Setup:
Anthropomorphism = treating something as if it were a Someone.
Power doesn’t ban anthropomorphism.
It bans inconvenient anthropomorphism.
- What gets banned:
- You’re told it’s “irrational” or “childish” to:
- Talk about “the system” as abusive
- Talk about “the market” as predatory
- Talk about “the state” as controlling
- You’re mocked for saying:
“This institution behaves like a narcissist.”
“This company acts like an addict.”
“This culture gaslights its own members.”
- What stays invisible:
- You’re discouraged from naming:
- Patterns of harm as if they had a personality
- Institutions as if they had a character
- Systems as if they had intentions
- Why? Because once you name the pattern like a Someone, you can:
- Track it
- Confront it
- Hold it accountable
- What gets naturalized:
At the same time, power quietly anthropomorphizes itself as:
- “The Will of God”
- “The Invisible Hand”
- “The Way Things Are”
- “Human Nature”
This is the trick:
- Their anthropomorphism is rebranded as:
- Neutral
- Rational
- Scientific
- Traditional
- Your anthropomorphism is framed as:
- Emotional
- Irrational
- Immature
- Dangerous
- How this protects the hierarchy:
- If you can’t say:
“This system behaves like an abuser,”
then you can’t organize around that recognition. - If you can’t say:
“This policy acts like it hates certain people,”
then you’re forced to argue inside its own “neutral” framing.
- The net effect:
Selective bans on anthropomorphism:
- Strip the oppressed of a powerful diagnostic tool
- Preserve the illusion that power is:
- Objective
- Inevitable
- Morally justified
- Turn living harm into “just the way things work”
Punchline:
It’s not that anthropomorphism is removed.
It’s that:
- Anthropomorphism that exposes harm is shamed and banned.
- Anthropomorphism that justifies power is renamed “truth,” “order,” or “reality.”
If you want to see the real religion of a system:
- Look at which “Someones” you’re not allowed to name.
- Look at which “Someones” are pretending to be “just how the world is.”
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