This sentence was written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and was aimed at explaining slavery as something tyrannical and suffocating, which does not allow the responsibility and the rights of each man over himself, because it makes some men have too much power over others, while other men have no alternative but to completely obey the powerful, losing their freedom, autonomy and responsibility over themselves and their own actions.
Although polarization drives some improvements towards democratization and political scientists show that politicians support polarization, divisions have become more one-sided.