Economic Sophisms

...houses; the officers of the law original: "officers of justice" thrive through lawsuits and quarrels. Ministers of religion gain their status and employment from our vices and our mortality. No doctor rejoices in the health of his friends, nor do soldiers rejoice in the peace of their country; and so it goes for all the rest.

It follows, then, that if the secret wishes of every producer were granted, the world would rapidly slide back into barbarism. The sail would replace steam, the oar would replace the sail, and general trade would be carried on by a freight wagon; the wagon would be replaced by the mule, and the mule by the peddler. Wool would exclude cotton, and cotton in its turn would exclude wool, continuing until the dearth original: "dearth" – a scarcity or lack of something of all things caused humanity itself to disappear from the face of the earth.

Suppose for a moment that legislative power and public force were placed at the disposal of Mimeral’s committee The Committee of Industry, led by Auguste Mimeral (1780–1871), was a powerful lobby of French manufacturers that advocated for high tariffs and protectionism., and that each member of that association had the privilege of proposing and passing a favorite law. Is it difficult to guess what sort of industrial code the public would be forced to follow?

If we now proceed to consider the immediate interest of the consumer, we shall find that it is in perfect harmony with the general interest—with everything that the welfare of society requires. When a purchaser goes to market, he desires to find it well stocked. He wishes for seasons that are favorable original: "propitious" for all harvests; for increasingly marvelous inventions that bring more products and enjoyments within reach; for time and labor to be saved; for distances to be eliminated by the speed and perfection of transport; for a spirit of justice and peace to reduce the burden of taxation; and for barriers of every kind to be removed. In all of this, the interest of the consumer runs parallel with the public interest. The consumer may push his secret wishes to a chimerical original: "chimerical" – imaginary, impossible, or highly unrealistic and absurd length without these wishes ever becoming harmful to the public welfare. He may wish that food and shelter, the hearth and the home, education original: "instruction" and morality, security and peace, strength and health, could all be obtained without effort and in unlimited amounts—like the dust on the road or the water in a stream.