The Great Awakening-In God We Trust
Principle for a Free Socieity THE ESSENTIAL
The Essential Frédéric Bastiat
Compiled & Edited by SAUVIK CHAKRAVERTI
Columnist on contemporary economic issues.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
I have been studying Economics from 1974 - and I first got to hear of Frederic Bastiat in 1995! That too, from a dentist! He was an active and vocal participant at a seminar on liberty at the end of which I approached him to exchange pleasantries. On hearing of his occupation, I naturally asked the man as to what he had read that made him such a staunch advocate of liberty. His answer – Frederic Bastiat – left me cold; I had never heard of the man.
I then proceeded to get hold of Bastiat’s works. Upon going through three volumes, I came to a momentous conclusion: that economic journalism mattered. It was an economic journalist that had set fire the mind of a dentist. Convincing the masses of liberty, free trade and individual rights will require high-power economic journalism – something that Bastiat pioneered. It was the inspiration Bastiat provided that made me decide to take up economic journalism as a career.
In the late 1990s, I decided upon compiling a short “essential” Bastiat. The project first involved getting all his works in electronic form, selecting the best writings that expressed both the passion and the clarity of this great friend of liberty, and then editing them. The project proceeded slowly, for I had a regular job and was also busy with other writing work.
In the meantime, the International Policy Network of London announced that they were setting up an annual Frederic Bastiat prize for journalism – and I was lucky enough to be a winner in the first instance. I realized that Bastiat was gaining in popularity, and that it was high time I readied the volume I had embarked upon several years ago. It took another year to get this volume ready.
One reason why Bastiat remains outside Economics classrooms is that university professors do not accord much academic credit to the writings
of a man they consider a mere journalist and pamphleteer. I, on the other hand, believe that the freedom we Indians aspire for today requires more and more such journalists and pamphleteers, who can write simply, teasing the intellect, and exposing the dangerous fallacies in the arguments of statists, socialists and protectionists. Every journalist should read this book. After all, the professors of freedom have won their battles; it remains for journalists now to sell the idea of freedom amongst the people: to echo these simple ideas of natural liberty amongst our long suffering populace.
However, I do believe that this book will be enjoyed by every citizen concerned with citizenship. Bastiat had an unusual talent with words, with simple explanations, and the use of parables to get his points across. He wrote for the citizenry - especially the youth. He did not really direct his writings at academia. For this reason, his works can be thoroughly enjoyed by the layman.
Man survives only by engaging in economic activity - buying and selling. Thus, to be ignorant of the principles of political economy is suicidal for Man - because he can be easily duped into supporting the mad ideas of demagogues, megalomaniacs and the like: like 5-Year Plans. We as a nation have been woefully ignorant for far too long. Mercifully, ignorance is a curable disease. Towards that end, I have compiled these simple and entertaining essays of one of the greatest classical liberals that ever lived, and whose memory should never die. I hope the reader will not only be enlightened, but also find delight in the reading.
In liberty,
SAUVIK CHAKRAVERTI
NEW DELHI
January, 2006
PART ONE
BASTIAT: A TRUE BELIEVER IN THE HARMONY OF NATURAL LIBERTY IN GOD'S WORLD
In this section, Bastiat talks to the youth, patiently explaining how the science of political economy indicates that God did well by making Man, and if only Man were free, would everything be peaceful, prosperous and harmonious - as God had intended.
He begins by showing how, when men are driven by legitimate self-interest, harmony reigns, and there is prosperity, civility and virtue. He then shows how all statists, interventionists, protectionists and socialist planners actually hate mankind in its “natural order” and want to substitute it for an “artificial order” of their own design. Will mankind have to submit to all these “plans”, or is natural liberty the best solution to the “social problem”, since there is complete social harmony when met are motivated by their own interests? Bastiat makes a very strong – nay, water-tight – case for freedom.
Bastiat believed that this “economic harmony” is the work of God, who created Man the way he is – an economic being: homo economicus. Repeatedly asserting his faith in God, Bastiat proclaims: To believe in Liberty is to believe in God, and have faith in His creation: Man.
