Dakota Beacon

Representative Rick Becker recently made a noble attempt to seek the gubernatorial nomination for the Republican Party. Although unsuccessful in his bid, he did make a lasting impression in the North Dakota House representing District 7.

Representative Becker gained a reputation as a fiscal hawk and civil libertarian. During his first term in the 2013 legislative session Becker formed the Bastiat Caucus named for the French economist, statesman and writer Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850). The caucus eventually expanded to several dozen House members.

Becker’s influence in the North Dakota legislature was felt as he advocated the views of Bastiat. The effect was to organize a conservative bloc on key issues. During the 2015 legislative session Becker was acknowledged as the most conservative legislator.

Bastiat’s greatest contribution to economics lay not in numbers, charts and graphs but in his clear and witty explanation of economic truths. As a contemporary and polar opposite of Karl Marx, he expressed these truths so plainly and concisely they cannot be disregarded. Beyond question he polarized free market thinking in is day and continues his influence down to our time. The words he wrote in his famous essay, “The Law” (75 pages), published in 1850 could easily have been written today.

Since Bastiat’s essay critiques the general proposition of law, his view on the complete perversion of the law becomes key. He cites two causes. The first is greed. The second is false philanthropy, i.e., giving away the wealth and property of others.

Greed is a fatal tendency of mankind which, when codified, perverts the law. Everyone enjoys the aspirations of self-preservation and self-development. This includes the unrestricted use of his faculties and the free disposition of the fruits of his labor. Upon this observation Bastiat builds a shrewd concept. “But there is also another tendency that is common among people. When they can, they wish to live and prosper at the expense of others....This fatal desire has its origin in the very nature of man – in that primitive, universal, and insuppressible instinct that impels him to satisfy his desires with the least possible pain.”

Bastiat builds toward a prominent point and exclaims that, “Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor, by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property.

      “But it is also true that man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.”

Stone upon verbal stone Bastiat builds the solid edifice of his argument. “But, generally, the law is made by one man or one class of men. And since law cannot operate without the sanction and support of a dominating force, this force must be entrusted to those who make the laws.

        “This fact, combined with the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort, explains the almost universal perversion of the law. ...(L)aw, instead of checking injustice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. ...(T)he law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds.”

In the end, those on the left confuse such terms as the distinction between government and society. “As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all.”

Bastiat concludes with a plea for liberty. “And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty.”

Frederic Bastiat reached down through the corridors of time to influence great economists including the thinking of Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.

Bastiat’s essays may not be found in schools and libraries, but they are readily available on web sites or may be ordered by internet. Kindle and Nook versions are also available.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).