On the record
If laws were to be received by them on the authority of these officers, the latter would have imposed such laws upon the people as they pleased.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “If laws were to be received by them on the authority of these officers, the latter would have imposed such laws upon the…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner warns against the dangers of laws imposed by authority without the people's consent.
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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.
On the contrary, they acknowledge themselves robbers, murderers, and villains, pure and simple.
They neither ask, nor expect, any mercy, if they should ever fall into the hands of honest men.
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.