“It is not the troops on horseback, it is not the companies afoot, it is not arms that defend the tyrant. This does not seem credible on first thought, but it is nevertheless true that there are only four or five who maintain the dictator, four or five who keep the country in bondage to him. Five or six have always had access to his ear, and have either gone to him of their own accord, or else have been summoned by him, to be accomplices in his cruelties, companions in his pleasures, panders to his lusts, and sharers in his plunders. These six manage their chief so successfully that he comes to be held accountable not only for his own misdeeds but even for theirs.
“The six have six hundred who profit under them, and with the six hundred they do what they have accomplished with their tyrant. The six hundred maintain under them six thousand, whom they promote in rank, upon whom they confer the government of provinces or the direction of finances, in order that they may serve as instruments of avarice and cruelty, executing orders at the proper time and working such havoc all around that they could not last except under the shadow of the six hundred, nor be exempt from law and punishment except through their influence.*
* La Boétie, Étienne de. The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (LvMI) (p. 71-2). Ludwig von Mises Institute. Kindle Edition. (Kindle available at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FZ2L5W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (French: ... 1 November 1530 – 18 August 1563) was a French judge, writer and "a founder of modern political philosophy in France". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_de_La_Bo%C3%A9tie
NOTE: In my view, every soul , as soon as possible in 2021, should read the entire Part III in La Boétie's short book, written in the 1500s. I will be reviewing Parts I and II at Déjà Vu ~ Times (https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/) in the near future because of some reservations I have as to his idealism expressed in those first two parts; and also to cover some similar reservations in a recent book titled, Government - the Biggest Scam in History Exposed by nom de plume author Étienne de La Boétie2 [squared]. See How to Present Info for Visual Learners – #SolutionsWatch (video) (corbettreport | March 4, 2021 | Time 52:42 min.) at https://www.corbettreport.com/how-to-present-info-for-visual-learners-solutionswatch-video/
Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (French: ... 1 November 1530 – 18 August 1563) was a French judge, writer and "a founder of modern political philosophy in France". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_de_La_Bo%C3%A9tie
NOTE: In my view, every soul , as soon as possible in 2021, should read the entire Part III in La Boétie's short book, written in the 1500s. I will be reviewing Parts I and II at Déjà Vu ~ Times (https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/) in the near future because of some reservations I have as to his idealism expressed in those first two parts; and also to cover some similar reservations in a recent book titled, Government - the Biggest Scam in History Exposed by nom de plume author Étienne de La Boétie2 [squared]. See How to Present Info for Visual Learners – #SolutionsWatch (video) (corbettreport | March 4, 2021 | Time 52:42 min.) at https://www.corbettreport.com/how-to-present-info-for-visual-learners-solutionswatch-video/