Books Protection and Communism  by Frédéric Bastiat (Author)

"Protection and Communism" by Frédéric Bastiat is a critical essay that links the economic system of protectionism with communism, arguing that both are forms of legalized plunder. Bastiat defines protectionism as government intervention where the state takes from certain groups (often taxpayers or consumers) to benefit specific industries or sectors, calling this redistribution a form of communism disguised under different names.

He identifies three forms of communism: first, utopian socialism, where people share property voluntarily; second, legal plunder, where the government forcibly redistributes wealth from some to others without consent; and third, a brutal form where all assets are forcibly pooled and shared equally, destroying property rights and incentives to work. Bastiat sees protectionism as akin to the second form—a legalized theft justified by the state but ultimately harmful to economic freedom and growth.