There's different levels of 'knowing.' Talk to the average american, whether democrat or republican, and they'll happily spew out trite sayings: "all politicians are crooked," "those rich fucks don't know what it's like down here," or "the banks keep going up while my income's going down," ad nauseam. Yet, somehow, in every election, the person they are voting for somehow isn't a part of that, or is way better than 'the other guy.'

I think people have realized that the government rarely concerns itself with them, but the propaganda and social coercion into going along with the system is so incredibly strong, that people place a lot of different beliefs in their head box, and keep it them all separated and simply follow the herd.