On the record
The government has no more right to claim the ownership of wilderness lands, than it has to claim the ownership of the sunshine, the water, or the atmosphere.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “The government has no more right to claim the ownership of wilderness lands, than it has to claim the ownership of the…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner compares the government's claim over land to its claim over natural resources, arguing against such ownership.
Share
More from Lysander Spooner
They were even allowed to grant pardon to criminals, and to correct by their clemency the rigors of justice.
That the legislation of the king was of no authority over a jury, is further proved by the oath taken by the kings at their coronation.
It was simply, that they would neither convict the innocent, nor acquit the guilty.
And nobody is bound to take the least notice of them, unless it be to trample them under foot, as usurpations.