Astute observation.

I agree it is not power. They concede any power and self sovereignty to the most convincing, coherent, authority message and image that does not deviate nor perturbe the accepted blob of common knowledge ("common knowledge" itself continually redefined in a closed feedback loop curated by social engineers).

In my own thoughts trying to reverse engineer this mindset, I can only think of a Venn diagram union of several channels and developments to make it inevitable. Of course Mockingbird Media is key in providing the details for what to believe. But minds fertile for Mockingbird messaging need to have been tilled a certain way. So for that I think the broader social imaginary is at work; specifically about this idea of assigning a higher value to identity groups over individuals. So for example, if an individual demonstrates critical thinking independent of or contrary to some top-down information messaging from some authoritative entity, to them this is a vice not a virtue. For them, the virtuous path is to maintain a coherent group identity, even if shifting and contradictory messaging is required to maintain it.

This is of course happening on a subconscious psychological level, but seems very real.

There's also the longer history leading to this The big trajectory seems to start with Hegel. TikHistory on Youtube has an excellent video breaking down Hegel's key ideas that shaped Marx and Socialism, and explains why the Socialistic intelligentsia since then tend to be intellectually incoherent and evasive about reasoning for their views. Recommended watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kzZoK5CtJ8