Every important aspect of our lives is totally misrepresented by the system. Our perception of reality is warped by the effects of being exposed to a massive amount of misinformation, lies, and outright propaganda.
This divergence between reality and our perception of it creates a generalized sense of anxiety in the population.
The actual state of affairs could be summarized as follows: The most powerful "entity" is the corporate boardroom (and its interlocking relationships). That entity follows a certain ethos that focuses mainly on the generation of short-term profits, constant growth, and the accumulation of wealth and power for a certain class of people (the ruling class). From this environment, a culture is born. That culture seeks to perpetuate itself.
So basically, think of the top honchos of Wall Street, or the top corporations, as using the corporate boardroom and its interlocking relationships as a vessel or system to extract wealth from society, and to acquire power.
This explains why people who commit massive crimes at very high levels are increasingly less likely to be held accountable. And we are talking about very massive crimes, like Bush taking us to war under false pretenses and with the added "benefit" of enriching the "friends-of-Bush" war profiteers, torture, or Wall Street stealing trillions of dollars in a series of ponzi-type scams.
The way this power structure becomes entrenched is quite simple: It uses money to buy off politicians (law makers, legislators). The politicians get money (bribes) from corporations (and moneyed powerful interests) in order to implement policies designed to extract wealth from society at the expense of the population.
Politicians get money when they are in office, and are also rewarded with other enticements once they leave office, including lucrative corporate positions. Also, staff that works for politicians are also influenced with promises of lucrative jobs, and special benefits from the private sector.
The Corporatocracy counts on a very sophisticated army of propagandists, including public relations firms, think tanks and business organizations like ALEC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
There are some core areas this powerful propaganda system focuses on: keeping people ignorant so they can be easily manipulated; demonizing or discrediting any institution meant to unite or educate the populace about how the system works; dividing people into multiple segments within society so they can be easily manipulated and pitted against each other (divide and conquer).
Through the control of the politicians, the Corporatocracy is able to weaken the proper function of government, especially when it comes to a sound regulatory framework tasked to prevent corruption, and dangerous accumulation of wealth and power.
Because this "system" seeks to consolidate its power, and to perpetuate itself, it also sets up a very sophisticated and militarized police state, using national security as a subterfuge.
As the system becomes more entrenched, the rate at which wealth and power is transferred from society (the population) to the ruling elite (interlocking board members, politicians, their families, and friends), accelerates.
This results in more people falling into poverty. Other byproducts include increase in crime, and an increased rate of death among poor people (for lack of health care, crime, etc.).
As poverty and ignorance spread throughout society, the role of the militarized police state also grows. The surveillance system of the police state is then turned against the citizens as an additional way of controlling them.
In the meantime, the ruling elite becomes more isolated from the rest of society, as they retreat behind walled or gated communities (with sophisticated protection systems).
Now, this is reality. This is what's really going on. And yet, for some reason, the average citizen is either unaware of it, or confused about how to deal with it.
This reality is not a perspective, or an opinion, or a particular world view. It just is. That's what the situation is.
And it doesn't change just because some people are doing very well financially, and other aren't.
So the question is, once a citizen becomes aware of this reality, does that citizen have a duty to confront it head on, regardless of his or her own personal (financial) situation?
Therein lies the quandary. Because people are indeed influenced by their own situation in life... Someone who is doing really well financially, and is in a very stable situation (all-around) may not feel the same urgency to take action to confront the corruption and rising oppression, as someone who has been severely affected.
But the main problem is one of cognition. The population is being exposed to a very powerful and inebriating "mist" of propaganda on a daily basis, specifically designed for keeping people from having a clear understanding of what's going on.
What would happen if everybody understood this situation accurately? Would that be considered a "massive awakening" by the population? And what would be the consequences of such awakening?