A satirical 1845 petition asked France to block out the sun

Economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote a mock petition from candlemakers begging the French government to ban windows, skylights and every other source of natural light, to protect their industry from 'ruinous foreign competition' — sunlight. The absurdity was the point: any argument for blocking cheap imports works just as well against free sunlight.

— Frédéric Bastiat, Economic Sophisms — 1845
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