“There is no subjugation so perfect as that which keeps the appearance of freedom for in that way one captures volition itself.”

Absolutely profound and perfectly descriptive of the state of the U.S. today.

i.e. "We need to prohibit handguns to make us feel safer." Personally, I carry to BE safer.

The prerequisite of the perception of Reality is discernment that is not reliant on the dictates of matters of appearance, for appearances, not infrequently, do not faithfully reveal Reality.

Kind of like today in the USA.  Play upon people's fears, lie to them about impending doom, declare an 'emergency' to suspend liberty in exchange for security, steal from the people at every turn to keep them in dependency, and twist the plain meaning of words to mean their polar opposite.  The combination of hypnosis and propaganda keep the narrative going that 'service' to the state is 'freedom' and that dependency is a 'right'.

“I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves.”

~ Harriet Tubman

Provoke most any Amerikan (helot, serf and/or slave) by asking, "give a hard definition of freedom and liberty". They can't, they haven't heard it, lived it or conceived it. Subjection to tyranny with a grand ignorance is what follows. By way of example: — "the more licenses I have, the freer I am; or, socialism is not a religion of despotism, etc.