The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.
Quote attributed to Albert Einstein
A public library is the most enduring of memorials, the trustiest monument for the preservation of an event or a name or an affection; for it , and it only, is respected by wars and revolution, and survives them.
This quote is from a letter sent by Mark Twain in 1894 to the Millicent (Rogers) Library.
For me Mr. Einstein and Mr. Clemens quotes unlock the doors to all the world libraries. Today in 2021, there are newer libraries located in our virtual world. Libraries opened by Google and other portals of the internet. I now write blogs to be read in these virtual rooms for bookmark7.com. I write short stories to kindle the imagination of young readers, to be published on Kindle.
So what library did I visit this month? Well I started in the Google library searching for an essay entitled The Law written in 1850 by one Frederic Bastiat. Monsieur Bastiat at the time of the publication had been elected to the French National Assembly. Bastiat came of age (Wikipedia) during the Napoleonic wars, with their extensive government intervention in economic affairs. Leaving his family’s import/export business he developed intellectual interests in philosophy, history, politics, religion,travel,poetry, political economy and biography. He became politically active after the middle class Revolution in 1830. By the 1848 French Revolution he had attained the a-for-mentioned election to The National Assembly.
Frederic Bastiat’s essay, The Law, highlights his opinion that the law is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense. Law is Justice.
My question partially answered in his essay. When does law become the weapon of the few that creates injustice for the many? Bastiat answers, when there are too many great men in the world; there are too many legislators, organizers, institutors of society , conductors of the people, fathers of nations, etc., etc. Too many persons place themselves above mankind, to rule and patronize it; too many persons make a trade of attending to it. Bastiat ends as follows; And now after having vainly inflicted upon the social body so many systems, let them end where thy ought to have begun- reject all systems, and make a trial of liberty- of liberty, which is in an act of faith in God and in His work.
The essay The Law takes time to delineate examples of legal plunder. In part the act(s) of wealth transfer from the many to the few. (Hmm , inflation today an example of legal plunder?) Bastiat shows many periods of history that reflect my assumption. He also explains in depth what he means by the word plunder on page 14.
This holiday past we’ve broken bread and jabbed turkey’s with our previously jabbed family members and given thanks, while I stole away to my metaphorical lighthouse with this essay in hand. Why you might ask? Well to be truthful, my personal journey of self awareness today, the first day of the rest of my life this time, is aided by understanding the rhymes of history. My house is wall papered by human civilization. Nations that rise and fall over time are part of that wallpaper design. My 70+ years walking the earth appear to be during consciousness growth and awareness . Some might call it awareness of decline. Too dramatic to say that? Maybe, but the legacy of the home we leave our grandchildren has to have new wall paper. I believe we must help Mother Nature do that job while she lets us because, rest assured, she will do the job with or without our help!
There are many parts of The Law that I didn’t include. One particular prescient opinion about the young United States Bastiat shares at the top of page ten. Written in1850, his view of our Union is spot on. It helped me see more clearly the wallpaper of the house I live in. I recommend you get a copy and add it to your personal library especially if you’re predisposed to be a politician!
It took the great Charles Dickens until 1859 to publish his Tale of Two Cities. A novel that actually starts in the later 1700’s before the French Revolution and unfolds during the Revolutions. It was the best of times it was the worst of times, (and Dickens begins). His great talent, so inspired by the times he lived in, wallpapered his fiction. My question; Who among the great writers of today will pen a classic about us after another revolution. A revolution created from plunder forced by law because we didn’t attempt to erase the writing on the wall of our home with new wallpaper? Our grand- children deserve better!
It has been said that we should all assist trees in migrating pole-ward . This holiday season as we celebrate around the tree, we should keep that in mind. As Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand is quoted to have written; Forests precede civilization and deserts follow them.
Be in peace and joy!
Thank you for reading.
Mark