Lysander Spooner: “And they kept great standing armies, and hordes of pimps, spies, and…”

On the record

And they kept great standing armies, and hordes of pimps, spies, and ruffians, to keep the people in subjection.

Said by

Lysander Spooner

Source

Spooner describes the oppressive measures used by governments to maintain control over the populace.

More from Lysander Spooner

It was simply, that they would neither convict the innocent, nor acquit the guilty.

Therefore all their laws, as they call them,--that is, all the laws of their own making,--have no color of authority or obligation.

Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.

Since Magna Carta, we have evidence showing quite conclusively that all freemen, above the age of twenty-one years, were eligible as jurors.

Lysander Spooner: “And they kept great standing armies, and hordes of pimps, spies, and ruffians, to keep the people in subjection.”