On the record
They do not claim that they are robbing, enslaving, and murdering us, solely to secure our happiness and prosperity, and not from any selfish motives of their own.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
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gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “They do not claim that they are robbing, enslaving, and murdering us, solely to secure our happiness and prosperity, and…”
Editor's note · Context
This quote highlights Spooner's view on the self-serving nature of government actions.
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More from Lysander Spooner
They do not tell us that all liberty and order would be destroyed, that society itself would go to pieces, and man go back to barbarism, if it were not for the care, and supervision, and protection, they lavish upon us.
They do not tell us that they have established infallible supreme courts, to whom they refer all questions as to the legality of their acts, and that they do nothing that is not sanctioned by these courts.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.
When they have once taken our money, they have the decency to get out of our sight as soon as possible; they do not persist in following us, and robbing us, again and again, so long as we produce anything that they can take from us.