Bastiat and Mises on Human Fallibility, Freedom, and Government
“If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?
―Frederic Bastiat, The Law
“If one rejects laissez faire on account of man’s fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action.”
― Ludwig von Mises, “Laissez Faire or Dictatorship”