I'm glad that Huxley has been mentioned.
Some of what he discussed above, is similar to Soma in his Brave New World novel.
But he was also interested in other ways that people were distracted from the fact that they were been controlled (always have been and always will be - nothing new).
Millions of people are on psychotropic drugs, there are multiple ways that people can be distracted on mobile devices; whether it is porn, mindless political content, hours of television, box sets etc. Takes the mind off what is really important. It is all dehumanising.
Goes back to the behavioural experiments in the 1930s. People are more likely to behave the way THEY want us to, if they have small rewards. Own your own home. Have this nice car. Pay through the nose for them. Watch TV. Have these drugs to make you feel calmer. Positive reinforcement.
If people aren't doing as they are told, behaviour is reinforced through negative methods. You get punished for your behaviour. Which can put a temporary end to "bad" behaviour; but it doesn't remove the desire to misbehave.
A distracted, dumbed down population, with positive reinforcement will forget they are enslaved. Happens with ALL people. Whether you accept what the government and MSM tells you; or if you eagerly consume anti-government propaganda. Whether you are double-jabbed and bleating on about it, or shouting out from the rooftops about how the vaccines are poison.
In the end you have forgotten the real agenda of the elites. To fill your mind either will pro or anti government rhetoric. Pro or anti Covid waffle. Because the government isn't in charge. So you've missed the point. You're aiming for the wrong target. You've not really thought for yourself. You've consumed someone else's opinion. THEY have won. You have taken the Soma.
Feel free to argue among yourselves.