It's not that there aren't evil people pulling the strings to make us participate in their sick little game. There are people doing just that, but the thing is...most of what they do is pretty much in the open, much of it totally legal even. If you just *look* you can see the strings right there. They're built into our society and our laws.
The real life version of this shit is not intriguing most of the time... it's terribly banal.