My main strategy for quite a while was to race toward Statue of Liberty, then use it to immediately switch to communism; I'm pretty heavily on the side of 'be careful about using games as a metaphor for life' re the OP.
Yeah, on the other hand they do indoctrinate, whether this is intended or not. Everybody talks about brutal games and how a twelve year may go on a shooting spree having played too much of Call of Duty or whatever. Causation never proven, given the number of players vs. rampage killers.
Now isn't planting an idea such as that Democracy is inherently Coruption-free (or something equally nonsensical) much worse brainwashing in broader scheme of things?
But it generally is, relative to the other forms of government. Democracy is the only form of government where you can prosecute corruption or end corrupt regimes without violence, and in my book that's close enough. For a simplified game mechanic, this is intuitive and makes sense. Anything more nuanced, and it isn't a game anymore.
It is though a very simplified mechanic, as @pherocity_ says (though FWIW the effects were made much more subtle in the later games). And it's fun to roleplay, but the more you play, the more it's a just a case of how quickly you can read and manipulate the underlying patterns, as with all games. Brainwashing is a bit strong, though I do sympathise with your position somewhat.
And on a lighter note, regarding video games and real life, Football Manager is possibly the most realistic-feeling game I (and a hell of a lot of other people) have played - here's Steve Gibson's response to an application for the vacant manager's position at Middlesbrough, the club he's chairman of: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/02/you-were-of-course-outs...
NB: My Civ tactic of shooting for communism was simply to allow military units to be stacked in cities to reduce unhappiness, allowing massive military buildup to defend my civ while I poured money into science research. I did always feel for the poor sods in my cities, forced to either contribute to an all conquering soviet war machine or to work as research scientists and generate discoveries fast as possible (no, I am not building you a coliseum), but hell, I needed to win the space race/wipe out the Aztecs. I suppose it's easy to draw parallels with real life.
