The Best of the OLL No. 22: Herbert Spencer, “The Right to Ignore the State” (1851)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. This is a chapter from Spencer’s book *Social Statics* where he explores the furthest reaches of the principle of equal liberty in arguing for the right of non-violent individuals to withdraw their consent from the state and thus “ignore it”.