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Bastiat's 'What Is Seens And What Is Not Seen'

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“What is Seen and What is Not Seen” by Frederic Bastiat addresses how many get clouded by different government policies and there so said benefits that they forget where the money to implement the policies come from.
Bastiat exemplifies this through reflecting on whether or not states should subsidize the arts. One who supports the subsidizing of the arts thinks of the advertised benefits and fails to recognize the potential secondary effects. The act that the government is trying to pass could have some great aspects to it, but they also hold the potential for unforeseen negative effects. The money used to support the subsidy comes from taxpayers, which leads to forgone opportunity cost. The taxpayers could have used this money and …show more content…
Bastiat says how the subsidy for theatres and fine arts many not even make it to the workers in the theatre. The money can go in a different unpublicized direction or even to the actors or theatre owners instead of the laborers who keep the theatre running.
Some believe that these public spendings help with creating more jobs and maintaining the working class. However, Bastiat explains how “public spending is always a substitute for private spending” (7). Public spending may help “one worker in the place of another but adds nothing to the lot of the working class taken as a whole” (7).
Bastiat explains how he believes that the government must not meddle in proportionments of wealth and instead leave that for the citizens to decide. He implies how leaving issues for the citizens to decide will allow the citizens themselves to create room for private spendings which entails more private opportunities and economic progress. Allowing citizens to use their money as they please will give them the freedom to decide what is right. Citizens have the inclination to fix things that they deem broken. An example given in the text is a broken window situation. When this man’s son broke a window, he knew he had to replace it, so he went to purchase a new window plane. Instead this man could have used the money to purchase something else, such as new shoes, but he did what he deemed is

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