Any substantial social progress can only follow the material improvement in the people’s condition.

Thomas Milner Gibson, translated by Frédéric Bastiat
Complete Works, Volume 3, pages 391 to 403 (in French)
Covent Garden, August 7th 1844

The speeches of Milner Gibson and William Fox were pronounced the day after the Tangier bombing. Two crises between the French and British colonial powers in Tahiti and Tanger were threatening the first Entente Cordiale of 1833. The speech by William Fox is supporting the one from Milner Gibson who exposes the warring positions of the protectionists who, having probably read Machiavel, were considering all the advantages that they could get from a “good war” from which they would not suffer directly, quite the contrary.

Today’s quote appears in the introduction of Milner Gibson’s speech, which does not focus on the French-British issues of the day yet and shows what is a priority to his eyes, viz. the misery in which the people is drowning. It seems particularly important to me in the sense that it goes against the very widespread popular belief according to which social progress follows the legislator’s magical hand. Let’s not put the cart before the horse. As it is also true of pollution issues that cannot be dealt with before an improvement in the condition of peoples who live in misery nowadays (i.e., not through legislation), social progress over the last two centuries (children’s work, working hours, etc…) have followed the enrichment of the people. This is one of the reasons why the liberals support laisser-faire in view of improving the condition of the people rather than legislating, which is favoured by the constructivists of all kinds.