Screenshot of the chart by the Peterson Institute, from a news TV broadcast on MSNBC.
Propaganda is an effective tool for shaping public opinion. It has far less to do with the gullibility of the individual and far more to do with the sheer volume and homogeneity of the message being espoused in the community.
If everyone on TV is chanting the same message, everyone in your town is raised with the same educational orthodoxy, and every social medium promotes the same message, you’re going to be under enormous social pressure to accept the catechism as delivered.