Discourse on Voluntary Servitude: How People Become Servants Without Being Forced (Annotated Edition)

By Étienne de La Boétie

Why do people obey?
Why do entire societies submit to leaders who have no real power without them?
More than four centuries ago, tienne de La Bo tie wrote one of the most shocking answers ever given. People do not become slaves through force. They volunteer.

This annotated edition presents Discourse on Voluntary Servitude in a modern, accessible format with a new introduction and detailed commentary by Cernan Hortes.

Inside you will discover:
- Why La Bo tie believed tyranny depends on the willing support of ordinary people
- How obedience becomes a habit that feels like safety
- Why mass psychology is more dangerous than brute force
- How modern societies create voluntary servitude through comfort and distraction
- Why genuine freedom requires standing apart from the crowd

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in power, psychology, liberty, or the mechanisms of modern control.

Based on the public-domain Harry Kurz translation (1889-1973).
Includes a new 1,500-word introduction and 20 original annotations.

For readers of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Montaigne, Tolstoy, Zuboff, Orwell, Evola, and other critics of mass culture and conformity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G38YMDCR
• ISBN13: 9798275399905
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 0.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.0" x 8.0"