A Man Alone: Frederic Bastiat

Radio host, Glen Beck, mussed that current events in these United States most resemble the final years of the Roman Empire. (Glen Beck is over dramatic if anything.) Although he may have a point in some respects, I do not think the downfall was precipitated by a radical departure from the status quo. I always thought that Rome's problems, although similar to ours, came on as a gradual decay. I do not know if there was a dramatic political change that greatly accelerated the trend, as is now occurring here.

I believe that a better comparison is to France prior to and during the 1848 Revolutions. Government Corruption, natural disasters, and economic downturn precipitated radical change. As changes occurred more and more rapidly, the corruption and economy worsened. I am in the process of reading a book on Frederic Bastiat, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, who was active as a political figure during those times. He was on a finance committee. While France was in the midst of more financial crises, Bastiat stood firmly against all of the socialist programs that had been adopted earlier and were being daily augmented. As I am just now reading the book, I will clarify and up-date this.

I had known about M. Bastiat from his writing and especially his aphorisms regarding politics and economics. I will put some in my next post. The book is, "Frederic Bastiat A Man Alone." It was written in 1971 by George Charles Roche III, published by Arlington House in their Architects of Freedom series.