Lysander Spooner: “Now, sir, this is the real character of the government of the United…”

On the record

Now, sir, this is the real character of the government of the United States, as it is of all other lawmaking governments.

Said by

Lysander Spooner

Source

Spooner describes his view of the true nature of the U.S. government in relation to individual rights.

More from Lysander Spooner

They were even allowed to grant pardon to criminals, and to correct by their clemency the rigors of justice.

It is also sheer impudence, on their part, to assume that their commands are at all necessary to teach other men what is, and what is not, justice.

And nobody is bound to take the least notice of them, unless it be to trample them under foot, as usurpations.

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

Lysander Spooner: “Now, sir, this is the real character of the government of the United States, as it is of all other lawmaking…”