If, on the other hand, the rule of decision be these principles of natural equity and justice, which constitute, or at least are embodied in, the general conscience of mankind, the people are free in just so far as that conscience is enlightened.
Spooner posits that the people's freedom is directly related to their understanding of natural equity and justice.
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Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.
The answer is, that they are as reliable for that purpose as are the majority; they are as much presumed to have associated, and are as likely to have associated, for that object, as are the majority; and they have as much interest in such…
From the sale of that justice which every citizen has a right to demand, it was an easy transition to withhold or deny it.
It would also be making them consent to what they regard as the destruction of their own rights.