Is Liberty Justice?

     The mid nineteenth century French economist and
legislator, Frederic Bastiat, asserted "Liberty is justice."  The flip
side of his proposition is that without liberty justice is
impossible.

     Bastiat defined injustice as exploitation.  It was unjust for
any person to use force, threats and fraud to exploit another.  In
perfect liberty exploitation would be impossible.  No one would
force or trick another to act against his own self interest.  No
one would serve another when such service would be detrimental
to the server.

     Bastiat also recognized that we all endlessly seek to serve
our own self interest.  When two individuals voluntarily
cooperate with each other, each seeks to serve his own self
interest.  In liberty the result cannot be exploitation.  If either
individual believes the relationship does not serve his self
interest, he will choose not to participate.  In liberty the only
way we can enlist the cooperation of another is to honestly
convince him that he will benefit from the cooperation.

     Employees serve employers because the employees
believe they will benefit from the relationship.  Likewise,
employers serve employees to serve the employers' self interest. 
In the absence of liberty the slave serves the master because the
master says "Serve me, or I  will hurt you."

     The slave chooses to serve because without liberty the
slave believes it is in his self interest to serve and avoid the hurt
from the master.  The master exploits the slave.  Unless one
believes that exploiting slaves isn't unjust, the slave's lack of
liberty creates injustice.  In liberty there would be no slavery,
robbery, murder or rape.  If slavery, robbery, murder and rape
are unjust, Bastiat's claim that "Liberty is justice" is passing its
test.

     Bastiat considered numerous human interactions and
showed how in each case lack of liberty, and only lack of
liberty, created injustice.  To Bastiat, unequal distribution of
wealth wasn't automatically unjust.  Such inequality is unjust
only when it is caused by exploitation.  Exploitation always is
the product of lack of liberty.

     In liberty the only way one individual has more wealth
than another is if the more successful one produces more, or
receives more gifts.  Bastiat didn't believe that being productive
or receiving gifts was unjust.  He went to great lengths to
explain how the efforts of the more productive individuals often
benefited the less productive.

     If liberty is justice, anything that impairs liberty is unjust. 
That which advances liberty is just.  What does this say about
government?  Bastiat wasn't anti government.  He was a member
of parliament.  The main thrust of Bastiat's writing was criticism
of government's infringements on liberty.   These he believed
were unjust.

     When government defends the liberty of individuals,
government is on the side of justice.  When government
infringes the liberty of individuals, it is on the side of injustice.

     Liberty is impossible when individuals are subject to
threats of "Do it my way, or I will hurt you."  This creates what
at first may seem to be a paradox.  It is sometimes a defense of
liberty to threaten "Do it my way, or I will hurt you."

     Threatening would be robbers "Don't rob, or I will hurt
you" defends liberty.  Threats, and actions against aggressors and
fraudsters are defenses of liberty.  If such threats were
completely successful, the need for such threats would cease. 
Everyone would be living in  perfect liberty.  According to
Bastiat this would be perfect justice.

     In perfect justice we would still have to deal with the
consequences of living in an imperfect world.  We would deal
with those consequences through voluntary cooperation rather
than with threats and exploitation.  We would direct all of our
energy at improving natural conditions, rather than battling to
exploit each other.  This does make liberty sound like justice. 
The works of Frederic Bastiat deserve far more consideration
than they receive.  They can be downloaded free from
www.mises.org.

aldmccallum@gmail.com
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Copyright 2013
Albert D. McCallum