The Candlemakers' Petition, Frédéric Bastiat

[thepiachu]

Reminds me of SOPA.

[CoombesKidd]

Is it me, or at 3:00 did Bastiat predict the multiplier effect argument? This guy was a century before his time

[gdbalck]

Would the day come when more people hear this than watch a single Lady Gaga video!!!

[weavermama]

I know it is quite an intellectual leap, but if the law of Karma ( perfect cause and effect) is presupposed, then it is impossible to commit a immoral deed while acting in one's own self interest. What Bastiat calls "ignorant greed" is truly a failure to see that right action and self preservation are inextricably tethered. In that sense, few are as ignorant corporatist/trade unionists/regulators and all other beneficiaries of legal plunder.

[weavermama]

Another way to understand the inherent flaws of mercantilism and state protectionism is to think about how we operate as individuals. We determine the goods and services for which we are particularly suited to produce, and we trade for those things which would be highly inefficient/laborious or even impossible to produce.

[sonofecthelion]

@weavermama That's a really good way of putting it. Indeed, protectionism in this "micro" sense actually exists in the form of lobbying for licences, regulation and other forms of anti-free market policy that interest groups and trade unions support so much. Just as we know the "petition" by the candlemakers is economic nonsense, as is protectionism, so too can we deduce that corporatist/trade unionist lobbying is also counter-productive.

[SirTenenbaum]

Bastiat is my hero!!!

[gabe8124]

now they are banning light bulbs!

[DKshad0w]

The answer is clear. We must destroy the sun.

[carcabe]

Bastiat is as fresh and relevant today as he was over 150 years ago.

[CytherLynx]

[T]here developed in Western Europe two great political ideologies … one was liberalism, the party of hope, of radicalism, of liberty, of the Industrial Revolution, of progress, of humanity; the other was conservatism, the party of reaction, the party that longed to restore the hierarchy, statism, theocracy, serfdom, and class exploitation of the Old Order…. Political ideologies were polarized, with liberalism on the extreme "left," and conservatism on the extreme "right,"

-Rothbard

[cartmanfan0316]

I wonder if Paul Krugman ever heard about Bastiat?

[sonofecthelion]

@cartmanfan0316 I doubt it. It's far too sophisticated and it deals with economic intricacies that would blow his simplistic "Borrow and spend more!" philosophy apart.

[magicalhats15]

I read Economic Sophisms and That which is seen and that which is not seen after i took an economics class last year. I learned more from those two books than from the class, I think, though I wouldn't have understood them as well without having taken the class.

Also, as a side note, the speaker of this video has a good voice = D

[Bastiat00]

What a master!!!! It should be required reading in our schools

[ftorresgamez]

Bastiat is truly a towering intellect. It was unfortunate he had a relatively short life, but he is still one of the greatest thinkers of the XIX Century. No economist worth his salt can simply be without reading Bastiat's "That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen."

it is a shame that the country that gave birth to this man is now under the spell of socialists and fascists, the very same people that Bastiat debunked in his time so elegantly.

[sonofecthelion]

I think you're exactly right with what you say there. The French model these days is one of a tightly-controlled economy, rampant and illiberal unions and an inefficient welfare state propped up by heavy taxes.

[ftorresgamez]

That is why I feel so bad for the French nation, because some of the most important and talented economists and philosophers that espoused freedom and markets were French nationals. Unfortunately, people there were swoon by charlatans and shysters that made them promises of plenty by raping the pocketbooks of others. Same has been happening in the US for years, and the same happens in my country (Mexico) since the 1910 revolution. it is a shame.

[kevinz1985]

Le formidable Bastiat !

[AggieAssassin]

lmao, Bastiat was the man.

[sonofecthelion]

He sure was. Many countries today would be much poorer had they not listened to him and others like him.

[LibertyCola]

hot

[RokonFan1988]

5 stars!!!

[sonofecthelion]

It's true, he really was. I have never yet met a socialist or protectionist who can deny that the 'logic' they use to justify protectionism for one good can also be used for the sun.

[johnebii]

so great!

[AzraelsJudgement]

Smart man

[AJTalkingAnarchism]

Very

[FistsoFuckinFreedom]

Did you just reply to yourself?

[AzraelsJudgement]

LOL yes just to add comments here

[sonofecthelion]

Please feel free to comment and rate.