Ok but don't despair. 1) on the individual level, maybe measuring other's (or one's own) worth by how much money you have or how much political power you have

Ok but don't despair. 1) on the individual level, maybe measuring other's (or one's own) worth by how much money you have or how much political power you have is the flaw. 2) on a collective level, if we do think that reward in the financial sense should go to the good people, we should think about what we consume; we have ultimate agency over all of that. As for politicians, I'm less optimistic; the popularity contest in high school never selected for good people and I see no evidence it's any better among adults.