Look, part of the whole technique of disempowering people is to make sure that the real agents of change fall out of history, and are never recognized in the culture for what they are. So it's necessary to distort history and make it look as if Great Men did everything - that's part of how you teach people they can't do anything, they're helpless, they just have to wait for some Great Man to come along and do it for them.
Noam Chomsky argues that in order to keep people disempowered, history is often distorted to highlight so-called "Great Men" as the sole agents of change. This narrative suggests that only a few exceptional individuals drive progress, effectively sidelining the contributions of ordinary people and obscuring their potential to effect change. By doing this, the power structures reinforce the idea that the masses are helpless and must wait for a heroic figure to lead them.
Chomsky emphasizes that this manipulation of historical recognition is a tactic to instill a sense of helplessness among people. When history is taught in a way that erases the role of collective action and grassroots movements, it undermines public confidence in their ability to enact change. As a result, the belief in individual agency diminishes, leaving society reliant on the notion of a savior rather than empowering them to recognize their own capabilities.
