Legislation Essay, Research Paper

What, then, is legislation? It is an assumption by one man, or body ofmen, of absolute, irresponsible dominion over all other men whom theycan subject to their power. It is an assumption by one man, or body ofmen, of a right to subject all other men to their will and theirservice. It is an assumption by one man, or body of men, of a right toabolish outright all the natural rights, all the natural liberty of allother men; to make all other men their slaves; to arbitrarily dictate toall other men what they may, and may not do; what they may, and may not,have; what they may, and may not, be. It is, in short, the assumption

of a right to banish the principle of human rights, the principle ofjustice itself, from off the earth, and set up their own personal will,pleasure, and interest in its place. All this, and nothing less, isinvolved in the very idea that there can be any such thing aslegislation that is obligatory upon those upon whom it is imposed. From: Lysander Spooner’s”Natural Law, or the Science of Justice:A Treatise on Natural Law, Natural Justice, Natural Rights, NaturalLiberty, and Natural Society; Showing that All Legislation Whatsoever isan Absurdity, a Usurpation, and a Crime. Part First.”