Imagine you are the head of state. Your goal is to obtain, secure, maintain, and grow your power. To make this analogy easier to swallow, suppose you are also the head of a large, extended and dynastic family who is accustomed to a high level of privilege and access to power. You are fiercely loyal to your family, and you want to maintain the ultra-high standard of living to which they have become accustomed. And you want to leave behind a legacy that not only protects that standard but improves on it.
In order to meet your goals, you must dominate the population. Waging outright war on them is off the table. You want them cowed and obedient. You want them paying taxes, and you certainly do not want them to be speaking freely about the many subtle and overt ways by which you maintain and grow your power over them.
Now, imagine what kinds of things you would do to promote your goals. What would be the biggest threats to your dominance? Number one is the people themselves. The populace has all the real power, your job is to convince them to hand it to you.
Your first dilemma is the existence of any idea or institution that might have greater authority than you. These would be things like religion, a moral code, the family unit, and the instinct for self-preservation. You would want to create cultural movements that erode the meaning of these things.
Here’s Andrew Klavan with his take on a real weaponized cultural movement that fits the description perfectly.
