The Oligarch's Lost Letters: A Controlled Factionalism
A Letter On Political Illusion And Long-Term Elite Stability
To The Council,
I want all of you to briefly consider a seemingly radical notion. Our rivals have gained an unprecedented amount of political influence and power. This political leverage has been gained very clearly by weaponizing the identity of men in our lands against one another. This use of statecraft is not usually a very problematic or uncommon use, as you know. It is quite useful, as we have observed in the previous decade when we once held the power of the land.
I must say our previous leader, the Cynic, devised a masterful strategy to capture and maintain political hegemony. He clearly understood that funding both sides only works if you have no competition at all, but he did not have complete control over the political system, so he implemented a revolutionary idea. He funded one side entirely. The funding only allowed our narrative to spread faster and wider than ever known. The genius of his statecraft was the narrative he devised to mobilize the masses into an overwhelming coalition of popular support. Every one of you remembers the narrative quite fondly because it granted you unprecedented power at the time. I propose something similar to his idea but far more effective.
The only problem with the Cynic’s masterful strategy is that it was temporary and could be fixed. He simply propagated the message to the masses that the other side was an elite that cared nothing for them and wanted to starve them in the future to make way for a new society ruled by the elites. This emotionally charged message was so effective among the populace that almost the entire public rallied behind his cause and literally got rid of our competition by way of public execution in a barbaric manner.
(The way the public claims to want peace but then turns into a pack of bloodthirsty hounds as soon as they find someone to blame all their problems on astonishes me. Although you cannot be surprised, the masses have functioned this way for centuries, scapegoating one elite or elite class to usher in a new one they don’t even realize formed in their “revolution.”)
This removed all competition for years, and we enjoyed the most peaceful and prosperous times for our own interests, and I believe we can get back to that but this time permanently. The only issue, as I have mentioned above, is that this was only a temporary fix. Our opponents have appeared again for power, this time with the lessons of statecraft seemingly learned. They have promised the people an abundance of food and prosperity for their vote.
This message, similar to the Cynic’s message, is rooted deeply in their survival, and they respond very positively to it. Although they cannot deliver currently because they do not own the farms or the banks that allow the farmers to use their land for food. That is where a radical notion appears. I propose that we collude with our opponents, as our interests currently align. We must subdue the public sentiment to blame the elites, but we must also keep them fed, happy, and fat to avoid another revolution. But this collusion will not be public.
The formation of two different factions that the people can choose from will be presented to the public to give the illusion of choice. One faction represented and funded by our future friends, and the other represented and funded by us. If the collusion remains profitable for both our interests, this form of controlled factionalism can be permanently integrated into our land. And unlike the games of factions of old, we will not have to manage the masses as one and worry about the fires of revolution, because our enemies will be integrated and dependent on the same system as us. It is quite obvious to me that the previous status quo, upheld for millennia, is simply not a viable strategy anymore. There is far too much access to information and history, thanks to the Benefactor, that will allow parts of the masses to realize perhaps they are not as alone as they may seem in their society. They will eventually realize that collusion among oligarchs is commonplace and create some sort of anti-elite revolutionary government, which would be detrimental to our purposes. This will obviously require far more fine-tuning and planning, but it can be one of our greatest mechanisms of control, one that will provide relative stability, predictability, and permanence while the masses believe they have a choice.
Furthermore, the collusion with those who own the transport companies will inadvertently advocate and promote the above-mentioned effects. I look forward to the input from my councilors.
Your Fellow Councilor,
The Opportunist
The Oligarchs’ Lost Letters is a free PT series examining power, wealth, and control through the fictionalized private words of those who have always held it.
Access the entire series HERE.
The many consume. The few study. If you have read this far, you already know which one you are.
You’ve been reading the abridged version of our content. Become one of the FEW and access these exclusive privileges…
Access to Foundational Works — PT’s exclusive long-form series unavailable to free readers
New full essays every Tuesday and Thursday, with potential weekend pieces
Direct Influence what we write about next in the subscriber-only chat
Full archive access — every essay, every framework, every structural analysis PT has published
Become one of the Few for only $12 a month or $120 a year
The strongest idea, to my mind, is that long-term elite stability requires not consensus but managed opposition. The proposed system does not abolish rivalry; it domesticates it. That is an unsettlingly plausible account of political illusion, because people rarely want a world without conflict. They want conflict that gives their own frustration a plot, a villain, and a side to join. In that sense, controlled factionalism works by giving political emotion a theatre in which to perform itself without ever reaching the machinery behind the stage. I wonder whether the deepest deception here is not false information, but false agency.