There is an inherent overhead to free speech and democracy. One could argue this is part of it. Spending billions to make a whole country stop working and cast

There is an inherent overhead to free speech and democracy. One could argue this is part of it. Spending billions to make a whole country stop working and cast a vote is another one. Should we take all those billions and put them in more pressing issues in exchange for despotism? Maybe our society tolerates it because it is the only way to play the game with the current rules.