Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Consent

"No attempt or pretence, that was ever carried into practical operation amongst civilized men -- unless possibly the pretence of a “Divine Right,” on the part of some, to govern and enslave others -- embodied so much of shameless absurdity, falsehood, impudence, robbery, usurpation, tyranny, and villany of every kind, as the attempt or pretence of establishing a government by consent, and getting the actual consent of only so many as may be necessary to keep the rest in subjection by force. Such a government is a mere conspiracy of the strong against the weak. It no more rests on consent than does the worst government on earth."
--Lysander Spooner
(1808-1887) Political theorist, activist, abolitionist
Source: No Treason. No. II The Constitution, (Boston: Published by the Author, 1867)

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