by KEVIN CZARZASTY
I was given a free copy of The Law at a Young Americans for Liberty conference a few years ago. I can surely say, my understanding not just of government, but of my actions and their consequences, hasn't been the same since. Frederic Bastiat changed me, for the better.
Few books capture the fundamental nature of
government so sharply. The book, less than 100 pages long, serves as
a moral framework for all believers in freedom.
Bastiat asserts that, one cannot justify the initiation of force on
another individual. This assertion is
the bottom line for libertarians.
However, Bastiat uses logic to take Libertarianism to the next step: If
an act is deemed immoral for an individual, it is also immoral for a group of
individuals to perform the same act. In
reaching this conclusion, Bastiat illustrates how collectivism is objectively,
inherently flawed.
Walter E. Williams sums up the impact of the book
it its foreward:
�After reading the book I was convinced that a liberal-arts
education without an encounter with Bastiat is incomplete. Reading Bastiat made me keenly aware of all
the time wasted, along with the frustrations of going down one blind alley
after another, organizing my philosophy of Life. The Law did not produce a philosophical
conversion for me as much as it created order in my thinking about liberty and
just human conduct.�
The Law can be a quick read on an airplane, a great
gift for a political thinker, or a tool for awakening almost anyone to the
ideas of freedom. Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Law-Frederic-Bastiat/dp/1614270570
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