On the record
It might just as well be said that a man must consent to be bound hand and foot, in order to enable a government, or his friends, to protect him against an enemy.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “It might just as well be said that a man must consent to be bound hand and foot, in order to enable a government, or his…”
Editor's note · Context
This metaphor illustrates the absurdity of sacrificing personal freedom for the sake of security.
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More from Lysander Spooner
They neither ask, nor expect, any mercy, if they should ever fall into the hands of honest men.
They acknowledge it to be our unquestioned right and duty to kill them, if we can; that they expect nothing else, than that we will kill them, if we can; and that we are only fools and cowards, if we do not kill them, by any and every…
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.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.