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And right now would be a really good time to remember.
“But if not one thing is yielded to them, if, without any violence they are simply not obeyed, they become naked and undone and as nothing, just as, when the root receives no nourishment, the branch withers and dies.”
Excerpt From The Politics of Obedience by Étienne de La Boétie, on how to defeat tyrants
Essayist Michel de Montaigne’s friend, Étienne de La Boétie, who died young back in the 1500s, left us a gift. He left us the secret of how to defeat tyranny. And although he only knew of the tyranny of kings, his idea applies to the tyranny of sheiks, and plutocrats, and corporate oppressors and other modern tyrants.
The secret is that oppressors have no power except that granted to them by the oppressed. And the tyrant is powerless once people choose to disobey and defy.
This is common sense, but common sense that is not discussed or — if even hinted at — shouted down because it is poison to the very cullture that makes tyranny possible.
To end tyranny, the current version which is destroying the habitability of our Earth and denying our grandchildren any future whatsoever, we must withdraw our support from those who abuse us. Then we must empower those with the ability and inclination to save the Earth, to…
