By virtue of magical "government" dust. Made by the same substance used to create ink for the sacred "Social Contract" document that can't be broken, except if

By virtue of magical "government" dust. Made by the same substance used to create ink for the sacred "Social Contract" document that can't be broken, except if you move to Somalia where it has no power. /f On a more serious note, this is the stuff Libertarians have been talking about for decades. There is no consistency to government power and laws at all, so it's all smoke and mirrors. And only backed by circular power. I.e. Government gives itself legitimacy because it is government.