I’ll never forget the story of the communist regime in Poland throwing in the towel and giving up because the people were “ungovernable”.
Be ungovernable.
If you don’t want to be oppressed, harassed, cajoled, propagandized, gaslit, brainwashed, abused, taxed, regulated, and coerced into submission, the only real solution is within yourself. Let your very existence be an act of rebellion.
The kind of person who just thinks different and acts in accordance with their own internal guide takes immense resources to control. Eventually, would-be rulers have to give up and go find less exhausting marks. Many people may try to oppress you. They may succeed in making your life miserable and inflicting suffering. But don’t ever let them succeed in controlling you with the ease they need to sustain it.
You belong to no man. They can cage or kill you, but they can’t tame you if you choose to remain free.