He continues to argue that the law becomes perverted whenever it violates this natural right, which essentially amounts to plundering by the government. (Language which Ayn Rand would borrow in Atlas Shrugged.)

In The Law Bastiat also explains that a government which concerns itself with philanthropy rather than justice can grow endlessly, as philanthropy, unlike justice, has no limits. Remember this whenever a politician claims they need more power because they want to help people – it is within the scope of possibility that the politician merely wants more power.

Here is a hypothetical for you: Suppose you own a fire extinguisher. It's not an altogether unreasonable thing to suppose, we think you'll agree, but more and more people are arguing that you shouldn't be allowed to have a fire extinguisher because others are abusing theirs. "No one needs anything more than a bucket of water to put out a fire," they say, "and real men don't need fire extinguishers anyway."