All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.

When the parts are defined by external forces and not compatible with the design of the player such players will see nefarious intent, often where there is none beyond his incompetence to achieve his self-assigned role. The vision of superior intellect and failure to achieve are not compatible, so some blame must be projected onto others.

There is considerable political advantage to be gained in supplying such "other" as a target for blame, and the right, along with its donors among the business/banking class, had years of experience in shaping perceptions with its unique to capitalism advertising industry. It only needed to be reassigned and relabeled as "think tanks". However one might describe it, the fact remains that its purpose is to manipulate perceptions to the advantage of whoever can pay for the service.