The hard fact is that most people are ignorant and stupid, and thus very easy to manipulate. Think of how easily US voters were persuaded to elect an infantile whining moron to the White House, and how easily British voters were persuaded to commit national suicide by Brexit. Wherever we look we see how gullible ordinary people are, and how easily they are duped by unscrupulous forces that perfectly understand how to manipulate them. This is one of many reasons why representative democracy is such a catastrophe, but as we are unable to grasp this fact, we are doomed to follow the path to total social collapse and the emergence of tyranny. One day, perhaps, we'll be ready to adopt more adequate systems of government based not on lies and empty promises of free ice-cream forever, but on capability and social merit. Until then, the advantage will continue to be in the hands of those who tell simple-minded lies to simple-minded people.