Is it possible or even likely, that this "extremely well-resourced and competent individual or small collective can simply escape this or negotiate to their benefit (think Elon)," was always the case, including Nation states, fraternities and religious organizations of course?
Discussion
Absolutely! It was basically _only_ the case in history. Lords, bishops, fief rulers, merchants - wannabe rulers had to deal with these high-agency individuals who were much harder to extract from and had a much easier time migrating to a friendlier protection provider. Its only the modern democratic welfare state(post-1700s) that directly taxes enormous masses, much to its benefit.
