Of course I was being sarcastic. You generalized a few million people, and I just pointed that out.
There are multiple competing narratives at the national level, so it’s simplistic to say that those with political and media sway have control over one viewpoint. At higher education levels, the NY Times battles it out with the WSJ, and at lower levels it is Fox and MSNBC. For people with open minds, multiple viewpoints are useful for learning more than a single viewpoint alone would provide.
There are competing narratives because there are real philosophical differences between conservatives and liberals when it comes to the role of the state. For example, does increasing the safety net decrease motivation? Would making college free be a net benefit to society? For you to ascribe these real philosophical differences to “keeping others down” is just as short sighted as you claim the other side to be.