Comment Voltaire a dévalisé l'État (sans enfreindre une seule loi)

This video, in partnership with lesfurets.com, delves into a remarkable story about the renowned philosopher and writer Voltaire. It begins in 1729 Paris, where a seemingly small mathematical observation made by a mathematician to a 34-year-old François Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, would fundamentally alter his life. This insight, overlooked by many, revealed a way for Voltaire to effectively "rob" the French state without breaking any laws, a feat that would yield him the equivalent of over 1500 years of minimum wage. The narrator expresses astonishment that this episode isn't more widely taught, describing Voltaire's subsequent actions as one of history's most elegant financial maneuvers, surpassing even heists or fraud in its sophistication. The narrative then draws a parallel to modern times, highlighting how, much like Voltaire meticulously read the rules of a lottery, individuals today often sign insurance contracts without fully scrutinizing them, potentially overpaying for coverage. lesfurets.com is presented as a free online comparison tool that helps users find the best home insurance deals, with an average saving of €480 per year. To understand Voltaire's extraordinary financial coup, the video revisits his life in 1726, explaining his motivations, particularly a profound humiliation he suffered. Three years prior, in January 1726, Voltaire, a frequent attendee of aristocratic salons, had a public altercation with the Chevalier de Rohan, an arrogant nobleman. Rohan publicly belittled Voltaire by questioning his name, implying he was nobody. Voltaire retorted with a witty remark about Rohan’s name, which Rohan, despite his privileged background, did not forgive. A few days later, Rohan orchestrated an attack on Voltaire. While Voltaire was dining, he was lured outside and brutally beaten by Rohan’s lackeys, with Rohan observing the scene with amusement. Voltaire, physically injured and deeply humiliated, found no support from his aristocratic acquaintances, who even mocked the incident. This led Voltaire to seek a duel with Rohan. However, Rohan’s powerful family intervened, obtaining a royal arrest warrant (lettre de cachet) against Voltaire, preventing him from initiating a duel. Voltaire was arrested on April 17, 1726, and imprisoned in the Bastille for the second time. His first imprisonment in 1717, for satirical writings against the regent, had resulted in the writing of his famous play *Oedipus* and the adoption of his pen name, Voltaire. This second imprisonment, however, was different. Voltaire didn't write but seemingly understood a crucial lesson: in France, without wealth or noble title, a man of letters was powerless against the state. He learned that someone like Rohan could assault him with impunity, and he would be the one imprisoned. After two weeks, Voltaire negotiated his release, but with a harsh condition: exile to England. This experience proved transformative. Voltaire encountered a constitutional monarchy with a relatively free press and a society where merchants were respected and wealth offered protection. He met prominent figures like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, and studied Isaac Newton and John Locke. This period solidified his conviction that in France, financial independence was paramount for the freedom to express oneself. Money, for him, became a shield. Returning to Paris in early 1729, at 34, Voltaire was financially depleted. His father's inheritance provided only annual interest, and accessing the capital required proving good conduct, a challenge given his past. He survived by brokering deals while awaiting an opportunity. This opportunity arrived in the form of the "Loterie de Pelletier des Forts," a lottery initiated due to France's dire financial state, a consequence of the devastating John Law financial crisis of 1720. The Law crisis, triggered by the collapse of a speculative bubble based on paper money, left France economically weak and deeply distrustful of financial instruments. To restore confidence in depreciated state bonds, Michel Robert Le Pelletier des Forts, the Controller-General of Finances, conceived a lottery. This lottery was exclusively for holders of these devalued bonds. An arrêté du conseil on March 6, 1729, detailed the scheme: bondholders could purchase lottery tickets at a fraction of their bond's nominal value. For a 1000-livre bond, a ticket cost 1 livre; for a 10,000-livre bond, it cost 10 livres. The collected funds formed the prize pool, with 85% distributed to winners and 15% rolled over to the next draw. The critical flaw, which no one initially recognized, was the state's addition of a fixed bonus of 500,000 livres to each monthly draw, regardless of the number of participants. This substantial bonus, when