Power is always dangerous to those without it.  It thrives on taking, never on giving.  If they gain, it’s at your expense.  There is no mutual growth—only their expansion and your loss.  In a free exchange between individuals, both parties leave better off.  In statism, only one side gains, and it’s never you.  The machinery of power is designed to pull resources, rights, and authority upward, while pushing restrictions, obligations, and costs downward.

They don’t seize power by accident.  It’s not granted through goodwill.  It’s taken through a calculated process of manipulation, deception, and relentless shaping of public opinion.  Propaganda isn’t a side project—it’s their primary tool.  They convince you that their interventions are necessary, that the dangers are real, and that without their “guidance,” you would be adrift in chaos.  The threats might be imaginary, exaggerated, or outright manufactured.  The more you fear, the more you tolerate their control.

They invent enemies, foreign and domestic, and portray themselves as the sole barrier between you and disaster.  They tell you your freedoms must be restricted “temporarily” to protect you.  Temporary measures have a way of becoming permanent fixtures.  Those who profit from your fear have no interest in removing it.  Fear isn’t an accident—it’s the fuel.  Every new law, every new agency, every new “emergency” reinforces the leash around your neck.

This is nothing new.  Tyrants of the past staged grand trials, executed enemies in public, and used theater to show their power.  Today’s rulers wear tailored suits instead of military uniforms, and their trials take place in the court of public opinion—trial by media, trial by narrative.  The performance is the same.  They dangle promises of prosperity, justice, and equality, knowing these words are bait.  The masses step forward, drawn to the glow, only to find the light is the flame that burns them.

The conditioning begins early.  From the schoolroom to the entertainment screen, the narrative is woven into every subject, every story, every “fact.” History is edited to glorify power.  Economics is twisted to make theft look like charity.  Patriotism is distorted into obedience.  By the time you’re old enough to question it, the slogans are deeply planted, and the majority never uproots them.  They repeat them as if they were their own original thoughts.  They become the loudest enforcers of the very system that robs them.

Understand the pattern: the problems they claim to solve are the ones they create.  They weaken the economy, then offer more regulation.  They provoke conflict, then sell themselves as peacemakers.  They create scarcity, then expand their control in the name of distribution.  Every crisis is an excuse, and the excuse is always the same—give them more power.  The result is always the same—you end up with less.

Never mistake statism for a partnership.  It’s not here to work with you, only over you.  It doesn’t negotiate—it dictates.  It’s not about balance or fairness, it’s about complete subjugation.  Statism can’t coexist with true freedom because its very existence requires taking it from you.  The only real win-win exists where people are free to deal with each other voluntarily—without force, without manipulation, without the poison of power.

Reference

Hannah Arendt; The Origins of Totalitarianism