Bastiat's The Law Paperback – 23 Oct. 2013

Quite possibly one of the most insightful books ever written, although it is more of an expanded essay than book. In less than 100 pages Bastiat provides a compelling case for what the law should be and what it has become, and summarises the core principles of libertarianism in a way which has seldom been matched by much longer works and never bettered.Bastiat considered the law to be the collective defence of life, liberty and property, nothing more, nothing less. He considered that individuals had a right to protect their life, liberty and property, including by use of force. He posited that that contrary to the assumption that people are granted rights to life, liberty and property by the law, it was rather that life, liberty and property allowed the creation of laws. That is still a truly profound idea and one which challenges the almost universal belief in much of the Western world in particular. However although the law should only be concerned with protecting life, liberty and property, or as Bastiat puts it, justice, it ends up undermining justice when it is used to promote plunder and false philanthropy. Once the law exploits it's unique position of legitimacy and call on obedience to promote various "progressive" ideals such as wealth redistribution and attempts to improve mankind then the engine of justice becomes an engine of oppression. Bastiat contrasted societal and state attitudes towards non-legal plunder such as criminal theft with those to legalised plunder (i.e. taxes, monopolies and tariffs), he considered both to be plunder.One of the most powerful sections of the book is his complete destruction of the conceit of ruling classes who venerate state plunder to improve the lot of people whilst simultaneously seeing those they rule as nothing more than live stock, inanimate beings not possessed of sound judgement or thought. This patronising attitude of those who take it upon themselves to rule towards those they rule has not changed since Bastiat's time.Bastiat saw three possible outcomes for society:-the few plunder everybody (such as traditional monarchies)-everybody plunders everybody (i.e. socialism, the modern state)-nobody plunders anybodyBastiat favoured a state in which there was no plunder but we live in a world which proves the truth of Bastiat's pithy observation that "the state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else". Writing in the first half of the 19th Century it is almost as if Bastiat could see into the 20th Century, the expansion of the state and its associated legal plunder, false philanthropy and abuse of the law leading to injustice and worse, like I say he basically synthesised the entire basis of libertarian ideals in under 100 pages and did in a very readable, accessible way. Despite the age of the book it is very easy to read.Some may disagree with Bastiat's ideas and values, but I would challenge anybody to read this book and not find many elemental truths.

Although a product of the relatively "dry" subject of political theory, this is one of the very best books I have ever read. Although it was written over 150 years ago, it is incredibly relevant today. Bastiat builds a perfect argument against socialist economic policies, clearly (and in quite simple language, despite the age of the document) explaining how taking from one man and giving to another is nothing more than "legal plunder". Although this book didn't change my view of how the world works, it certainly clarified things for me. An excellent beginning point for anyone trying to get to the root of our problems today.

This is the definitive book on minarchism: the philosophy that government should be limited only to justice. That is, providing laws, a court system, police and national defence.Written in a zippy style, Bastiat makes a passionate deontological argument for liberty, relying on moral principles that it is wrong for legislators to impose their arbitrary and subjective ideas upon others, and to plunder their resources to finance said ideas. This avoids the weakness of utilitarianism, where classical liberalism was initially the way to maximise happiness for the most number of people, but predictably social engineering schemes wormed their way in, justified along the same lines.Bastiat makes a compelling (if mildly repetitive) claim that since we have the right to individual self defence, justice is simply the collective manifestation of that individual right, and as such the system of collective justice shouldn't be able to do anything we can't do as individuals. Once you concede this premise, for whatever special interest, arbitrary power has been created and things spiral out of control from there.

You can perhaps tell this was written in the days of the quill rather than the word processor, but in "The Law" Bastiat produces one of the early push-backs against rampant statism. It's an easy and worthwhile read. A quote from the book which neatly encapsulates it:" This question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it:1 -- The few plunder the many.2 -- Everybody plunders everybody.3 -- Nobody plunders anybody. "Seems clear enough to me and in pamphlet form it is neither expensive nor time-consuming.

Amazing buy for my teen - such thought provoking, moving, frustrating points raised. I’m reading it myself as the contents seem enthralling - really worth the time

This is the best book of all time it is a cross political, sociological,psychological,philosophical and legal narrative in its best. Human rights lawyers sociologists and polititians must read this book. It is an indictment of all systems of governance ever used in human kind since ice age.

A book for everyone's library. I found it a tad strange to read due to the older language and translation, but I got the message. Plunder is plunder, it doesn't matter if one person does it or one million. This isn't a very polished version of the book, but I don't think it needs to be.

So brief, yet so full of substance. So old, yet so relevant and predictive of the future. So many of his predictions and accusations against socialism and its proponents have come true.