Are we being brainwashed?

As you've posed the question, no. Not any more so than the printing press or the telegraph. Any communication system that reaches many people can (and likely will) be used nefariously but that's inevitable given human behavior.

Secondly, your phrasing "the gov/illuminati/whoever" suggests you are wondering about some singular entity that is pervasive in culture and which runs the show. No such creature exists.

How 'bout google, facebook, and others of their ilk. Not brainwashing, precisely, but influential. I saw a recent article about facebook displaying employment advertisements. For some reason, the ads were only presented to people under age 38. Again, not brainwashing and definitely not government, but it definitely shows their potential.

No, I don't know what 'ilk' means.

a type of person or thing similar to one already referred to.
"the veiled suggestions that reporters of his ilk seem to be so good at"
synonyms: type, sort, class, category, group, set, bracket, genre, kidney, grain, species, race, strain, vintage, make, model, brand, stamp, variety, family
"Mrs Taylor and her ilk talk utter tripe"

Yeah, I sort of had that from context. Sometimes I do come away with some unusual misunderstandings.

Thanks.

You point to some entities and arrangements of power where the potential for "brainwashing" is increased. But that applies to the arrival of the printing press as well.

Are there folks out there who seek to manipulate our minds? Of course. That is what much marketing attempts ("blondes have more fun", "more doctors choose Winston cigarettes). Our questioner appeared to be asking about some singular entity which, behind the scenes and in secret, was manipulating the minds of great masses of people. Such an idea is a commonplace feature of theories we term "paranoid" (CIA seeds the atmosphere with toxins, the New Math was developed by Russia to ruin the minds of American children, etc). One key reason such notions are quite common is that they appeal to our preference for simplicity. It would be nice if there was just one entity creating bad things because we could easily fix what's perceived as wrong by targeting that one entity.

But Google and Facebook GM and Fox and Wall Street bankers don't have the same goals. They are often in conflict. Our problems are not so easily solved.

Well, sure. George Orwell didn't know about facebook.

What's a meme?

I don't talk tripe .. . tripe is so regusting . . . how can people eat that stuff ? ! ? ! ? (The additional punctuation marks are special, just for Centrox.)

I do thank everyone for joining this discussion, and its not a matter of whether there is someone/quite a few people (150-170) that control the world's money flow, natural resources, human resources and political agendas. History does infact capture such groups/families to exist, such as the Rothschild, Rockfellas, morgans and so on. I think it's ridiculous not to think that the worlds most powerful people in the business world, do not have any sway on global governments. Furthermore, i think it would be ignorant not to acknowledge the possibility of such a thing as a gov developed AI that could manipulate,spy on and influence the internet. Just watch Facebook executive (chamath palihapitiya) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6e1riShmak
speak out on such things as internet psychological programming. Why would such a respected programmer/businessperson, as him lie or falsify information he gets nothing in turn of revealing.

I wondered if this might go to Jewish bankers.

Veg out.

I don't know, but I suggest you stop asking the question or men in black suits and black sedans may pull up to your house soon.

haha well that will only mean that i was on the right track if it happens