A classic, devastating (and short) critique of government interference in the affairs of mankind, and the corrupt nature of the role of the law in sustaining the status quo. The Law was first published in 1850. Because its truths are eternal, it continues to be read.
Bastiat did most of his writing at the time of the Revolution of February 1848, 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 explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. The same situation exists in America today, and Bastiat’s explanations and arguments against socialism are – word for word – equally valid today.