false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185827392m/1609224.jpg 1609224 27 How is it that the law enforcer itself does not have to keep the law? How is it that the law permits the state to lawfully engage in actions which, if undertaken by individuals, would land them in jail? These are among the most intriguing issues in political and economic philosophy. More specifically, the problem of law that itself violates law is an insurmountable conundrum of all statist philosophies. The problem has never been discussed so profoundly and passionately as in this essay by Frederic Bastiat from 1850. The essay might have been written today. It applies to our own time. It applies in all times in which the state assumes unto itself different rules and different laws from that by which it expects other people to live. And so we have this legendary essay, written in a white heat against the leaders of 19th century France, the reading of which has shocked millions out of their toleration of despotism. This new edition from the Mises Institute revives a glorious translation that has been out of print for a hundred years, one that circulated in Britain in the generation that followed Bastiat s death. This newly available translation provides new insight into Bastiat s argument. The question that Bastiat deals with: how to tell when a law is unjust or when the law maker has become a source of law breaking? When the law becomes a means of plunder it has lost its character of genuine law. When the law enforcer is permitted to do with others lives and property what would be illegal if the citizens did them, the law becomes perverted. Bastiat doesn t avoid the difficult issues, such as why should we think that a democratic mandate can convert injustice to justice. He deals directly with the issue of the expanse of legislation: It is not true that the mission of the law is to regulate our consciences, our ideas, our will, our education, our sentiments, our works, our exchanges, our gifts, our enjoyments. Its mission is to prevent the rights of one from interfering with those of another, in any one of these things. Law, because it has force for its necessary sanction, can only have as its lawful domain the domain of force, which is justice. The Law by Frederic Bastiat - Ludwig von Mises Institute 2548001 1850 The Law total:378|5:229|4:98|3:41|2:8|1:2| 378 1678 536 82 5 2 false false Sat Feb 16 10:50:11 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 10:50:38 -0800 2008 2 1 false false Mon Sep 08 18:53:15 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 16:01:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1990 Thu Mar 13 08:11:02 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 08:20:54 -0700 2008
Socialists desire to practice legal plunder, not illegal plunder. Socialists, like all other monopolists, desire to make the law their own weapon. And when once the law is on the side of socialism, how can it be used agai...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jan 22 13:53:09 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 13:54:10 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Feb 22 12:21:19 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 12:21:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jan 18 20:20:52 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 20:20:58 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 1980 Fri Apr 10 14:45:56 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 08:56:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Feb 25 13:10:19 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 13:12:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 15 06:11:02 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 10:01:26 -0700 2009 Bastiat states that "The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense." He presents the argument that any...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 05:45:20 -0800 2007 Sat Feb 02 10:25:37 -0800 2008 This is one of the most important books you can read about the philosphy of self-governance and the reasons behind the corruption of self-governance.
Bastiat wrote of the problems of socialism in the mid 1850'...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Dec 14 21:30:51 -0800 2007 Sun Feb 17 21:31:07 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sat Jan 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 13:39:41 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 20:22:47 -0800 2009
I can't say I learned anything new, but this short work was worth the couple of hours it took me to read. His actual definition o...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Nov 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 19:57:47 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 19:59:47 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Jan 16 22:11:31 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 22:22:18 -0800 2009
Bastiat clearly and cleverly puts forth the funda...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 29 20:48:18 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 20:49:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun May 17 16:09:24 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 14:45:12 -0700 2009
The principles fo...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue May 06 13:20:31 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 16:05:56 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Sat Dec 29 18:34:40 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 18:35:53 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Thu Jul 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 00:21:53 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 24 00:33:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 26 22:39:01 -0700 2008 Sun Feb 01 21:03:20 -0800 2009 3
See, any time the law is used to make society into whatever the legislators want socie...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1609224