Two options here: People are naturally acting and things are going on. There is a massive conspiracy that everyone happens to buy into that is run by a group of people seeking to control the world. Mankind has been naturally ruled by small groups for ages and ages, and this has always been true in the history of the USA as well. Our government does not exist to "elect the common man" or "represent the views of the people". It exists to hold rules responsible to the public eye and ensure they do not harm the public. The public is still able to have it's voice heard, and people like Trump and Bernie are a testament to that. I don't believe for even a moment that there is some oligarchy controlling everyone's views.
Maybe not, but the US is presently an Ogliarchy who have the power and use that power to gain more power.
The argument goes, in fact, that some of the most powerful people in the country thought they were an oligarchy until very recently. And now they're a bit flummoxed. See for reference the endogenous collapse of the GOP leadership last year. The more libertarian, business-oriented members of that party have taken this election on the seat of their pants. And meanwhile liberals are becoming their own worst enemies, too. It's a fairly interesting time to follow politics, as long as you keep yourself on a one month time delay.