Frédéric Bastiat Was a Radical Opponent of War and Militarism
Frédéric Bastiat is well known for his radical free-market positions as expressed in his still-famous book The Law and in insightful essays such as “That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Not Seen.” Joseph Schumpeter called Bastiat “the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived.”
Bastiat’s radicalism did not end with economic policy, however. Bastiat, like most other radical liberals of his period—such as Richard Cobden, John Bright and Charles Dunoyer—was a radical anti-militarist and opponent of interventionist foreign policy.
For example, Bastiat was an anti-imperialist and strongly opposed the French colonization of Algeria, stating in 1846:
I have no hesitation in saying that, unless it be in order to secure independent frontiers, you will never find me, in this case or in any other, on the conqueror’s side. … To me it is a proven fact, and I venture to say a scientifically proven fact, that the colonial system is the most disastrous illusion ever to have led nations astray.
Indeed, Bastiat sought to abolish the French standing army altogether. In an 1847 pamphlet titled “The Utopian,” Bastiat reminded his readers that military expenditure is generally an enormous waste of money, and that the exploitation of the taxpayers could be greatly reduced were the size of the French military drastically
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