Is the Illuminati a realistic secret society?

Consider for a moment that the governments of the world have been in the business of governance for a very long time, and while people (like sheep) can be steered in a direction for a short time, it is difficult at best to get any sized group to a chosen destination. The supposition that a secret society of human herders are driving the events of the world toward some malevolent ultimate end is ludicrous at best.

Besides, no credible evidence that any rational person would accept exists to prove the existence of the Illuminati as depicted in popular fiction like that of Dan Brown and the other conspiracy mongers.

Those who choose to surrender their ability to guide their own lives and sublimate their choices to some phantom boogeyman will eventually find themselves in a hole of their own construction. Unfortunately, they will never accept that they dug the hole themselves, no matter the mountain of evidence that is dumped over them.