How We Enslave Ourselves
Lessons From A 16th Century Philosopher
Born in 1530 in Sarlat, southwest France, Etienne de la Boetie made significant contributions to modern political philosophy in France through the timeless insights of the complex themes of his time.
His precociousness as an author and seminal political philosopher was equally stunning. At the age of 18, La Boetie was way ahead of his time, displaying remarkable clarity as he dissected abstract concepts.
He got his law degree from the University of Orleans which, in a period of religious dogmatism, was a beacon for free thought and inquiry. It was during his early years at the University that he wrote his radical and scintillating Discourse on Voluntary Servitude.
La Boetie had clear and lucid ruminations on what was the central problem of political theory.
La Boetie’s essay is packed with thought-provoking material and he attacks the State from different angles but the quote below sums up his core argument:
“ I should like merely to understand how it happens that so many men, so many villages, so many cities, so many nations, sometimes suffer under a single tyrant who has no other power than the power they give him; who is able to harm them only to the extent to which they have the willingness to bear with him; who could do them absolutely no injury unless they preferred to put up with him rather than contradict him. Surely a striking situation!”
The root cause of servitude, according to la Boetie, is consent from the public.
Why Don’t People Recoil from The Tentacles of the State?
Custom is one of the reasons La Boetie gives for servitude. A tyrant may find it difficult to get to power, but once he’s in, toppling him can be very difficult. It follows that generations born under the tyrant may find the system into which they are born normal.
In Africa, a President may hold on to power for over 30 years. That’s a whole generation of young people who have not known any other leader. Removing him from power, even in the context of democratic elections can be very difficult.
Tyrants also entrenched their power by distributing social amenities for free.
We’ve seen how during this pandemic that has ravaged the world, politicians have positioned themselves as saviors. We keep on hearing pronouncements such as stimulus package, bail-out and so on. It is a time for politicians to showcase their leadership skills by printing and dishing out money.
The immediate consequence is inflation with increases in prices practically on a weekly basis especially for poor African countries. The long term problems are that the “free” money being dished out now will be paid back by people who are not even born.
Government intervention during pandemics, natural disasters, wars or economic depression is expected and has happened throughout history.
What is vexing is how the political elites want to take the credit for dishing out public resources that will eventually be paid by the tax payers. Apparently even during the time La Boetie lived, such was the norm as he succinctly illustrated:
“Tyrants would distribute largesse, a bushel of wheat, a gallon of wine, and a sesterce: and then everybody would shamelessly cry, “Long live the King!” The fools did not realize that they were merely recovering a portion of their own property, and that their ruler could not have given them what they were receiving without having first taken it from them.”
Cronyism is another way politicians hold on to power. Modern day leaders surround themselves with a select clique that usually benefit directly from the table of the demagogue. They in turn have people under them who benefit from the spoils. The net effect is some form of trickle down concept that only a select few in society are privy. The society is then divided between the rich and the poor, often exacerbating existing inequalities.
In the end you have a divided nation that is easy to rule.
How Can People Reclaim Their Freedom?
The most common method in the modern world of getting rid of a modern day tyrant would be through elections or protests on the streets that start off as peaceful but end up violent with the shedding of blood and the loss of lives. These methods have been and continue to be effective.
Etienne de la Boetie suggests another way to get rid of the tyrant. His argument was that the tyrant stays in power only because of the consent of the citizens. Without this consent, the tyrant would be toppled. All that is needed, is a desire to be free. And so,
“Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.”
Apart from withdrawal of consent, La Boetie proposed education as a means to get rid of the tyrant. He observed that there were a select group of men and women in society who will always yearn for freedom and through education would see the tyrant for who he is. According to La Boetie
“there are always a few, better endowed than others, who feel the weight of the yoke and cannot restrain themselves from attempting to shake it off.”
Even if freedom were to disappear from the earth, these men and women would take it upon themselves to reinvent freedom. It is incumbent upon these champions of freedom to educate themselves and the rest of the population about the tricks of the tyrant so everyone can see through him and withdraw their consent.
Final Thoughts
Etienne De La Boetie died in 1563 at the age of 32. Fortunately, he wrote The Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, which has outlived him for over 400 years. His essay was an accurate attempt to show government for what it is: a necessary evil.
That we are living in democracies blinds us to the encroaching power of the government. Their methods are so subtle that most would not be aware due to the sheer noise and excessive flood of information that drowns us.
Sifting through the noise can be arduous. Those concerned with freedom must educate themselves and extend the education to their neighbors so we can all see through the tactics La Boetie warned about.
With freedom hanging by the thread in the 21st century, La Boetie message is ever so penetrating, ever so relevant than it was in the 16th century.
