I would like to see this from the perspective of an optimist.
I totally agree with almost every single point you have mentioned on your post, but I would still argue that younger generations of people should feel less 'victims' of this system when you compare it, for example, with the time of their parents at the same age.
Most of the people I know have the tendency to describe this phenomena of being manipulated as something that it has been happening just lately. I think that there was always something or somebody that controlled the narratives. The only difference is that nowadays we are just much more educated and aware of it and we have much more opportunities to resist. You post in this platform is a proof of that. Isn't it?