🟡 Introduction

Human societies are not sustained by law or force alone. They are sustained by the stories we tell... and by the stories we were told before we had a choice. You don't need an army to control the world. You just need a good story.

Stories that tell us who we are, what is right, what is wrong, who we should fear... and who we should obey. The way you live, the way you love, the way you work, the way you consume... it was not decided by you. It was written before. By others. In the name of something greater.

And you were just born inside the story.

"A story that, the more it is repeated, the more real it seems... although it is not." We are not talking about stories or movies. We are talking about the most powerful weapon ever used by human beings to organize, influence... and dominate: stories.

The human being is a narrative animal

Our brain is not designed to process data. It is designed to understand stories. From cave paintings to creation myths, storytelling was the way we found to make sense of chaos.

Before we could read, we could imagine. Before laws, we already had stories that explained why some things were right... and others were wrong.

It was not strength that brought us together as a species. It was the ability to imagine together. To believe in things that do not physically exist: gods, homelands, money or the future.

"Shared fictions allow us to cooperate in large numbers." - Yuval Noah Harari

Every human group needs a story. Without a story, there is no direction. Without a story, there is no meaning. Without story, there is no "we". Stories are not cultural trappings. They are the invisible glue of any civilization.

The layers of the story: how power fabricates reality

Reality, as we perceive it, is not a firm ground. It is an onion of narrative layers, laid one after the other throughout history. Each era, each system, each power group has told its own story. And those stories are not erased: they overlap.

From shamans who talked to spirits to kings who claimed to have divine blood, every power group has used stories to legitimize its position. Empires didn't just raise armies: they erected monuments, wrote maps, made laws. All of this supported a narrative: this is what is normal, this is what is right, this is what is true.

With time, new fictions emerged: science, the nation, progress. And later: the market, productivity, personal success as a measure of human value.

As the ruling classes evolved, so did the complexity of the narrative. Today, understanding reality requires cutting through many overlapping layers. Almost all designed to conceal, justify or normalize power structures.

Money as a meta-narrative

And in the midst of it all, one story stands out above the rest: money. Money doesn't just buy things. It buys time, attention, prestige, truth. It conditions which stories are heard... and which are not. What doesn't make a profit rarely gets a voice.

The story of democracy

For centuries, the dominant stories were told by a few: priests, monarchs, printers. The rest could only listen. Or obey.

But then a new narrative emerged: a story that asserted that we could all be part of the story. That power did not come from above, but from the people. That every voice counted.

That was democracy. A powerful fiction that, for the first time, proposed that the collective story should be written by everyone. It changed the world: constitutions, civil rights, elections, parliaments...

But, like all history, it also evolved. And not always in the expected direction. Although democracy promised participation, money - increasingly - began to dictate the rules of the game.

The illusion of choice

Today, many of the narratives we think we choose already come prefabricated: by corporate-funded media, by parties that respond to interests, by algorithms trained to give us what we think we want... which is exactly what they want us to want.

The media not only inform: they select. Social networks not only connect: they shape. Movies don't just entertain: they program.

And while you think you are choosing what to see, what to think, what to buy... when you realize it, you are already inside a story written for you.

Exit from someone else's story

We were taught to think that reality is too complex. That it cannot be changed. That the best thing to do is to adapt, compete and survive. But what if that complexity were part of the trick? A smokescreen for power to remain where it has always been: above, dispersed, invisible.

While below... we divide. We confront each other. We defend the interests of people who don't give a damn about us.

In the face of this, we do not need more certainties. We need lucidity, humility and common sense. To accept that understanding the world requires effort. That truth does not shout. It is sought. It is heard.

And above all, that we are not enemies among ourselves.

True resistance is understanding.
The will to look beyond the story we were given.
To think slowly.
And to make room for doubt — without fear.
Only then… will we begin to live, without someone else thinking for us.

Stories have always had power. From the founding myths that sustained entire tribes, to the grand religious and political narratives that shaped empires.

But what has changed radically is not only the content of the stories, but the speed, quantity and intentionality with which they are spread.

Before, there was time to contemplate. Today, stories have become industrialized. We no longer live the stories. Stories live us.

And in the midst of that noise, distinguishing what is real becomes an act of resistance. Because perhaps true freedom does not consist in inventing a prettier narrative, but in something much more difficult: seeing reality as it is. Without filters. Without embellishments. Without someone else thinking for you.

Closing

And yes... All this talk about the power of stories, manipulation and narratives that control you... has come to you through a social network. Filtered by an algorithm that doesn't even know if you're here because you were looking for answers... or just because you stayed up watching a cat video a second too long.

But look... if the system lets me slip through a crack... maybe there's still hope.


(Published by URBAWAKE - urbawake.com)