Key Mental Models of Power Flows: Difference between revisions

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*Discussion is frequently wrong. For example, when we say $44k median household income, it means an absolute average of x per person when everyone is counted.
=Specific Cases=
==Narrative Control==
*Discussion is frequently wrong. For example, when we say $44k median household income, it means an absolute average of $27k per person when everyone is counted in 2026.
==Empires==
*imperial power - common power-concentration tendencies in so-called humans - [[48 Laws of Power]]
*imperial power - common power-concentration tendencies in so-called humans - [[48 Laws of Power]]
*influencing behavior -
*influencing behavior -


= Civilization Power Flows Canon (Expanded: Finance + Technofeudalism) =
= Civilization Power Flows Canon (Unified) =


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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| 1998
| 1998
| Power strategy
| Power strategy
| Codifies historical patterns of power acquisition, manipulation, and survival.
| Codifies patterns of power acquisition, manipulation, and survival across historical cases.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_48_Laws_of_Power
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_48_Laws_of_Power
|-
|-
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| 1532
| 1532
| Political power
| Political power
| Practical guide to maintaining state power through strategy, perception, and force.
| Foundational guide to maintaining power through strategy, perception, and control.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince
|-
|-
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| ~5th century BCE
| ~5th century BCE
| Strategy
| Strategy
| Strategic doctrine for conflict, deception, and indirect control.
| Doctrine of indirect strategy, deception, and positioning in conflict.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War
|-
|-
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| 1928
| 1928
| Narrative control
| Narrative control
| Explains how public opinion is engineered through media and messaging.
| Engineering of public opinion through media, symbols, and messaging.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)
|-
|-
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| 1988
| 1988
| Media systems
| Media systems
| Structural model of how media filters shape political perception.
| Structural model of media filtering shaping political perception.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent
|-
|-
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| 1974
| 1974
| Institutional power
| Institutional power
| Demonstrates how infrastructure control translates into long-term political dominance.
| Case study of infrastructure control as long-term political dominance.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Broker
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Broker
|-
|-
| The Dictator’s Handbook
| Seeing Like a State
| Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith
| James C. Scott
| 2011
| 1998
| Political incentives
| Governance failure
| Power maintained via coalition management and resource allocation.
| Explains how centralized power fails when ignoring local knowledge and complexity.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictator%27s_Handbook
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State
|-
| The Ruling Class (Elite Theory)
| Gaetano Mosca
| 1896
| Elite dynamics
| Establishes that all societies are governed by organized minorities (elites).
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Mosca
|-
|-
| The Managerial Revolution
| The Managerial Revolution
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| 1941
| 1941
| Institutional control
| Institutional control
| Rise of managers controlling large organizations instead of owners.
| Shift from ownership to managerial control of large-scale organizations.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Managerial_Revolution
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Managerial_Revolution
|-
| The Dictator’s Handbook
| Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith
| 2011
| Political incentives
| Power maintained through coalition management and resource distribution.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictator%27s_Handbook
|-
|-
| The Sovereign Individual
| The Sovereign Individual
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| 2013
| 2013
| Financial power
| Financial power
| Empirical analysis of wealth concentration and capital accumulation dynamics.
| Empirical model of wealth concentration and capital dominance.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century
|-
|-
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| 2011
| 2011
| Monetary systems
| Monetary systems
| Historical analysis of debt as a social and political power structure.
| Debt as a foundational social and political power mechanism.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years
|-
|-
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| 2008
| 2008
| Financial systems
| Financial systems
| Evolution of finance: credit, banking, and global capital markets.
| Evolution of banking, credit, and global finance systems.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Money
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Money
|-
|-
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| 2018
| 2018
| Monetary alternative
| Monetary alternative
| Hard money framework; critique of fiat systems and central banking.
| Hard money critique of fiat systems and central banking.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bitcoin_Standard
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bitcoin_Standard
|-
|-
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| Shoshana Zuboff
| Shoshana Zuboff
| 2019
| 2019
| Technofeudalism precursor
| Platform power
| Explains extraction of behavioral data as a new economic and power system.
| Behavioral data extraction as a new dominant economic and control system.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capitalism
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capitalism
|-
|-
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanis_Varoufakis
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanis_Varoufakis
|}
|}
= Structure of Civilization Power =
* Strategic Layer:
** The Art of War
** On War
* Political Power:
** The Prince
** The Dictator’s Handbook
* Elite / Social Control:
** The 48 Laws of Power
** The Ruling Class
* Institutional Power:
** The Power Broker
** The Managerial Revolution
** Seeing Like a State
* Narrative Control:
** Propaganda
** Manufacturing Consent
* Financial Power:
** Capital in the Twenty-First Century
** Debt: The First 5000 Years
** The Ascent of Money
** The Bitcoin Standard
* Platform / Technofeudal Power:
** The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
** Technofeudalism
* Macro Transitions:
** The Sovereign Individual


= Bottom Line =
= Bottom Line =


This table now includes authorship and historical context, allowing comparison across:
This unified stack explains how power evolves across civilizations:
 
