From Chapter IX of The Bastiat Collection: Volume II : “Harmonies of Political Economy (Book Two)”. Pages 481-505 in the text. Narrated by Brannon King.
The Law applies in every way to our own time, which is precisely why so many people credit this one essay for showing them the light of liberty. Narrated by Floy Lilley.
A man (and the same thing may be said of a people) may procure the means of existence in two ways,—by creating them, or by stealing them. Each of these two great sources of acquisition presents a variety of methods. We may create the means of existence by the chase, by fishing, by agriculture, etc. We may steal them by breach of trust, by
The law perverted! How has this been accomplished? The right to assistance, the poor man’s plunder Partial and universal plunder Explaining plunder. Socialism confounds Government and society. Bossuet | Fenelon | Montesquieu | Rousseau | Raynal | Mably | Condillac | Saint-Just | Robespierre | Billaud Varennes | Lepelletier What sort of liberty
[From “That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen,” included in The Bastiat Collection .] “Neither industry in general, nor the sum total of national labor, is affected, whether windows are broken or not.” Have you ever witnessed the anger of the good shopkeeper, James B., when his careless son happened to break a square of glass? If you have
“When a farmer borrows fifty francs to buy a plow, it is not, in reality, the fifty francs which are lent to him, but the plow; and when a merchant borrows 20,000 francs to purchase a house, it is not the 20,000 francs which he owes, but the house. Money only appears for the sake of facilitating the arrangements between the parties.” In all times,
In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen . The others unfold in succession — they are not seen : it is well for us if they are foreseen . Between a
[Excerpt from chapter 3 of the Bastiat Collection .] I wish someone would offer a prize—not of a hundred francs, but of a million, with crowns, medals and ribbons—for a good, simple and intelligible definition of the word “Government.” What an immense service it would confer on society! The Government! What is it? Where is it? what does it do?
Un hombre (y lo mismo puede decirse de un pueblo) puede procurarse los medios de existencia de dos maneras —creándolos o robándolos. Cada una de estas dos grandes fuentes de adquisición presenta una variedad de métodos. Podemos crear los medios de existencia mediante la caza, la pesca, la agricultura, etc. Podemos robarlos mediante el abuso de
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.