Spotlight On Liberty - Lysander Spooner

3 years ago
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For this video, I am going to put the Spotlight on "Natural Law, or The Science of Justice", which Spooner wrote and then published as a pamphlet in 1882.

Lysander Spooner Short Bio:
Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) is the American individualist anarchist and legal theorist known mainly for setting up a commercial post office in competition with the government and thereby being shut down.
But he was also the author of some of the most radical political and economic writings of the 19th century, and continues to have a huge influence on libertarian thinkers today.
He was a dedicated opponent of slavery in all its forms — even advocating guerrilla war to stop it — but also a dedicated opponent of the federal invasion of the South and its postwar reconstruction.

Spooner's writings include the abolitionist book "The Unconstitutionality of Slavery" and "No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority".

People should not take the use of the word "man" and "men" in Spooner's writings as any sort of dismissal of women. The term is used as a catch all for "human" or "humans". As a true anarchist, ALL humans are free individuals and I would contend this is exactly what Spooner meant and believed.
I will make some brief commentary on the terms "Anarchy" and Natural Law", due to the incorrect beliefs most people have in their minds regarding them.
The condition referred to as "Anarchy" is not the chaos and disorder that is portrayed by the media, politicians and most people in general. We merely have to break the word down, after looking at some related words. The word "monarchy" means "one ruler" or "rule by one". The word "oligarchy" means "a few rulers" or "rule by a few". The word "Anarchy" literally means "without rulers" or "without masters". However, there are still RULES in place.

This is where "Natural Law" comes into the picture, along with objective morality. This term does not mean that "the law of the jungle" or "survival of the fittest" concepts get applied to humanity. Among other fundamental Principles, Natural Law refers to the Truth that our Rights exist inherently in Nature itself; and that morality is objective.

Now, onto a short reading from Lysander Spooner's "Natural Law, or the Science of Justice".

Links:
Lysander Spooners "Natural Law, or The Science of Justice":
https://cdn.mises.org/Left%20and%20Right_3_1_7.pdf?token=sIltQy8R

Lysander Spooner biography and further information:
Mises.Org - https://mises.org/profile/lysander-spooner
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysander_Spooner

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