combined with the lottery's structure, created a mathematically exploitable situation. Each ticket, regardless of its cost (1 livre or 100 livres), had an equal chance of winning. The problem was that the cost of acquiring numerous low-value tickets (1 livre each) was significantly less than the potential winnings, especially with the guaranteed 500,000 livres bonus. It was, therefore, mathematically profitable to buy a vast quantity of the cheapest tickets. The turning point came at a dinner in early 1729, where Voltaire met Charles Marie de La Condamine, a mathematician, chemist, and geographer. La Condamine had identified the lottery's flaw: by purchasing numerous low-value bonds, one could acquire thousands of 1-livre lottery tickets. If a coordinated group acquired enough of these tickets, they could capture a significant portion of the prize pool, including the substantial state bonus. The total acquisition cost would be far lower than the potential winnings. Voltaire, possessing the necessary connections and a burning desire for vindication after the Rohan incident, partnered with La Condamine. They assembled a syndicate of 13 individuals, including financiers and trusted friends. To circumvent the limited number of notaries selling tickets, they likely found a discreet notary who overlooked their bulk purchases. Voltaire's arrogance, however, became a signature. He inscribed provocative messages on the back of many tickets, mocking Le Pelletier des Forts and referencing La Condamine. These messages, along with the syndicate's consistent wins, eventually drew the attention of the authorities. Official records from January 1729 to February 1730 reveal the syndicate's growing success. By February, a disproportionate number of winning tickets corresponded to low-value bonds held by familiar names, including La Condamine. By October 1729, the syndicate was effectively winning the entire pot. Despite efforts to identify the culprits, the lottery continued, with the syndicate amassing further wealth. In January 1730, the rules were finally altered, and the lottery was abolished in June 1730. Crucially, the legal verdict found no rules were broken; the lottery was poorly designed, and the responsibility lay with its creator, not the players. Voltaire's share amounted to approximately 500,000 livres, an astronomical sum equivalent to over 1500 years of an ordinary worker's salary. Voltaire viewed this fortune not as an end, but as seed capital. He invested shrewdly, including in Lorraine, where he falsely claimed his name was a variation of a local village to purchase advantageous bonds. He then invested in the Paris brothers, suppliers to the king's army, financing wars and profiting from the stability of wartime industries. In a further display of financial acumen, Voltaire later converted his capital into annuities. He feigned poor health to secure high interest rates from his debtors, who believed he would die soon. He outlived these expectations, living to 83. The true significance of this wealth, the narrator emphasizes, lay in what it enabled Voltaire to achieve. In 1758, he purchased Ferney, strategically located on the French-Swiss border. There, he not only wrote but also established a successful watchmaking factory, employing Genevan artisans displaced by civil unrest. He used his network of European royalty to sell his watches, transforming Ferney into a prosperous micro-empire. From Ferney, he spearheaded his most impactful humanitarian and philosophical battles, including financing the defense of Jean Calas, wrongly accused and executed, and denouncing the execution of the Chevalier de la Barre for blasphemy. His writings, such as the *Treatise on Tolerance*, the *Philosophical Dictionary*, and *Candide*, were made possible by his financial invulnerability, allowing him to speak without fear of reprisal. Unlike his earlier humiliation by Rohan, his wealth now rendered him untouchable. The narrative also highlights La Condamine's crucial role. After receiving his share of the lottery winnings, he joined the Academy of Sciences and led a decade-long expedition to Peru to verify Newton's theory on the Earth's shape. He navigated the Amazon, creating the first scientific map of the basin and introducing rubber and quinine to Europe. He returned to France, advocating for smallpox vaccination and indirectly saving millions of lives. The video concludes by emphasizing the extraordinary confluence of events: legally acquired wealth from a flawed lottery funded both foundational texts for human rights and significant scientific discoveries. Voltaire’s success stemmed from his meticulous reading of rules, a critical thinking approach applicable to modern life, particularly in comparing insurance policies on lesfurets.com. This financial security allowed him to challenge injustice and transform the world.