When I was a schoolboy, we learned about three branches of American government, auditing & balancing each other: Executive, Legislative, Judiciary.
As I grew up, it became clear that the Legislature (U.S. Congress) is often blatantly undermined by the Executive branch, and that another key power, the Monetary branch (Federal Reserve) can do most anything.
We were not too young, not too foolish, to understand reality. What we were taught did not exist. We've been deceived.