And the protection of these separate, individual rights is the one only legitimate purpose, for which anything in the nature of a governing, or coercive, power has a right to exist.
Lysander Spooner: “And the protection of these separate, individual rights is the one only legitimate purpose, for which anything in the…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner defines the protection of individual rights as the sole legitimate purpose of government.
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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 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 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.