I was reading somewhere about a study that showed people who watch TV junk like reality shows are more likely to vote for populist politicians. It has something to do with not taking time to learn about what is happening in politics. The culture has changed and some people just want soundbites they can like/vote. It wouldn't surprise me if certain forces are encouraging this. Have you way The Great Hack about Cambridge Analytica? Scary stuff
I heard something about Cambridge Analytica swayying peoples perceptions about stuff and having some great effect on the polls of brexit or some other thing..
Sadly a lot of what you say here above seems to back my hunches about things being engineered to dumb us down and keep us away from the true true.