In addition, the entire advertising-based consumer economy is based on getting the potential consumer to buy the product by whatever means available. A public

In addition, the entire advertising-based consumer economy is based on getting the potential consumer to buy the product by whatever means available. A public education system that creates a population conditioned to believe whatever any 'authority figure' says is also a system designed to create a population ripe for exploitation by advertisers. Similarly, the ideal authoritarian state desires a population that is generally ignorant and obedient, and that's what's been created in much of the United States. A general population that has the tools and skills needed to independently analyze the claims of government authority figures and cable TV and Internet advertisers, that's not what an elitist-authoritarian system desires. It's very sad to see people who completely lack these tools and skills attempting to do their own well-intentioned analysis, they're so easily manipulated by dishonest actors. They know enough to distrust 'authority figures', but not enough to conduct independent evaluations of claims. Such people have been sabotaged by the educational system.