How the First Priest Became the First Ruler:

Gatekeeping the Divine – Claims only he can interpret gods’ will. (Tax in grain plz.)

Kingmaker Protocol – Tribal chief strong? "The gods favor him." Chief weak? "Sacrifice required."

Control the Calendar – "Plant when I say, or famine." (Oops, my "mistake" needs more offerings.)

Invent Debt – "You angered the spirits. Now you owe me 20 goats."

Evolution to Modern Priest-Kings:

Temple Bank – (Instead of "god’s house," it’s "the Federal Reserve.")

Sacrifice Interest – (No more burning cattle; just hand over your labor via compound %.)

Oracles Economists – (Same vague predictions, same elite protection.)

Why It Never Ends:

The original scam was realizing knowledge hoarding = control over suckers. Today:

Central bankers ("Only we understand money.")

Politicians ("Trust us to manage society.")

Tech giants ("Data is the new divine spark.")

TL;DR: The first guy who figured out information is leverage became humanity’s permanent overlord. The rest is just rebranding.