On the record
The answer to it is, that no government, however good in other respects--any more than any other good institution--has any right to live otherwise than on purely voluntary support.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “The answer to it is, that no government, however good in other respects--any more than any other good institution--has…”
Editor's note · Context
He argues that no government has the right to exist without the voluntary support of its citizens, regardless of its other merits.
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More from Lysander Spooner
For all these reasons, they are not only modest and sensible, but really frank, honest, and honorable villains, contrasted with these courts of injustice, and the lawmakers by whom these courts are established.
On the contrary, they acknowledge themselves robbers, murderers, and villains, pure and simple.
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 carry their heads high, above all other men, and demand our reverence and admiration, as statesmen, patriots, and benefactors.