When our first positive impressions take the lead, they color everything that follows, blurring our view of the bigger picture. As a result, we can overlook crucial details, misread reality, and leap to conclusions. This effect casts a flattering light on the 'trapping of power,' tempting us to see these things in a better light than they truly deserve.
A Learning Approach
Writing Sacred Blood made me see that I had been actively pushing back against the idea that our social, political, and economic systems are just the way things are and can't be changed.
It also helped me notice how this belief makes it seem like these systems work for everyone, when, in reality, they are set up to benefit those in power the most.
I also realized that anti-capitalists struggle to create a shared culture with their own values that can challenge cultural hegemony will fail. The dominant culture is so appealing, especially because people believe in its supposed virtues, that it keeps drawing people in.
The halo effect reveals why the oppressed often embraced customs and values that undermined their own well-being. Winning hearts and minds was not just about strong leadership or revolutionary theory.
Yet, ancient history showed that even the most imposing systems hide an Achilles' heel, a fatal weakness, waiting to be found.
