Sunday, May 26, 2024

"The Law"


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"The Law." First published in 1850 by the great French economist and journalist, it is as clear a statement as has ever been made of the original American ideal of government, as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, that the main purpose of any government is the protection of the lives, liberties, and property of its citizens.

 

Bastiat's warnings of the dire effects of legal plunder are as relevant today as when he first issued them. The system of legal plunder (which many now celebrate as "democracy"(Equity) will erase from everyone's conscience, he wrote, the distinction between justice and injustice.

 

The plundered classes will eventually figure out how to enter the political game and plunder their fellow man. Legislation will never be guided by any principles of justice, but only by brute political force.

 

The great French champion of liberty also forecast the corruption of education by the state. Those who held "government-endowed teaching positions," he wrote, would rarely criticize legal plunder lest their government endowments be ended.

 

The system of legal plunder would also greatly exaggerate the importance of politics in society. That would be a most unhealthy development as it would encourage even more citizens to seek to improve their own well-being not by producing goods and services for the marketplace but by plundering their fellow citizens through politics.

 

Bastiat was also wise enough to anticipate what modern economists call "rent-seeking" and "rent avoidance" behaviour. These two clumsy phrases refer, respectively, to the phenomena of lobbying for political favors (legal plunder), and of engaging in political activity directed at protecting oneself from being the victim of plunder seekers. (For example, the steel manufacturing industry lobbies for high tariffs on steel, whereas steel-using industries, like the automobile industry, can be expected to lobby against high tariffs on steel.)

 

The reason why modern economists are concerned about "rent-seeking" is the opportunity cost involved: the more time, effort and money that is spent by businesses on conniving to manipulate politics—merely transferring wealth—the less time is spent on producing goods and services, which increases wealth. Thus, legal plunder impoverishes the entire society even though a small (but politically influential) part of the society benefits from it.

Socialists want "to play God," Bastiat observed, anticipating all the future tyrants and despots of the world who would try to remake the world in their image, whether that image would be communism, fascism, the "glorious union," or "global democracy." Bastiat also observed that socialists wanted forced conformity; rigid regimentation of the population through pervasive regulation; forced equality of wealth; and dictatorship. As such, they were the mortal enemies of liberty.

 

"Dictatorship" need not involve an actual dictator. All that was needed, said Bastiat, was "the laws," enacted by a Congress or a Parliament, that would achieve the same effect: forced conformity.

 

Bastiat was also wise to point out that the world has far too many "great men," "fathers of their countries," etc., who in reality are usually nothing but petty tyrants with a sick and compulsive desire to rule over others. The defenders of the free society should have a healthy disrespect for all such men.


In the latter pages of "The Law" Bastiat offers the sage advice that what was really needed was "a science of economics" that would explain the harmony (or lack thereof) of a free society (as opposed to socialism). He made a major contribution to this end himself with the publication of his book, Economic Harmonies, which can be construed as a precursor to the modern literature of the Austrian School of Economics. 


There is no substitute for a solid understanding of the market order (and of the realities of politics) when it comes to combating the kinds of destructive socialistic schemes that plagued Bastiat's day as well as ours. Anyone who reads this great essay along with other free-market classics, such as Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and Murray Rothbard's Power and Market, will possess enough intellectual ammunition to debunk the socialist fantasies of this or any other day.


A summary of "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat:

 

Purpose of the Law: The law's fundamental purpose is to protect the rights of individuals, particularly their property, liberty, and life. The law should be a collective organization of the individual right to lawful defence.

 

Legal Plunder/Equity: The concept of "legal plunder," where the law is used to benefit a few at the expense of many. This misuse, where the law is twisted to confiscate property from some to give to others must be condemned, in my view.

 

Perverted Law: When the law is perverted from its true purpose, it becomes a tool of oppression. The law is often used to impose various forms of socialism, which contradicts the principles of freedom, justice and democracy.

 

Natural Rights: Keep in mind that natural rights existed before the law. These rights include liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. And all laws must be based on these inherent rights.

 

Consequences of Legal Plunder: Seems we have forgotten the consequences when legal plunder becomes widespread. It leads to social conflict, increased government intervention, and a decline in individual responsibility and moral values.

 

Proper Role of the State: The state's role must be limited to protecting individual rights and ensuring justice. Any expansion of state powers into areas like education, labour, and welfare contradicts the principles of freedom, justice and democracy.

 

Economic Harmonies: The belief in the natural harmonies of the market, where individuals pursuing their own interests will naturally contribute to societal welfare, provided that the law respects and protects their rights.