* Physical force → strategy (Sun Tzu, Clausewitz)
* Political control → statecraft (Machiavelli)
* Institutional dominance → bureaucracy and infrastructure (Caro, Burnham)
* Narrative control → media systems (Bernays, Chomsky)
* Financial dominance → capital and debt systems (Piketty, Graeber)
* Platform control → data and access (Zuboff, Varoufakis)


* Pre-modern power (Machiavelli, Sun Tzu)
Modern power is defined by convergence of:
* Industrial/modern state power (Clausewitz, Burnham)
* Media and narrative control (Bernays, Chomsky)
* Financial dominance (Piketty, Graeber, Ferguson)
* Emerging platform control (Zuboff, Varoufakis)


Together, this shows the evolution of power from physical force → institutions → capital → platforms.
# Control of perception
# Control of institutions
# Control of capital
# Control of platforms
=Links=
*See also [[Top Civilization Engineering Books]] on social and behavioral power

Latest revision as of 11:19, 29 March 2026

Specific Cases

Narrative Control

  • Discussion is frequently wrong. For example, when we say $44k median household income, it means an absolute average of $27k per person when everyone is counted in 2026.

Empires

  • imperial power - common power-concentration tendencies in so-called humans - 48 Laws of Power
  • influencing behavior -

Civilization Power Flows Canon (Unified)

Book Author Year Domain Key Operational Value Link
The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene 1998 Power strategy Codifies patterns of power acquisition, manipulation, and survival across historical cases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_48_Laws_of_Power
The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli 1532 Political power Foundational guide to maintaining power through strategy, perception, and control. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince
The Art of War Sun Tzu ~5th century BCE Strategy Doctrine of indirect strategy, deception, and positioning in conflict. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War
On War Carl von Clausewitz 1832 Military theory War as continuation of politics; introduces friction and strategic realism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_War
Propaganda Edward Bernays 1928 Narrative control Engineering of public opinion through media, symbols, and messaging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)
Manufacturing Consent Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky 1988 Media systems Structural model of media filtering shaping political perception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent
The Power Broker Robert A. Caro 1974 Institutional power Case study of infrastructure control as long-term political dominance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Broker
Seeing Like a State James C. Scott 1998 Governance failure Explains how centralized power fails when ignoring local knowledge and complexity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State
The Ruling Class (Elite Theory) Gaetano Mosca 1896 Elite dynamics Establishes that all societies are governed by organized minorities (elites). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Mosca
The Managerial Revolution James Burnham 1941 Institutional control Shift from ownership to managerial control of large-scale organizations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Managerial_Revolution
The Dictator’s Handbook Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith 2011 Political incentives Power maintained through coalition management and resource distribution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictator%27s_Handbook
The Sovereign Individual James Dale Davidson & William Rees-Mogg 1997 Macro power shifts Predicts decentralization of power via technology and capital mobility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sovereign_Individual
Capital in the Twenty-First Century Thomas Piketty 2013 Financial power Empirical model of wealth concentration and capital dominance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century
Debt: The First 5000 Years David Graeber 2011 Monetary systems Debt as a foundational social and political power mechanism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years
The Ascent of Money Niall Ferguson 2008 Financial systems Evolution of banking, credit, and global finance systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Money
The Bitcoin Standard Saifedean Ammous 2018 Monetary alternative Hard money critique of fiat systems and central banking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bitcoin_Standard
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Shoshana Zuboff 2019 Platform power Behavioral data extraction as a new dominant economic and control system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capitalism
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism Yanis Varoufakis 2023 Platform power Argues shift from markets to platform-controlled rent extraction systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanis_Varoufakis

Structure of Civilization Power

  • Strategic Layer:
    • The Art of War
    • On War
  • Political Power:
    • The Prince
    • The Dictator’s Handbook
  • Elite / Social Control:
    • The 48 Laws of Power
    • The Ruling Class
  • Institutional Power:
    • The Power Broker
    • The Managerial Revolution
    • Seeing Like a State
  • Narrative Control:
    • Propaganda
    • Manufacturing Consent
  • Financial Power:
    • Capital in the Twenty-First Century
    • Debt: The First 5000 Years
    • The Ascent of Money
    • The Bitcoin Standard
  • Platform / Technofeudal Power:
    • The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
    • Technofeudalism
  • Macro Transitions:
    • The Sovereign Individual

Bottom Line

This unified stack explains how power evolves across civilizations:

  • Physical force → strategy (Sun Tzu, Clausewitz)
  • Political control → statecraft (Machiavelli)
  • Institutional dominance → bureaucracy and infrastructure (Caro, Burnham)
  • Narrative control → media systems (Bernays, Chomsky)
  • Financial dominance → capital and debt systems (Piketty, Graeber)
  • Platform control → data and access (Zuboff, Varoufakis)

Modern power is defined by convergence of:

  1. Control of perception
  2. Control of institutions
  3. Control of capital
  4. Control of platforms

Links

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