As I have mentioned previously, history is a very important subject that is vastly underrated by the majority of people. Our sense of who we are and why our present situation is the way it is derives from our understanding and reading of history. This is why the historical narrative is so carefully controlled. History is a vast area composed of many different overlapping layers. To understand ourselves, we need to understand or know of these different layers. Most of history that we read is the history of states. We are taught about the interactions of different states with each other. However, most of history is composed of what happens inside the state. How did the various groups and classes of people interact with each other? How did the particular economic system of a nation evolve? How did these interactions affect the political development of a nation? What were the causes of major events like industrialization? These are just some of the questions that need to be understood for a proper understanding of ourselves.
And this is precisely why persistent attempts are made to carefully control the historical narrative in every nation and at a global level. Various tools are used in this regard. The most effective of these is the classroom. Early indoctrination (and much of the history taught in schools is basically indoctrination) is extremely hard to overcome. This is supplemented by cultural tools. In the past, these were primarily books but now they also include movies, television and songs. An active attempt is made to convince the mass of people that the current state of affairs in all respects is inevitable and immutable. All other historical narratives are false or misleading or shallow. Convince people about this and they will willingly endure great inequality convinced that there is no alternate.
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