Bastiat and The Dark Knight Rises

Some of you may recall my mention of Frederic Bastiat a few weeks ago.  Since that time, I have had two people recommend to me that I read his essay entitled “The Law” based on my blog post.  I had planned on doing that – the book has been sitting in my reading pile for several months now.  I am encouraging you to do the same, and to forward any topics that arise out of your reading that could be applicable to local government.  At some point in the next month or so, if I receive any feedback, I will try to address those comments in an additional blog post.  I have already had one section mentioned for my consideration, entitled Victims of Lawful Plunder:

Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter — by peaceful or revolutionary means — into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it.
Woe to the nation when this latter purpose prevails among the mass victims of lawful plunder when they, in turn, seize the power to make laws! Until that happens, the few practice lawful plunder upon the many, a common practice where the right to participate in the making of law is limited to a few persons. But then, participation in the making of law becomes universal. And then, men seek to balance their conflicting interests by universal plunder. Instead of rooting out the injustices found in society, they make these injustices general. As soon as the plundered classes gain political power, they establish a system of reprisals against other classes. They do not abolish legal plunder. (This objective would demand more enlightenment than they possess.) Instead, they emulate their evil predecessors by participating in this legal plunder, even though it is against their own interests.
It is as if it were necessary, before a reign of justice appears, for everyone to suffer a cruel retribution — some for their evilness, and some for their lack of understanding.

My initial response to how this could apply to local government was, simply, Batman.  You may wonder why, and it all has to do with getting sick.  You see, a couple weeks ago, when I wasn’t feeling so well, I had the opportunity to watch The Dark Knight Rises, courtesy of my kids.  In this movie, what I am sure is the world’s most notorious villain overthrows the entire ruling structure of Gotham City, including the police department.  He then instituted mob rule, and gave “the people” the opportunity to preside in judgment over anyone who had previously held a position of leadership in the community, whether that be in business or government.  The people quickly took to their role with a vengeance, pronouncing death sentences on one and all who had ever profited around them, justly or unjustly.  This evil villain was able to manipulate members of the public to seek vengeance on others, and they loved it.  The goal wasn’t to make things better for the general populace, it was mainly to give them a chance to make sure no one around them was better off than them (while the evil villain took over everything amidst the chaos). 

It made for a great movie, but it is a frightening picture of what we have to make sure we do not degrade to as a society.  I don’t see this so much in Burlington, but I have seen it in the mob scenes in Greece, where people protested government cutbacks.  It is a difficult thing, remembering our need as a society to keep the needs of the many in mind, rather than desiring our own gain.  The Dark Knight Rises was a story about the dangers inherent when we as individuals decide that “the system” owes us something.  It also, along with the section from Bastiat on “Lawful Plunder”, points out the need for strong community leadership that does not seek its own gain, nor the scoring of political points, but rather strives to meet the needs of the many while even potentially sacrificing the desires of those in positions of responsibility.  We need to root out any instances of “Lawful Plunder” from our local system when they come to light, and seek leadership that does not try to replace it with its own gain or desire to score political points. 

We must look to make decisions that benefit our community rather than trying to just bring others down.  Each of us has a call to do this; we do this in all of our communications.  Every time we raise the cry against the “Lawful Plunder” that occurs just to raise the cry or to tear people down, all we do is incense people and make our community worse.  We all need to promote the elimination of “Lawful Plunder” in our daily lives – our vocational work and our community activities – while treating people with respect.  This is a difficult task.  Much as Batman had to endure being an outcast when he made the choice to oppose “Lawful Plunder”, we must be willing to do the same.

That would be my initial response to that quote that was submitted to me from “The Law” by Bastiat.  I look forward to reading the rest of this document, and seeing if my response is altered as I read it in the context of his entire thought on the subject.  I look forward to reading it, and to hearing from all of you who take this opportunity to spend some time with Bastiat along with me.