Compiled & Edited by SAUVIK CHAKRAVERTI
Columnist on contemporary economic issues.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
I have been studying Economics from 1974 - and I first got to hear of Frederic Bastiat in 1995! That too, from a dentist! He was an active and vocal participant at a seminar on liberty at the end of which I approached him to exchange pleasantries. On hearing of his occupation, I naturally asked the man as to what he had read that made him such a staunch advocate of liberty. His answer – Frederic Bastiat – left me cold; I had never heard of the man.
I then proceeded to get hold of Bastiat’s works. Upon going through three volumes, I came to a momentous conclusion: that economic journalism mattered. It was an economic journalist that had set fire the mind of a dentist. Convincing the masses of liberty, free trade and individual rights will require high-power economic journalism – something that Bastiat pioneered. It was the inspiration Bastiat provided that made me decide to take up economic journalism as a career.
In the late 1990s, I decided upon compiling a short “essential” Bastiat. The project first involved getting all his works in electronic form, selecting the best writings that expressed both the passion and the clarity of this great friend of liberty, and then editing them. The project proceeded slowly, for I had a regular job and was also busy with other writing work.
In the meantime, the International Policy Network of London announced that they were setting up an annual Frederic Bastiat prize for journalism – and I was lucky enough to be a winner in the first instance. I realized that Bastiat was gaining in popularity, and that it was high time I readied the volume I had embarked upon several years ago. It took another year to get this volume ready.
One reason why Bastiat remains outside Economics classrooms is that university professors do not accord much academic credit to the writings
of a man they consider a mere journalist and pamphleteer. I, on the other hand, believe that the freedom we Indians aspire for today requires more and more such journalists and pamphleteers, who can write simply, teasing the intellect, and exposing the dangerous fallacies in the arguments of statists, socialists and protectionists. Every journalist should read this book. After all, the professors of freedom have won their battles; it remains for journalists now to sell the idea of freedom amongst the people: to echo these simple ideas of natural liberty amongst our long suffering populace.
However, I do believe that this book will be enjoyed by every citizen concerned with citizenship. Bastiat had an unusual talent with words, with simple explanations, and the use of parables to get his points across. He wrote for the citizenry - especially the youth. He did not really direct his writings at academia. For this reason, his works can be thoroughly enjoyed by the layman.
Man survives only by engaging in economic activity - buying and selling. Thus, to be ignorant of the principles of political economy is suicidal for Man - because he can be easily duped into supporting the mad ideas of demagogues, megalomaniacs and the like: like 5-Year Plans. We as a nation have been woefully ignorant for far too long. Mercifully, ignorance is a curable disease. Towards that end, I have compiled these simple and entertaining essays of one of the greatest classical liberals that ever lived, and whose memory should never die. I hope the reader will not only be enlightened, but also find delight in the reading.
In liberty,
SAUVIK CHAKRAVERTI
NEW DELHI
January, 2006
PART ONE
BASTIAT: A TRUE BELIEVER IN THE HARMONY OF NATURAL LIBERTY IN GOD'S WORLD
In this section, Bastiat talks to the youth, patiently explaining how the science of political economy indicates that God did well by making Man, and if only Man were free, would everything be peaceful, prosperous and harmonious - as God had intended.
He begins by showing how, when men are driven by legitimate self-interest, harmony reigns, and there is prosperity, civility and virtue. He then shows how all statists, interventionists, protectionists and socialist planners actually hate mankind in its “natural order” and want to substitute it for an “artificial order” of their own design. Will mankind have to submit to all these “plans”, or is natural liberty the best solution to the “social problem”, since there is complete social harmony when met are motivated by their own interests? Bastiat makes a very strong – nay, water-tight – case for freedom.
Bastiat believed that this “economic harmony” is the work of God, who created Man the way he is – an economic being: homo economicus. Repeatedly asserting his faith in God, Bastiat proclaims: To believe in Liberty is to believe in God, and have faith in His creation: Man.
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