If, in private life, a man enters into a perfectly voluntary agreement to work for another, at some innocent and useful labor, for a day, a week, a month, or a year, he cannot lawfully be compelled to fulfil that contract; because such compulsion would be an acknowledgment of his right to sell his own liberty.
Lysander Spooner: “If, in private life, a man enters into a perfectly voluntary agreement to work for another, at some innocent and useful…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that individuals cannot be forced to fulfill voluntary agreements, as it would violate their liberty.
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They do not carry their heads high, above all other men, and demand our reverence and admiration, as statesmen, patriots, and benefactors.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.
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.
They do not tell us of the almshouses, hospitals, schools, churches, etc., which, out of the purest charity and benevolence, they maintain for our benefit, out of the money they take from us.