Topic: Lysander Spooner

Organized crime theory suggests that government was never intended to protect life or liberty but exists to facilitate theft by a ruling class. The concept of a social contract is challenged on the basis that individuals cannot be bound by a Constitution they did not personally sign. It is argued that a group cannot collectively exercise a right, such as taxation, that no individual member possesses naturally.

Abolitionist Lysander Spooner’s 1870 work, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, argues that the U.S. Constitution lacks legal validity. Historical records suggest the 1787 Philadelphia Convention was hijacked to replace the Articles of Confederation without authorization. At the time of the first elections, less than 1% of the population actually voted, yet newspapers and bankers portrayed the new government as a legitimate mandate.

Discordians claim a symbolic connection to the "V" peace sign through the "Law of Fives," a central numerical concept in their philosophy. The movement's political roots are tied to 1960s anarcho-libertarianism, influenced by figures like Lysander Spooner and the eccentric Emperor Norton of San Francisco. These influences led Discordians to create their own alternative currency known as "flax notes."