In his column today, Sheldon Richman argues that most of what we call “law” — the numerous mandates and prohibitions that politicians and bureaucrats impose on us — is not truly law. He introduces readers to one of America’s most original thinkers, Lysander Spooner, in making his case.
Spooner, incidentally, was himself victimized by unjust, authoritarian, and unconstitutional federal legislation. In the mid-1840s, he ran a company that successfully competed with the US Post Office. Rather than trying to compete more effectively, the Post Office lobbied for a monopoly on the delivery of first-class mail, a monopoly it still has and viciously protects.
