RE: Do we live in the matrix? Do we live in George Orwel's "1984? We are slaves? We are brainwashed? Do illuminati controls us?
Months? I spent decades. And what I concluded is that the problem is the people and not the system. Yes, I know how the system trains us to be compliant, ignorant, obedient, among other adjectives, however, the fact of the matter is that artificial entities and constructs do not do things. Only people do. Just as a wrench does not fix a car, nor does a gun kill, the person using the tool or instrument is the one responsible for the deed whether it be good or bad.
In the Declaration of Independence, the self evident truth was expressed that governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. I believe that whole heartedly. I have seen it in action many times over the years. In fact, one day my father decided to revoke the power of his signature on my little sisters school enrollment form. She still attended school until about 2 weeks later when my parents received a call from the school office and told them that she could no longer attend (the public school) as she was no longer registered. She was home schooled after that and never was there a truant officer or any other government agent knocking at the door checking on the welfare of one of "their" kids. We didn't know how things worked when I dropped out of school so those people did show up.
The point of the matter is that individuals have a lot more control of their lives then they realize and they relinquish that control without understanding what they are doing or have done. And yes I agree that 99.999999% of them were unwittingly induced to do such things. However, the power still lies within each of them. And as they begin to consciously exercise their inherent power, I believe the "system" will no longer seem to be the problem.