The Law
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 in ever way to our own time, which is precisely why so many people credit this one essay for showing them the light of liberty. Bastiat's essay here is timeless because applies whenever and wherever 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 lead
Stats for nerds
17recommend
37mentions
24people
2008–2025years
68% recommend32% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Yeah, it has never been about saving the children, or fight terrorism. It has been about control and power. People should read more about Austrian economics / Mises, because despite what their preconceived thoughts may suggest, everyone who thinks this is a bad idea, will like what they will read on Mises' website.
Books like "Anatomy of the State" by Rothbard, "Basic Economics" by Sowell, "The Left, The Right, & The State" by L. H. Rockwell, Jr. or "Lessons for the Young Economist" by Bob Murphy are quite nice. Heck, I would even suggest "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat.
You do not have to read books however, you can check blog posts.
Website can be found here: https://mises.org. You are looking for "Wire" and "Beginners". Make sure to use the search functionality though, there are a lot of very specific subjects that are "irrelevant" to this case.
- Frederic Bastiat [0] is very underrated in my opinion.
John McWhorter, whom I admire very much as a person and a thinker.
[0] = The Law by Bastiat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gob_pa3BAU
- Try Bastiat, The Law.
About 75 pp. ca. 1850.
- >>>You risk allowing yourself to be ruled and abused by corrupt corporations
Absent Government there can be no corporations, Business sure, but business absent government looks very different
Corporations are fictional entities created by government regulations namely liability shields, to facilitate investment.
>As a citizen, you may have the power to vote out the ones that exist in governments
Reality says other wise, as a citizen my vote only carries the measure if there is a tie, there as never been a tie...
This mystical rose colored view of democracy does not match reality.
>You have zero power over who is employed at a corporation.
I would say my power to say who is employed at a corporation is about the same as my power to say who is in power in government, that is not even talking about who I have the option to vote for.
In my entire life I do not believe a Single person I have ever voted for as ever won the election... I do not vote for either Republicans or Democrats
>>I don't understand the willingness to subjugate yourself before powerful corporations
that is because you have confused my position. Allow me to restate it. I am not opposed to Government.. I am opposed to the type of government we have, I believe the constitution did not do enough to limit government.
Government should only be empowered to protect the individual rights. Specifically negative individual rights. Not "Human rights" which are often defined to include positive rights, things like Housing, Health Care, and all manner of other things the government must provide..
Government should not be the parent, the nanny, or the sovereign over the people. The type of government found in most of the "First World" is a complete inversion of what government should be, subservient to the people, not sovereign over them
Read The Law by Frederic Bastiat to glean an understanding of where I believe government regulations, and law should be at and how it should be limited
- I'm not sure why would you mention Ayn Rand in this context. Since you proposed some studying, here are a few books on the subject that I'd suggest to you:
Lysander Spooner, No Treason The Constitution of No Authority https://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2194/Spooner_1...
Frédéric Bastiat, The Law https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44800
Murray N. Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty https://mises.org/library/ethics-liberty
- "Breaking Open the Head", by Daniel Pinchbeck
"DMT: The Spirit Molecule", by Dr. Rick Strassman
"The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge", by Jeremy Narby
"The Law", by Frederic Bastiat
