The Wizard of Oz (ounce) is a political satire about taking America off the gold standard (follow the yellow brick road)
From the Wicked Witch of the East (industrial revolution) who turned normal people into workaholic machines (tinman) and brutalized the little people (munchkins) to the Wicked Witch of the West (the drought) who oppressed the farmers, believing they had no voice in DC (scarecrow)
Even then they knew the power of popular issues (poppies) to put the people to sleep and keep the voters’ attention off the shenanigans in Washington.
In addition to media putting the sheople to sleep, there is also the drugs that amazingly end up in small towns.