The Candlemakers’ Petition and The Negative Railroad, both published in the first edition of Economic Sophisms in 1845, beautifully employ the rhetorical strategy reductio ad absurdum to explain just how inane, counterproductive and economically illiterate protectionist policies are. Not only does Bastiat draw a strong connection between protectionism and socialism, but he goes so far as to say, in his essay, “The Law” (1850), that “protectionism, socialism, and communism are basically the same plant in three different stages of its growth.”
To illustrate how myopic it is to subjugate the economic well-being of the country to the whims and wishes of producers, Bastiat discusses how candlemakers’ and all of their associated domestic industries would be helped if the French legislature passed laws defending them from the “unfair competition of a foreign rival. This foreign manufacturer of light has such an advantage over us that he floods our domestic markets with his product. And he offers it at a fantastically low price.” This unfair foreign rival is, of course, none other than the very sun and its celestial radiance. How dare the star provide light so freely and ubiquitously that it is rendered immune to scarcity and is almost like mana from heaven.
Bastiat lampoons, in quite a comical fashion, the rhetoric laden with appeals to ethos and pathos employed by those producers in favor of protectionism which appeals to the patriotism and solidarity – fraternité, in French – extolled by the Socialist legislature:
“Here is our petition: Please pass a law ordering the closing of all windows, skylights, shutters, curtains, and blinds — that is, all openings, holes, and cracks through which the light of the sun is able to enter houses. This free sunlight is hurting the business of us deserving manufacturers of candles. Since we have, always served our country well, gratitude demands that our country ought not to abandon us now to this unequal competition.”
Such a government action is laughable as it is clearly counterproductive and would necessitate the use of coercion to guarantee that no free-riders would make use of the sun’s freely-given illumination. Entrepreneurial efforts and production would obviously be better geared towards goods and services that are not naturally endowed.