For me there is just one truth and one justice, and equality takes the same form everywhere. I also think that liberty always produces the same results everywhere and that a fraternal and friendly link should unite the weak and oppressed in all countries.

Frédéric Bastiat
Economic Sophisms Third Series

One of the major issues encountered in discussions between liberals and the advocates of coercion is that the latter do not accept that we can have converging objectives while advocating diverging means to reach them. For those who are convinced that liberals are the soldiers of Big Business and do not have any other objective than their own little comfort, the quote above might help them review their beliefs.

What liberals assert is that it is not sufficient to have good intentions in order for them to be reached. Good intentions are not necessarily the issue. A good illustration of ideas where agreements can be met are his thoughts about the abolition of slavery in 1838.

Another interesting point of this essay in which he reflects about the developments of democracy is his condamnation of “fake news” before it became popular – then it came from the omission of news about the liberal developments in the United Kingdom by te press, which is to be expected, but also from deceptive translations, which is a shame.