They have no right, by perverting this government of the whole, to the accomplishment of purposes desired only by a part, to compel any one to contribute to purposes that are either useless or injurious to himself.
Lysander Spooner: “They have no right, by perverting this government of the whole, to the accomplishment of purposes desired only by a…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that no one should be compelled to support purposes that are harmful or useless to them.
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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.
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 carry their heads high, above all other men, and demand our reverence and admiration, as statesmen, patriots, and benefactors.
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…