No matter whether it's a left or right issue. Whenever a narrative is being pushed hard by the establishment. Don't buy into it.

And the person deciding on what's mainstream and what isn't would be you?

No, Of course not me. The mainstream is the those with all the power and money who dictate what the majority think, see and feel. They are the ones who spend millions to influence the masses and convince them that what they say is true. They are also the ones that push our culture in directions that aren't necessarily natural. This is why there is no longer 50 independently owned media outlets. We're down to about 6 or 7. Through mergers and buyouts, we now have monopolized media giants that have acquired almost all the media we see everyday on T.V..

Not all manipulation is done through the media. The establishment has one primary tactic that they use to make this manipulation convincing. They primarily use authoritative figures in order to create a sense of legitimacy. They use politicians, religious leaders, college professors, Blog writers, editorial writers, CIA, FBI, some youtubers and sometimes they will enlist individuals to start companies who's sole purpose is to "act" as information sources which in reality are just propaganda outlets deemed by the mainstream news as credible without explaining why they are credible.

I forgot to mention that they also infiltrate protest movements and/or fund the leaders of movements. Those leaders with a great deal of integrity who refuse their offers get threatened, jailed and sometimes killed.