They can only retain power by keeping it from us, there have been times in history where the noose has loosened and some truth trickled in. They needed manpower after the black death so the feudal system was reduced to a sliver of what it had been. By the time numbers had gone up, humanity had made certain advances that made it hard to put us back in the trap for a long time. But the banking cartel is very patient and we have been very inventive in finding distractions and illusions away from the path of freedom... But distractions and illusions go both ways, everything is 5th generation warfare at this stage and anyone can play in that game...