Why Game of Thrones and House of Cards are so popular

So I've been totally enamored with these two shows for the past two years or so, House of Cards is a more recent fascination of mine, and it dawned on me that among the many reasons people may list as to why these shows are doing so well, one of the reasons applies to both.

In the case of House of Cards, the main character played by Kevin Spacey, Mr. Frank Underwood is the embodiment of pure ambition and lust for power. Nothing is as important as dominating others and winning. The concept of right or wrong never even enters his mind, in fact the majority of his actions seem to indicate that he is contemptuous of the notion of right and wrong to begin with, right and wrong are for the weak he might say.

Game of Thrones espouses the same basic tenets. The Stark family tried to do what was right and we all know how that ended, whereas the Lannisters embody the same drive and ambition of Frank Underwood.

Both shows are essentially trying to paint a reality that rewards ruthlessness and cutthroat behavior. Being good is for suckers.

We now live in a world where art is fully imitating life. One needn't look far to discover that people no longer believe in government, or for that matter that the government actually has our best interest at heart. We live in cynical times, and in cynical times (in which everyone is hyper informed and mass propaganda is becoming ever more difficult), the art of that time is a rather accurate reflection.

I suspect that shows will keep going further, with depravity, greed, lust, ambition, if indeed it is possible to push the envelope any further before becoming a farce.