Are we complicit in our own domination?

Why do we obey powers we find disconnected or even tyrannical? In the 16th century, Étienne de la Boétie penned a small pamphlet that was distributed under the cloak during the era of the gabelle, a tax on salt, creating enormous discontent in France.

It was after his death that his friend, Michel de Montaigne, published the fifty-page text he had written as a teenager, which asserted that people themselves were placing themselves in a position of servitude, known as voluntary servitude. But why? According to de Boétie, he saw three reasons.

• First, it's all about habit. If we have become accustomed to believing that the natural order of things is to be submissive, it will be difficult to think differently.
  
  
• The second is the lulling of the people to sleep through games, entertainment and food, among other things. This was true in Roman times with gladiators, and modern capitalism relies on desires interpreted as needs that make us forget the whole structure of domination.
  
  
• The final ingredient in this servitude is the interest in submission. Typically, tyrants surround themselves with stooges who dominate others, who control others, and so on. The aim is to create "the idea that there's something to be gained from playing the game of submission" by having the opportunity to gain power over others.

This is why the authorities fear social equality, which for La Boétie helps to erode existing domination. Reaching out to others, developing solidarity and, above all, rejecting this dominated status inwardly would gradually help to erode the statue of power.

Running time: 6 minutes

Image: Sebastian Hansen from Pixabay