> It occured to me after posting that this was not clear. The
> power/violence distinction is of course commnplace (and valid). It's the
> shared truth as a preventive of war that strikes me as absurd.
>
> Carrol
>
I think I see what you mean: we want the oil, they know we want the oil--the shared understanding doesn't prevent war to get the oil. Back away from literal war example, and the point is mainstream Marxism: capitalist ideology such as the self-reliant individual becomes a shared truth in a society, and poor people will (for instance) willingly support the abolition of the estate tax for the capitalist class. It's much easier and more profitable to run a capitalist society with the consent of the governed rather than with the iron fist.
Miles