good writer and had evidence to back up his way of thinking.
References
Bastiat Frédéric. (2011). Government. In The bastiat collection (pp. 95–107). essay, Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Bastiat Frédéric. (2011). The Law. In The bastiat collection (pp. 49–94). essay, Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Bastiat Frédéric. (2011). Petition of the Manufacturers of Candles, Waxlights, Lamps, Candlelights, Street Lamps, Snuffers, Extinguishers, and the Producers of Oil, Tallow, Resin, Alcohol, and, Generally, of Everything Connected with Lighting. In The bastiat collection (pp. 227–232). essay, Ludwig von Mises Institute.
I think you did a great job at expressing your opinion about Bastiat's ideas. I also think that you demonstrated a broad understanding of topics across all of Bastiat's pieces that we were assigned. You talked briefly about Shein and how it is an example of people getting taken advantage of for a supposedly "greater good". I think Shein justifies their terrible treatment of its employees by looking at the profits and the recognizability of their brand. I think that this was a great example of how the government can sometimes take advantage of certain people or groups or people and justify it by focusing on the greater good.
This idea that you pulled from Bastiat's writing is an idea that I find myself thinking about often. I wonder why we get to vote for the decision makers of our country, but we don't get to vote on the actual decision that they make. I just fear that when one or a few individuals are given such power, it becomes too easy to make a decision based on personal emotion as opposed to, like you said, what decision is best for the country as a whole. This makes me think how important it is to really do research on what politicians we are voting into office and be sure that we are picking the best option available to us.
I really enjoyed reading your opinion about Bastiat's ideas on fraternity. I liked how you spoke about liberty, equality, and fraternity as nearly being synonymous because they are all dealing with the trust between groups of people and individuals. This is something that I did not fully comprehend when reading Bastiat's writings, and you worded it very well. I agree with you that when I think of this, I think of my closest friends and family.
Overall, I think you did a really good job at summing up Bastiat's ideas and it is clear to me that you understood the material well. I think that one thing you could work on is formatting your essay a little better. I personally struggled with formatting within Hive, but the lecture video about it on canvas was very helpful. I really appreciate and respect your opinions regarding this topic.
Hi @alyssarooks , I enjoyed reading your insight on these weekly articles, the points you stated, and the many examples you gave. I completely agree with you concerning how the laws and government are not run well or properly established. Many legal issues in our society today are not considered fair for all parties. The quote you used,
stood out to me the most because we see so much of this in our society today. From politics to taxes, it seems that our government looks at what is best for the lawmakers first, then considers the effects on the people. And in some cases, it seems that the government does not even consider the effects their decisions have on other individuals. One example you gave that really stood out to me was the idea of unfairness when you referenced the company Shein. This company uses underpaid adults and even children for labor and exposes them to unacceptable work environments to make cute cheap clothes. I do not understand how this is not discussed more at the highest level of our government and how this company can still operate if they are paying unfair wages, using children for labor and has very poor working conditions. This is a perfect example of how the government has laws that go unenforced, while we have some people whose liberty is at stake. Another example you mentioned from the article was regarding the use of the term “plundering.” Your reference to today’s society still using underage workers being legal, and that 18-year-olds can vote, but neither of them can rent a car is ironic. We see again that lawmakers choose to enforce laws that take from society, but not ones that give. Your opinion and mine agree that the issues we face today are not unlike the issues Bastiat described in this article. We are still living in a society described in the 1800’s regarding some basic government and liberty applications. I really enjoyed reading your essay because your real-world examples point out how our government and laws have not changed much regarding justice and liberty for all.
Allyssa,
I enjoyed reading your feedback on the Bastiat writings over law and government. I agree that he does a great job establishing the importance of the law and what it should be used for. His petition to the candlemakers is a great satire that helped see some of other issues with law if not done correctly. I like how you brought up Shein in your discussion. Specifically when you said “These underpaid workers that work in these big factories must go through harsh work every single day, so people can brag about their cute, cheap clothes;”(Rooks, 2023). I have heard a lot of bad information about the Shein workplace. Additionally, as Americans I believe we should be supporting the communities around us and their stores. Buying from Shein is much cheaper, however, we probably should not support it. I also agree with your statement that the government is scamming citizens to a degree. A lot of information can be exchanged and twisted in the media and people are confused about the government's motive. This is very relatable to what Bastiat has to say about the government's purpose. The government should not have a purpose other than to serve the citizens and protect them. Through covid 19 we were able to see the Government's response to the threat. This caused many Americans to think more about how much power the government currently holds. This also allowed them to consider the possibility that the Government is keeping secrets from us. Politically, it seems as if the United States has never been more divided. It is hard not to see this as the governments doing. I disagree that the Government is a scam. You stated that Bastiat says: The Law connects with the government, and we can see that when Bastiat claims, “Law is organized justice” (Frederic, 2011, p.62)without the Government the world would be chaos. However, I agree the government holds too much power over the American citizens. This has been accomplished through the media and through large corporation involvement. I enjoyed that you brought up the bright outlook that Bastiat had when writing this. In today's culture it seems that people are very easy to take offense. Small issues have become large issues through mass collaboration. Bastiat's writing is a demonstration for how issues were more discussable when people did not take offense to everything. I agree with many of the points of your writing and enjoyed getting to hear your takeaways from his works. In regards to what you said about staying neutral, I disagree. People should have their opinions and should be open to discussing them with people. It is only beneficial if both parties listen to what the others say, have a strong basis, and have a reason for believing in such a way.