Today's would be revolutionaries worship the ideal, not the actual.
Propaganda is amazing when the government controls all media.
I swear they can make people believe anything.
totalitarian states also know the value of “high status” people and objects and they can also determine who has high status. People want to be part of the clever, knowing elite.
Stalin wasreportedly in an argument with his drunken son, accusing him of using the name Stalin to get favors and escape punishment for drunken escapades. The young man said,
“But I am Stalin too!” (i.e. family name)
Uncle Joe said, “You’re not Stalin and I’m not Stalin! Stalin is all those photographs and films! That’s who Stalin is!”
He knew perfectly well his image was a fake.
It’s depressing how little people question things.