What Is Law ?

(As written by Frederick Bastiat)

What, then, is law? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.

Each of us has a natural right--from God--to defend his person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but an extension of our faculties?

Life Is a Gift from God

We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life -- physical, intellectual, and moral life.

But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted us with the responsibility of preserving, developing, and perfecting it. In order that we may accomplish this, He has provided us with a collection of marvelous faculties. And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course.

Life, faculties, production--in other words, individuality, liberty, property -- this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it.

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.

What Is Law ?

What, then, is law? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.

Each of us has a natural right--from God--to defend his person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but an extension of our faculties?

If every person has the right to defend -- even by force -- his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right -- its reason for existing, its lawfulness -- is based on individual right. And the common force that protects this collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other mission than that for which it acts as a substitute. Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use force against the person, liberty, or property of another individual, then the common force -- for the same reason -- cannot lawfully be used to destroy the person, liberty, or property of individuals or groups.

Such a perversion of force would be, in both cases, contrary to our premise. Force has been given to us to defend our own individual rights. Who will dare to say that force has been given to us to destroy the equal rights of our brothers? Since no individual acting separately can lawfully use force to destroy the rights of others, does it not logically follow that the same principle also applies to the common force that is nothing more than the organized combination of the individual forces?

If this is true, then nothing can be more evident than this: The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all.

A Just and Enduring Government

If a nation were founded on this basis, it seems to me that order would prevail among the people, in thought as well as in deed. It seems to me that such a nation would have the most simple, easy to accept, economical, limited, nonoppressive, just, and enduring government imaginable -- whatever its political form might be.

Under such an administration, everyone would understand that he possessed all the privileges as well as all the responsibilities of his existence. No one would have any argument with government, provided that his person was respected, his labor was free, and the fruits of his labor were protected against all unjust attack. When successful, we would not have to thank the state for our success. And, conversely, when unsuccessful, we would no more think of blaming the state for our misfortune than would the farmers blame the state because of hail or frost. The state would be felt only by the invaluable blessings of safety provided by this concept of government.

It can be further stated that, thanks to the non- intervention of the state in private affairs, our wants and their satisfactions would develop themselves in a logical manner. We would not see poor families seeking literary instruction before they have bread. We would not see cities populated at the expense of rural districts, nor rural districts at the expense of cities. We would not see the great displacements of capital, labor, and population that are caused by legislative decisions.

The sources of our existence are made uncertain and precarious by these state-created displacements. And, furthermore, these acts burden the government with increased responsibilities.

The Complete Perversion of the Law

But, unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions. And when it has exceeded its proper functions, it has not done so merely in some inconsequential and debatable matters. The law has gone further than this; it has acted in direct opposition to its own purpose. The law has been used to destroy its own objective: It has been applied to annihilating the justice that it was supposed to maintain; to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense.

How has this perversion of the law been accomplished? And what have been the results?

The law has been perverted by the influence of two entirely different causes: stupid greed and false philanthropy. Let us speak of the first.

Oppressive Government

There is no entity that is more obnoxious than government. No entity kills more. No entity plunders more. No one entity violates more individual rights more often, with more impunity. And none spews more propaganda and lies. History proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Be it a monarchy, oligarchy, union of socialist republics, or a communist Nation-State like the people's republic of china, you can rest assured that a big powerful government will be the bane of Liberty every time. It has always been this way. Government must be checked. Bureaucrats must be resisted. They must be over-ruled. Thomas Jefferson once said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure".

Often people think that government corruption involves certain government employees (or elected officials) breaking the law, taking bribes, or wrongfully issuing special favors to select individuals or cliques to promote their own career. To an extent, this is government corruption, but such activity only scratches the surface. It represents a small fraction of the real corruption going on. The most egregious corruption originates right in plain view in the halls of legislature. It happens routinely now, it's just that most people don't recognize it.

Rest assured that if the founders of this country saw how Congress -- with assistance and acquiescence from the judicial and executive branches -- has destroyed liberty and justice; if they were to witness the current government's utter disregard and overt contempt for individual human rights, they would be calling for revolution in a big way. The founders were not fond of tyranny. The problem with having a revolution now is that the people have forgotten the virtues of liberty, justice, and rights. A revolution wouldn't accomplish anything unless more people understand and desire a return to the principles on which this country was founded.

A corrupt government is one that extends unlawful jurisdiction over the people it is supposed to protect. A corrupt government is one that legislates beyond its rightful power by erecting laws that do injury to liberty, justice, and individual rights. A corrupt government believes that might makes right, and that its mission is to curtail freedom, regulate every aspect of personal and financial affairs, and tax the populace into submission while falsely claiming it is acting in their best interest.

The Constitution of the United States was ordained with the primary object being the defense of Liberty. This can be achieved by limiting the government's scope of power. In the Constitution, specific powers are delegated to three distinct branches of government: The legislative (Congress), the administrative or executive (Presidency), and the judicial (Courts and Jurors). Congress can only create laws in the pursuance of liberty -- in pursuance of the Constitution. And two conditions must be met: #1 Jurisdiction must exist and #2, Congressional act(s) must not violate the rights of any individual citizen(s). If both of the conditions are not met, any anti-constitutional decree Congress might install is not valid. It should not be enforced (gun control legislation comes to mind)! An example of a violation of a person's rights would be a tax levied that involves taking things (like money) from one citizen or group and giving it to another (several anti-constitutional acts come to mind such as farm subsidies, social security, and foreign aid). These Congressional boondoggles violate the right to due process and just compensation.

If a law doesn't fit, you must acquit! That includes tax code prosecutions as well as excessively punitive and anti-constitutional "crime fighting" legislation. We do not need to wait for a ruling from a judge to nix an unjust prosecution. We do not need to wait for the "right" politicians to erect the "right" legislation to take back our inalienable rights. We people are the ultimate check against despotic government authoritarians. Effective use of trial by jury is deadly to government bureaucrats, politicians, and their henchman. It's a highly efficient and bloodless form of rebellion. Shall we take back our Liberty now?