“Mr. de Saint-Cricq would extend his philanthropy only to some of the industrial groups; he would demand that the law
control the consumers to benefit the producers.“Mr. Considerant would sponsor the cause of the labor groups; he would use the law to secure for them
a guaranteed minimum of clothing, housing, and all other necessities of life.“Mr. Louis Blanc would say—and with reason—that these minimum guarantees are merely the beginning of complete fraternity; he would say that the law should give tools of production and free education to all working people.
“Another person would observe that this arrangement would still leave room for inequality; he would claim that the law should give to everyone—even in the most inaccessible hamlet—luxury, literature, and art.
“All of these proposals are the high road to communism; legislation will then be—in fact, it already is—the battlefield for the fantasies and greed of everyone.”
(Frederic Bastiat, The Law, p. 70. 1850.)