Lysander Spooner — Radical Individualist

One of the great intellectual treats for many has been the discovery of a man with a very odd name — Lysander Spooner (1808-1887). For any individualist, he is a welcome discovery Spooner was  a legal jurist and an abolitionist. His core belief was that government itself, at least as it was constructed in the US, was illegal. His stand was unusual in that the creation of the United States was considered by most as the most unique experiment in governance in history. He was out-of-step even for his own time. Today, his positions are ignored. Most have never been refuted. They are conveniently ignored.

Spooner recognized government as a shake-down racket. He claimed that the Constitution was non-binding because it was not entered into as a contract by individuals but only by a very small minority of the people who then set themselves up as the government and imposed their rule on the rest.

Today, he is viewed as a kook and that is unfortunate. His logic was sound and never properly refuted. For anyone interested in discovering the world as seen through the eyes (and legal reasoning) of a radical individualist, his work is recommended.

His presence was inconvenient then and likely incomprehensible to most today. To entice your interest, here is a passage of his regarding government. Hopefully, it will result in your discovering a man mostly erased from history.

… this theory of our government is wholly different from the practical fact. The fact is that the government, like a highwayman, says to a man: Your money, or your life. And many, if not most, taxes are paid under the compulsion of that threat.

The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the road side, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets. But the robbery is none the less a robbery on that account; and it is far more dastardly and shameful.

The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit. He does not pretend to be anything but a robber. He has not acquired impudence enough to profess to be merely a “protector,” and that he takes men’s money against their will, merely to enable him to “protect” those infatuated travellers, who feel perfectly able to protect themselves, or do not appreciate his peculiar system of protection. He is too sensible a man to make such professions as these. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do. He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful “sovereign,” on account of the “protection” he affords you. He does not keep “protecting” you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. He is too much of a gentleman to be guilty of such impostures, and insults, and villanies as these. In short, he does not, in addition to robbing you, attempt to make you either his dupe or his slave.

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Spooner’s work is widely available on the internet. A good source for him and other champions of liberty is the Online Library of Liberty. Twenty-five of his titles are on line and can be gotten to directly by clicking on this link.

Expand your mind at the great risk of getting angry at what has happened to this country.