I think the biggest issue is everyone thinks they know what would work, when there's no single model that can capture the complexity of real life. Just as we do

I think the biggest issue is everyone thinks they know what would work, when there's no single model that can capture the complexity of real life. Just as we don't even have a unified model of physics, much less is there an obvious way to run a society. The thing in the US is that I don't hear anyone talking about what they're even trying to accomplish. Do citizen even agree there? Why isn't there a conversation about that? If we had a testing function, something we all agree on that this is the outcome we all or at least the majority wants for the society we're in. Then we'd have a way to judge how a government did, or what worked and what didn't, and we could focus on iterating and improving our output towards what we all want. Unfortunately, I think some minority groups, often corrupt, often in power or rich, they spend a lot of money and effort to switch up the conversation away from what people want and towards what they want, and then they have massive teams working to realize their vision.