You're ignoring the media, a significant pillar of control, and that it isn't "cultural norm" but the result of non-stop propaganda, perhaps slightly adapted by locale, but still just propaganda, designed by those actually in charge and pulling all the strings (those in government, and/or those bankrolling them, and of course the media that supports them because the systems they uphold benefit their rich owners) to make the population look anywhere and blame anyone apart from those actually in charge and pulling all the strings.
It isn't a mystery, it's a well documented fact that I think most people like to ignore because accepting it means admitting you've also been subject to it and have fallen for a lot of its lies.
But we all have, and the only way to stop, is by abolishing the system that needs all this toxic brainwashing to survive, not by playing along with it and looking to point the finger anywhere else (like on an "irrational" electorate).
E: not trying to be an ass, just saying open your eyes and be willing to be uncomfortable with the full extent of how manipulated our lives are, who is doing this manipulation, and why (money and power, the answer is always money and power in a system designed to funnel those in to the hands of a small handful of people so that they can control the rest)