The way it is.

There is a rumour going around that the word "Gullibility" is to be removed from the Oxford English Dictionary.
Human beings are programmed to trust other human beings and as a result the vast majority of us are easily misled or conned. Most cons are pretty harmless. The stuff that is reported in the newspapers must have some relation to facts but the pressure to sell forces the publishers to massage and manipulate in order to make stories more interesting or attention grabbing. I pity any scientist who's findings get seized by the tabloid press, only to be sensationalised and misrepresented in order to scare or to raise the hopes of the public.
Commercials, especially those for female maintenance products are truly awful. Outrageous claims backed by pseudoscience, are swallowed whole by desperate women trying hard to stay youthful, whilst others truly believe that a caffeinated soft drink can make you fly.
We laugh at the old westerns where, dubious characters made a living by selling snake oil or the elixir of life and yes these people still exist. Now they sell far more exotic products, at much higher prices to a population that, though supposedly more educated, remain as stupid as ever.
Politicians sell policies that are worth less than the glossy paper that they were presented on, and thrive on the ignorance that they preside over. Religious leaders, (Ok I couldn't resist it.) propagate their own mythologies and lies, and find no shortage of takers. Parents present their kids with Santa Claus and the tooth fairy...... and so it goes on. Lies upon lies are the natural order of the day and people wonder why it is that as we get older we tend to become cynical.
It is worth remembering that the system in which we live is dependent on the fact that many of the people can be fooled ALL of the time.