Dividing the people matches the Machiavellian goal of the government to preserve itself as the source of power, so you don't want a populace that could coalesce to overthrow you. Of course, that doesn't help the populace when said government becomes tyrannical in any way.

But I feel like Plato's cave metaphor would suggest that artists (music, TV, movies) are the best sock puppets we've got, and often don't even know they're doing it (e.g., the apathy towards deeper goals that immersion in pop culture cultivates).