The Law by Frédéric Bastiat

"The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat is an essay written in 1850. Bastiat argues that government's only legitimate purpose is to protect natural rights—life, liberty, and property. He warns that law becomes perverted when used to plunder citizens rather than defend them. The work examines how governments overstep their bounds, turning legal systems into tools of exploitation. Bastiat critiques socialism, tariffs, and slavery as forms of "legal plunder" that violate individual rights while claiming moral authority. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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Author Bastiat, Frédéric, 1801-1850
Uniform Title La loi. English
Title The Law
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Law_(Bastiat_book)
Credits Produced by David Widger from page scans generously provided
by the Google Books Project, with a Creative Commons license
granted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama
Reading Level Reading ease score: 56.3 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.
Language English
LoC Class K: Law in general, Comparative and uniform law, Jurisprudence
Subject Property
Subject Law -- Philosophy
Subject Justice, Administration of
Subject Law and socialism
Subject Socialism and liberty
Category Text
EBook-No. 44800
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Oct 24, 2024
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
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