i think it's less machiavellian than that, but you're on the right track. people a create stories to convince people b that they should give all their power to people a. and then large swarths of people b just go along with it such that when people a die, people b continue the story genuinely believing in it, minus a few dissenters who are larping. that's how it's always been. christianity was a revenge fantasy against rome by semitic slaves that were brought into rome.
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