> I totally understand that, collectively, we need to be lied to for our own protection, because collectively we become a bunch of idiots.
This is a tall order in the modern informational environment. There are enough honest people out there that the truth will filter out, first to people who think critically and then as a meme to be swallowed uncritically by the masses. Then you just end up further damaging the credibility of official sources at a time when their credibility is important.
People don't work that way. Social status is always more important than truth. For socially suppressed knowledge, individuals can find it out for themselves if they want, but they can't share it or they'll be ostracized for heresy. So most people won't want to even find out when even expressing curiosity is an offence and they'll work to punish those who do share it because that helps them to be accepted by the majority.
This is a tall order in the modern informational environment. There are enough honest people out there that the truth will filter out, first to people who think critically and then as a meme to be swallowed uncritically by the masses. Then you just end up further damaging the credibility of official sources at a time when their credibility is important.