Jan 19, 2021
Today Sam and Dave discuss Lysander Spooner on the Resistance
Library Podcast.
Lysander Spooner is an important – and not exactly obscure – figure
in the history of the liberty movement. He’s an idiosyncratic
figure from the 19th century with no small cheerleading section in
the 21st century. A bit of a throwback to a very different time,
Spooner was a champion of the labor movement and was even a member
of the First International at a time when socialists and anarchists
coexisted peacefully within that movement.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Spooner is that he
ran a private company in direct competition with the United States
Post Office. This endeavor predictably failed not because the
American Letter Mail Company couldn’t compete, but because Spooner
was hamstrung by lawfare.
Spooner was born in Athol, MA, in 1808, a descendant of Mayflower
pilgrims and the second of nine children. His career as a lawyer
set the template for the rest of his life’s work: Spooner had
studied under a number of prominent lawyers
(a
practice known as
“reading
law,” which was much more common at the time). However, he did not
have a degree and state law required that he study further under a
lawyer. He considered this legal discrimination and went ahead and
started practicing law anyway.
In 1836, the state legislature got rid of the requirement. Indeed,
Spooner was against any legal requirement for licensure of any
profession, something that would come up again later on in his
battle against the United States Post Office. This was part of
Spooner’s belief in a natural law, whereby any act of coercion
was
ipso facto
illegal.
Spooner’s law practice was not a success, nor were his attempts to
dabble in the real estate market. He moved back onto his father’s
farm in 1840. It was here that he hatched the plan for the American
Letter Mail Company.
You can read the full article “Lysander
Spooner: The Forgotten History of the Man Who Started the First
Private Post Office” at Ammo.com.
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