Please do yourself a favor and take the time to read Bastiat for the Ages , a great article which was brought to my attention by Wayne Schierbaum. Thanks for sharing this, Wayne.
Bastiat is an absolute favorite of mine. Why? Well, if for no other reason, he once famously described government in the following manner; "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else."
The article deals with the timelessness of things such as how governments and government bureaucrats regulate, dole out favors and otherwise act. It includes an economics lesson in analyzing the case of the "broken window" by following the "what is seen and what is not seen" methodology.
And it also contains an amusing but very much on point anecdote about why it's important to always be wary of "conventional wisdom" and the "ignoramuses" associated therewith. Then there are the issues surrounding the Anti-Corn Law League, protectionism and free trade. All in all, there are lots of good things to ponder about how things really work. And he wrote all this more than 160 years ago.
Give yourself a treat. Read the article and then reflect on his teachings. People are people.
Thanks. Bob.
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