On the record
And this is equivalent to denying all men's right to make their own contracts, or to acquire any contract rights, which congress may not afterward, at pleasure, alter, or abolish.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “And this is equivalent to denying all men's right to make their own contracts, or to acquire any contract rights, which…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner emphasizes that allowing Congress to alter contracts undermines individual rights to contract.
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More from Lysander Spooner
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.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.
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 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.