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But, all power is, at its root, symbolic. Stalin only slaughtered as many as he did because people believed in the symbolic power of the state and in him as having some right to lead such an abstract entity with total authority.

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Not all power. The Pope, Stalin and the Emperor have the symbolic power to a greater or lesser extent.

The soldier aiming a gun at you or healthcare professional denying you access to contraception on the say-so of one of the above does have real power.

Excellent point. I suppose I was speaking to power structures, specifically, rather than power in the sense of personal ability. In the end, however, if you want to have power on the scale of civilizations, some, if not most of that power must be symbolic in nature. There's no way to hold a knife to a nation's throat for the long haul without at least a little loyal help.

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