Is Liberty at the Point of Extinction?

Frederic Bastiat is an heroic person in history in that he was one of the lone voices crying out against socialism in 1800. He was a French economist, statesman and author who wrote just before and after the Revolution of February 1848, a period when France was rapidly turning to complete socialism. "As a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bastiat was studying and explaining each socialist fallacy as it appeared. And he explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. But most of his countrymen chose to ignore his logic" (Intro to The Law by Frederic Bastiat).

I muse about Mr. Bastiat's writing in connection to:

• Mr. Obama's writings (see blog of 24 October) and ideas ("we're spreading the wealth" uttered on the campaign trail to Mr. Joe The Plumber, recently).
• The bailout of brokerage firms
• The possible "bailing out" of home mortgage owners who have defaulted
• The most recent nationalization of our top 10 banks
• The talk of nationalizing the Insurance Industry
• Government run: schools, health care, retirement, parks, welfare etc. etc. etc.

This compact book "The Law" was reprinted in the United States in 1950 at a time when "The same socialist-communist ideas and plans that were then adopted (in 1848) in France are now sweeping America." Here are some quotes from a defender of liberty, a rare species today.

"It is not true that the legislator has absolute power over our persons and property. The existence of persons and property preceded the existence of the legislator, and his function is only to guarantee their safety.

"It is not true that the function of law is to regulate our consciences, our ideas, our wills, our education our opinions, our work, our trade, our talents, or the pleasures. The function of law is to protect the free exercise of these rights, and to prevent any person from interfering with the free exercise of these same rights by any other person."

..."Law is solely the organization of the individual right of self-defense which existed before law was formalized. Law is justice."

Next, Bastiat explains what law (government) should not do.

The mission of the law is NOT to oppress persons and plunder them of their property...It's mission is to protect persons and property.

...The law is justice - simple and clear, precise and bounded...If you exceed the proper limit - if you attempt to make the law religious, fraternal equalizing, philanthropic, industrial literary, or artistic - you will then be lost in an uncharted territory, in vagueness and uncertainty, in a forced utopia or, even worse, in a multitude of utopias, each striving to seize the law and impose it upon you. This is true because fraternity and philanthropy, unlike justice, do not have precise limits. Once started, where will you stop? And where will the law stop itself?

THIS IS A QUESTION WE SHOULD ALL ASK OURSELVES. Of course that's if you remember what liberty is...