Stand Alone Complex or Supreme Leader of Humanity?

There are two opposite possibilities regarding the current corrupt system. There's "the Supreme Leader of Humanity" theory, which is that a human or small group of humans are secretly pulling the strings. The opposite possibility is the "Stand Alone Complex" theory.

When I refer to the Supreme Leader of Humanity, is that a Stand Alone Complex (like in the anime series "Ghost in the Shell")? Is it a copycat without an original? The "Stand Alone Complex" theory suggests that the current corrupt system evolved as the result of a series of bad decisions, each of which looked like a good idea at the time. Is the Supreme Leader of Humanity nonexistent, but the current system is so corrupt that it looks like there's a Supreme Leader of Humanity? If I performed a standup comedy routine as the Supreme Leader of Humanity, would that be a true Stand Alone Complex? I would be a copycat without an original.

(BTW, the movie "The Matrix" was supposed to be a live-action implementation of "Ghost in the Shell", but the plots are very different.)

There are 4 explanations that make sense to me:

1. There is a Supreme Leader of Humanity, and he's a human. There's no alien presence.
   
2. There is a Supreme Leader of Humanity, and he's an alien millions of years more technologically advanced.
3. There is no Supreme Leader of Humanity, and there's no alien presence.
4. There is no Supreme Leader of Humanity, but there are advanced aliens working to help things progress.

There could be a human or small group of humans secretly pulling the strings. What is their agenda? Do they want to maintain their power forever? In that case, assassinating people like me would be a good idea. Do they consider themselves to be beneficial custodians, looking for a way to set things in the right direction?

There could be a group of humans that think they rule the world, but they're wrong. The advanced aliens have tricked them into making bad decisions, leading to the eventual collapse of their enslavement Matrix.

There's another possibility. Humans are so stupid that they collectively enslaved themselves.

I consider "humans are so stupid that they enslaved themselves" to be really depressing.

Perhaps there is nobody secretly pulling the strings. Each individual law was a group of people lobbying the State for favors. The Federal Reserve was merely a group of bankers lobbying the State for favors, rather than a deliberate attempt to ruin the US economy. (There is evidence that contradicts this, such as hostile comments in London's newspaper regarding Lincoln's greenbacks.) The income tax was originally a reaction to large billion dollar corporate trusts, who previously paid no taxes. That evolved to the current corrupt monster, via Roosevelt's "temporary mandatory payroll tax withholding" experiment during WWII.

Each individual stupid law is the result of a lobbyist getting favors for someone. The cumulative effect is a complete crippling of all economic activity. It isn't a deliberate conspiracy, but the cumulative effect of many bad decisions. Each individual bad decision benefited the handful of people who backed the law. Once an industry has successfully lobbied the State for favors and protection from competition, then they can always profitably lobby to keep their market position. In this manner, each erosion of freedom becomes permanent.

For example, the US Constitution was actually promoted by lobbyists. A handful of insiders owned the Revolutionary War debt, and they wanted a central government with taxation power that could pay off those debts at face amount. Insiders were concerned that they were losing their control over their territory, since they lacked sufficient power to collect taxes. Would those people have ratified the US Constitution, if they knew it would grow to the current monster? Did Thomas Jefferson sincerely believe he was creating the perfect form of government that protected individual freedom? The reality is that Thomas Jefferson designed the most efficient enslavement system ever invented. The US Constitution, as currently implemented, provides the illusion of protection of individual freedom and the illusion that people control the government, while the insiders may do exactly what they please. In the present, insiders are massive leeches draining the rest of the economy.

Most of the positive inventions you see are the result of a handful of brilliant scientists or workers. In the present, smart people are severely restricted in the manner they may innovate. I can't research drugs without a license from the State. I can't offer a drug-free "mental illness" treatment without a license from the State. I can't set up a school without a license from the State. It's practically impossible for me to start a manufacturing business without a license from the State. Currently, software is the only area that's available where a smart person can invent things.

Are there super-advanced aliens secretly guiding humanity in the correct direction? It's impossible to tell. There's circumstantial evidence, but no proof. The Internet is an anomaly. It was released to the general public only by accident. The bad guys can't put that genie back in the bottle. The average person has already accepted the Internet. There would be massive objections if services like blogging and YouTube were crippled. If the bad guys could go back in time 30 years and prevent the Internet from being created, they would, but it's too late now.

Are humanity's secret rulers really benevolent? Are they evil and incompetent, and about to lose their power monopoly?

Is there really a Supreme Leader of Humanity? Is that merely a Stand Alone Complex? Is the current system so corrupt that there's the illusion of an evil person secretly pulling the strings? Either way, the current economic and political system is totally corrupt and needs to be discarded.