"Now, it is surely true that in any period of human history, there will always be those who feel most comfortable in ranks and orders. As Étienne de La Boétie had already pointed out in the 16th century, the source of 'voluntary servitude' is arguably the most important political question of them all. But where do the statistics come from, to support such grand claims? Are they reliable? Venture down into the footnotes, and you discover that everyone is citing the same source..." David Wengrow (who you may remember from this brief pamphlet he coauthored) on where we get the idea that most people have lived within empires (Aeon).