But that the people are stronger than the government, and will

The words of Lysander Spooner strike like a thunderbolt across the ages: “But that the people are stronger than the government, and will resist in extreme cases, our governments would be little or nothing else than organized systems of plunder and oppression.” In this single sentence, he distills the eternal tension between power and liberty, between those who rule and those who are ruled. Spooner, a fierce American abolitionist and legal philosopher of the 19th century, was no idle dreamer. He understood that government, if left unchecked by the will and courage of the people, degenerates not into a guardian of justice, but into a predator cloaked in law. His words echo from the same fire that forged the Declaration of Independence — the conviction that the authority of rulers exists only by the consent of the governed, and that when that consent is betrayed, the people must rise.

To understand the meaning of this quote, one must first recognize Spooner’s worldview: he saw government not as an inherent good, but as a dangerous instrument. Power, he believed, has a corrupting tendency; without the vigilance and strength of the people, it becomes an “organized system of plunder” — legalized theft and domination. This was no mere theory for Spooner. He lived through an America that professed liberty while enslaving millions. He defied the Fugitive Slave Act, risking imprisonment to help escaped slaves reach freedom, because he knew that when laws violate justice, resistance becomes a moral duty. Thus, when he said that the people must be stronger than the government, he spoke not only of physical strength, but of the moral fortitude to defy tyranny in all its forms.

History bears witness to his truth. Consider the American Revolution itself — a rebellion born from the very principle Spooner cherished. When King George III imposed taxes without consent and trampled colonial rights, the people did not bow in submission. They resisted. They declared that government’s only purpose is to secure the natural rights of man — life, liberty, and property — and when it becomes destructive of those ends, it is not only the right but the duty of the people to alter or abolish it. This is the essence of Spooner’s warning: that freedom survives only where men and women refuse to be passive before injustice. A people who will not resist are doomed to be ruled by those who will exploit.

And yet, Spooner’s insight extends beyond the battlefield of revolution. He understood the subtle forms of oppression — the ones that creep under the guise of benevolence or “for your safety.” Governments do not always enslave with chains; sometimes they enslave with paperwork, with taxes, with surveillance, with laws that promise security but deliver submission. In every age, the struggle renews itself: whether against emperors, dictators, or bureaucracies that forget their purpose. Spooner reminds us that liberty is not a gift handed down by rulers; it is a birthright preserved by courage.

The tale of Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia serves as a modern reflection of Spooner’s philosophy. Under communist rule, the state had become precisely what Spooner warned of — a vast machine of plunder and deception. Yet Havel, armed only with truth and the will of the people, defied it through words and moral clarity. When enough hearts awoke, the Velvet Revolution swept the oppressors away without a single shot fired. It was the strength of the people’s conscience, not weapons, that dissolved the tyranny of the state. This was Spooner’s vision made real: that the people, when united in resolve, are stronger than any government that forgets its duty.

Thus, the lesson of Spooner’s words is eternal: freedom is never safe in the hands of power. The people must remain ever watchful, ever ready to challenge laws that serve privilege instead of justice. A government that fears its people is a democracy; a people who fear their government live in chains. Strength, in this sense, is not measured in armies or wealth, but in the courage to speak truth when silence is easier, to stand when bending is safer, to resist when obedience is demanded.

In our own lives, this teaching calls for action, not merely admiration. We must question authority with reason, resist corruption with integrity, and defend justice with steadfastness. Support those who dare to speak for the voiceless; educate yourself about the laws that govern you; never surrender your conscience to the machinery of the state. Let every citizen become a guardian of liberty, for the moment we grow indifferent, we invite the return of the “organized plunder” Spooner warned against.

Remember this, then, as a sacred inheritance: governments derive their power from the courage of the governed. When that courage dies, tyranny is reborn. But as long as even one free soul stands unbent, no government — however vast, however cruel — can ever truly conquer the spirit of man.