We should have never opened a history book if we did not know that privilege never yields without having first exhausted all the means to survive.

Frédéric Bastiat
Complete Works, Volume 3, pages 459 to 462 (in French)
Libre-Echange, February 6th, 1848

In this short article, Frédéric Bastiat exposes the accusations of the protectionists according to whom the liberals would be the party of foreigners. He describes England in its duality, that of the protectionists and that of the liberals. The nationalist accusation focuses on the wrong group, England, in order to describe the evils that it produces. What Frédéric Bastiat tells us is that the said evils are following the attitude of a fringe of England, the protectionists, and not the other which is the object of his admiration, the liberals.

In all times, politicians have played on the fears of the people towards the unknown, the foreigners here. However, foreigners are not well known but are not unique. If it is appropriate to worry about some of their actions, it does not mean that they are all nefarious and, in the case of the actions supported by the Anti Corn Law League, Frédéric Bastiat recognises its beneficial effects to humanity without hesitations, even if it emanates from abroad.

Today’s quote shows how the fight against privilege is arduous but cannot be lumped together with the fight against one or another country and that the nationalist answer consisting in promoting self-sufficiency is not appropriate.