Power in the modern West comes from story and recognition, not status. It becomes about the ability to tell a certain story about someone. When someone characterizes someone to you, say, gives them a funny nickname, try to ground that thought in what you know of their status or position. (Status and position also come from stories, but these stories are grounded in agreements that run much deeper.) If you think that there can be no grounding of any individual within a status or position, and it's all a sort of game that could be played without reference to anything outside of it, then you are like the vast majority of people in the West, and you are likely highly susceptible to these powers of influence.