 

Critique of Socialism: Remember that various socialist doctrines advocate for legal plunder. As socialism undermines personal responsibility and freedom by expanding the scope of the state at the expense of individual liberty.

 

Call for Reform: Democracy for its survival must return to the true purpose of the law—to safeguard individual rights. We all must encourage citizens to recognize and resist the perversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

 

In essence, "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat is a passionate defence of individual liberty and property rights, a critique of government overreach, and a call to restore the law to its rightful role as a protector of justice and freedom.

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Trump’s Manhattan Trial Stacked Deck Against Former President By the Judge!


Judge Juan Merchan has allowed prosecutors from Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to prove a federal campaign-finance crime against former president Donald Trump by relying on blatantly inadmissible evidence — the guilty pleas of Michael Cohen and a non-prosecution agreement David Pecker struck with the Justice Department.


Judge's Decision: Judge Juan Merchan allowed prosecutors to use inadmissible evidence against Donald Trump, including Michael Cohen's guilty pleas and David Pecker's non-prosecution agreement.

Inadmissible Evidence:

Michael Cohen: Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty to two Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) felonies related to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) during the 2016 presidential campaign.

David Pecker: Former American Media Inc. CEO, entered a non-prosecution agreement for fear of indictment under FECA.

NDAs Context: The NDAs, involving payments to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, were arranged by Cohen, with Pecker involved in McDougal's payment and Cohen paying Daniels himself.

Legal Argument: NDAs are not campaign expenditures under FECA. They could have been relevant in many non-political contexts (e.g., to protect Trump's reputation).

Cohen's Guilty Pleas: Cohen's guilty pleas were driven by his need to avoid prison for unrelated crimes (bank fraud and tax evasion), and these pleas are legally insufficient as evidence against Trump.

Judge's Ruling on Evidence: Judge Merchan did not allow a former FEC commissioner to testify, which would have clarified the legal basis for campaign expenditures, yet allowed Cohen and Pecker, who lack expertise in election law, to testify.

Prosecutorial Strategy: The prosecution used Cohen's guilty pleas to imply Trump's guilt, despite these pleas being inadmissible against Trump. The judge allowed this strategy, which the author criticizes as unfair and prejudicial.

Conclusion: Cohen's guilty pleas are worthless as evidence and the judge's decision undermines the fairness of the trial.

Source:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/05/undercover-prosecutor-merchan-helps-bragg-lawlessly-stress-cohens-guilty-plea/



Tuesday, May 21, 2024

France and Belgium Sacrificed Jewish People "Before"



France and Belgium support the bid for arrest warrants of Israel and Hamas leaders.

 

Now today after they betrayed the Jewish people in their respective countries during WW2, they are repeating their antisemitism behaviours once again, in my view and millions of others worldwide.

 

France and Belgium during ww2 actively cooperated with Germany’s nazi Regime in rounding up and deporting 76,000 Jewish people from France alone and while Belgium's leaders and population also actively collaborated with Germany’s nazi Regime in rounding up and deporting 66,000 Jewish people from Belgium to death camps.

 

The free world and all its so-called elected leaders should be outraged at the ICC prosecutor's attempted application against the country of Israel and its leaders.

 

There is no equivalence between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas is an internationally designated Palestinian terrorist organization that has controlled Gaza since 2007 and whose explicitly stated mission is the murder of Jews and “obliteration” of Israel.

 

In 2007 it seized control of Gaza in a violent coup and launched over 18,000 mortars and rockets into Israeli communities and forced Israel to mount three major military operations to protect its citizens:

 

1. Cast Lead (Dec. 2008-to Jan. 2009)

2. Pillar of Defense (Nov. 2012)

3. Protective Edge (July 8 to August 6, 2014)

 

Hamas systematically committed war crimes in these actions, as evidenced by its tactics during Protective Edge. Hamas rockets indiscriminately targeted Israel’s population and civilian centers, a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court.

France and Belgium for the second time in a mere 82 years seem to have totally forgotten their past collaboration against the Jewish peoples:

 

From 1942 to 1944 a stream of Jewish people were rounded up by Vichy authorities, and by the end of the war, some 76,000 had been deported to Nazi concentration camps.

 

Although under the overall control of the SS, the main transit camp of Drancy, from which 63,000 people were sent to their deaths, was run by Paris's police force.

 

François Mitterand, president from 1981 until 1995, insisted France "was never involved" in the ill-treatment of its Jewish population, and it was not until Jacques Chirac in 1995 that a head of state admitted France's "inescapable guilt". It does so without forgetting the 74,150 Jewish men, women and children who were deported from France – most of whom perished.

