Government!
Three fourths parasitic & the other fourth stupid fumbling — oh, he conceded that man, a social animal, could not avoid having government, any more than an individual man could escape his lifelong bondage to his bowels. But Harshaw did not have to like it.
Simply because an evil was inescapable was no reason to term it a “good.” He wished that government would wander off and get lost!
[Robert A. Heinlen, Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)]
Should a robber break into my house, and, with a dagger at my throat, make me seal deeds to convey my estate to him, would this give him any title? Just such a title by his sword has an unjust conqueror who forces me into submission.
The injury and the crime is equal, whether committed by the wearer of a crown or some petty villain.
[John Locke, The Second Treatise of Civil Government (1690)]
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The opinions expressed in this essay are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CCS.
