NATURAL LAW, OR THE SCIENCE OF JUSTICE
Lysander Spooner was one of the leading exponents of individualist anarchism and natural law.
A thinker and author whom I deeply admire.
Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) was not a library intellectual; he was a real nightmare for the bureaucrats of his time.
Born in Massachusetts, this jurist, philosopher, and radical abolitionist brought his ideas to life.
He was the man who dared to found his own postal service, the American Letter Mail Company, to compete against the state monopoly.
The result? He proved he could provide a more efficient and cheaper service.
Since the government couldn't beat him in the marketplace, it had to shut him down by force.
With that same intransigence, Spooner dedicated his life to dismantling the legal logic of power. In his work Natural Law (1882), he left us a legacy that shatters the very foundation of modern politics.
We have been taught that the law is what is written on a piece of paper signed by legislators. Spooner taught us that this is a dangerous lie.
For him, justice is a natural science, as immutable as gravity. It is the science of โmine and yoursโ; unrestricted respect for property and the person. Justice is not legislated; it is discovered.
Under this magnifying glass, Spooner rules that any attempt by the state to โcreateโ laws falls into a fatal absurdity:
-If written law coincides with Natural Law, it is redundant (it serves no purpose).
-If written law contradicts Natural Law, it is criminal (it violates rights).
The sovereign individual does not obey arbitrary laws; he respects natural rights. Everything else is tyranny disguised as paper.
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