Episode Details

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French provincial scholar.  As a young man, Bastiat was heavily influence by Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin. He developed profound beliefs in life, liberty, and property rights. His greatest work is a book simply called “The Law”, which was published just before his death in 1850. Bastiat’s grandfather passed away in 1825 leaving him the family estate. He became a gentleman farmer and part-time scholar. Over the next twenty years Bastiat would write many articles, papers, and books. He also got involved in public life. In 1831, he was elected a justice of the peace. In 1848, he was elected as a deputy to the National Assembly. He would serve until his death in 1850 of Tuberculosis. This episode reviewed an article from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled the life of Frédéric Bastiat.

“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.” – Frédéric Bastiat, The Law