From: http://www.goroadachi.com/etemenanki/intro.htm

Let's face it. The majority of the humans on this planet we call Earth are little more than monkeys with the ability to speak and do simple arithmetic. That is not to say that humans don't have the potential to become much more - and we do. But the system put in place for us reduces most humans to rats chasing a piece of cheese, just unwittingly running in circles, never achieving anything meaningful except temporarily satisfying hunger. By the time people are finished with public education, most are fully prepared to accept life as being about chasing the cheese. The system will have trained them well to act in certain ways and expect certain rewards, not unlike the circus animals.