 

France and Belgium are now showing that their leaders and country have forgotten their past collaboration actions against the Jewish people which was the same case from 1942 to 1944.

 

Also, we must remember that today and back then "The Belgian state once again has supported and adopted a docile and cooperative attitude in some very diverse, but crucial domains providing collaboration unworthy of a democracy, with a policy that once again shall be disastrous for Belgian and the Jewish peoples, in my view.

 

Unlike today back then after the end of the war, Belgian military judicial authorities decided that investigating the deportation of the Jewish people was too "delicate" to be allowed to continue.

 

That was after then and today's decision to support the ICC is another decision from Belgium and France's leaders and population of "a docile and cooperative attitude in some very diverse, but crucial domains providing collaboration unworthy of a democracy."

 

France and Belgium Sacrificed Jewish people to the Nazis Before and now they repeat that step by supporting a rogue ICC for purely political reasons.





Monday, May 20, 2024

Hamas's Stated Mission Murder Jews, “Obliteration” of Israel




Hamas is an internationally designated Palestinian terrorist organization that controls Gaza, whose explicitly stated mission is the murder of Jews, “obliteration” of Israel, and its replacement with a Taliban-like theocracy. 

In 2007 it seized control of Gaza in a violent coup and launched over 18,000 mortars and rockets into Israeli communities and forced Israel to mount three major military operations to protect its citizens: 

1. Cast Lead (Dec. 2008-to Jan. 2009)
2. Pillar of Defense (Nov. 2012)
3. Protective Edge (July 8 to August 6, 2014)

Hamas systematically committed war crimes in these actions, as evidenced by its tactics during Protective Edge. Hamas rockets indiscriminately targeted Israel’s population and civilian centers, a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court.


Hamas indiscriminately fired over 4,465 rockets at Israel’s heartland, including densely populated cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and their civilian structures, during Protective Edge. Over 70% of Israeli citizens were in rocket range.


• Even Palestinian officials acknowledged Hamas’ rockets were war crimes. “Each and every missile against Israel constitutes a crime against humanity whether it hits or misses because it is directed at civilian targets.”

–Palestinian Envoy to the Human Rights Council, July 9, 2014.


• Hamas “made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim. There is simply no legal justification for launching rockets at populated areas.”

–Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director, Human Rights Watch, Nov. 2012.


• The EU “strongly condemns the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, directly harming civilians. These are criminal and unjustifiable acts.”9 Hamas kidnapped Israelis to use them as hostages, a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court.


• On June 12, 2014, Hamas operatives kidnapped three Israeli teens as they were returning home from school. Their bodies were found 18 days later.


• In 2006, Hamas operatives kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and held him hostage for over five years until he was released in a prisoner exchange in 2011.


• Hamas built 32 cross-border underground tunnels to infiltrate Israel and kidnap Israelis. Rooms, handcuffs and tranquillizers were prepared for the Israeli victims.13 Hamas used Palestinian civilian centers for military purposes, a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions.


• Hamas placed its military arsenal and tunnel entrances in Gaza’s schools, homes, residential neighbourhoods, hospitals, and mosques, as occurred with UNRWA schools, 16 Al-Shifah17 and Al-Wafa hospitals, and the Islamic University of Gaza.


• Hamas booby-trapped thousands of homes and fired 597 rockets from civilian centers, including 260 from schools, 160 from religious sites, 127 from cemeteries, and over 50 from hospitals. Hamas used Palestinians as human shields, a war crime according to Article 51(7) of the 1977 Protocols to the Geneva Convention. 


• Hamas urged Gaza residents to act as human shields. 


• Hamas urged residents to ignore Israel’s warnings to move to safer areas because of imminent attacks. In some cases, Hamas operatives violently attacked residents who sought safer areas. 


• "The Israeli army sends warnings to people [Gazans] to evacuate buildings before an attack. Hamas's strict policy, though, was not to allow us to evacuate. Hamas's official Al-Quds TV regularly issued warnings to Gazans not to evacuate their homes. Hamas militants would block the exits to the places residents were asked to evacuate." –Gaza Medical Aid Worker, September 19, 2014Hamas conducted extrajudicial executions of alleged Palestinian collaborators with Israel.


• Hamas murdered at least 48 suspected collaborators during the 2014 war, accusing them of being spies and executing them publicly, without trial. Hamas has dragged the executed bodies of past suspected collaborators through the streets of Gaza as a warning to others. Hamas enlisted children to participate in hostilities, a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court.


• Hamas admitted to using child labour to construct cross-border tunnels. According to Hamas officials, at least 160 children were killed while building the terror tunnels.