Mystified power thrives when citizens are far from its sources

Evidence

While this kind of archaeology, maturing in the age of mechanical reproduction, was profoundly political, it was political at such a deep level that almost everyone, including the personnel of the colonial state (who, by the 1930s, were in most of Southeast Asia 90 per cent native) was unconscious of the fact. It had all become normal and everyday. It was precisely the infinite quotidian reproducibility of its regalia that revealed the real power of the state. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 675 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Excluded as it is from society and political representation, the mob turns of necessity to extraparliamentary action. Moreover, it is inclined to seek the real forces of political life in those movements and influences which are hidden from view and work behind the scenes. There can be no doubt that during the nineteenth century Jewry fell into this category, as did Freemasonry (especially in Latin countries) and the Jesuits. It is, of course, utterly untrue that any of these groups really constituted a secret society bent on dominating the world by means of a gigantic conspiracy. Nevertheless, it is true that their influence, however overt it may have been, was exerted beyond the formal realm of politics, operating on a large scale in lobbies, lodges, and the confessional. Ever since the French Revolution these three groups have shared the doubtful honor of being, in the eyes of the European mob, the pivotal point of world politics. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 311 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Much societal power remains beyond the political system’s reach; The state’s power works most effectively when its political nature becomes invisible and everyday — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 675; Power produces the individual rather than merely repressing it — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 301 (+13 more)

Related

• Political exclusion drives the mob toward conspiratorial readings of power (similarity 0.84)
• In totalitarian states, real power correlates inversely with institutional visibility (similarity 0.84)
• The state’s power works most effectively when its political nature becomes invisible and everyday (similarity 0.82)
• Power grows stronger the less visible it is (similarity 0.80)
• Outsiders misconstrue tightly organized social groups as secret conspiracies. (similarity 0.79)
• Power can be wielded quietly by overlooked figures (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The state’s power works most effectively when its political nature becomes invisible and everyday #exemplifies (0.85) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 675
• Much societal power remains beyond the political system’s reach #expands (0.80)
• Political exclusion drives the mob toward conspiratorial readings of power #expands (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 311
• Governments work when citizens do not actively distrust them. #corroborates (0.75)
• Institutional power persists even in egalitarian settings that believe they disavowed it #exemplifies (0.75)
• Power produces the individual rather than merely repressing it #exemplifies (0.72) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 301
• In totalitarian states, real power correlates inversely with institutional visibility #contradicts (0.72)
• Coercive government power depends on voluntary cooperation from many #qualifies (0.72)
• Ungrounded faith in government benefits the powerful, not the faithful #qualifies (0.72)