It is an interesting situation where totalitarian dictators no longer have to silence the truth. They have to have a huge number of truths, no longer one objective truth. They realize we will pick the "truth" that most aligns with how people feel.
So leaders could be telling people that technology is transforming, so we will have to work hard, be smart, and hopefully things will be much better, but no promises. Instead, we are getting the message that foreigners are to blame for everything, and as long as we persecute them, we can be as lazy as we want, and still be super prosperous.
