> Those things only happen to the extent that voters let them I don't know how it is in other places, but in the US the only people who can effectively make ch

> Those things only happen to the extent that voters let them I don't know how it is in other places, but in the US the only people who can effectively make change in government are the extremity wealthy, corporations, and industry lobby groups. The average citizen and mass-based interest groups have effectively zero impact on policy. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B#sec0 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...) It's one thing to say "Let's not be cynical", but we can't ignore evidence either. As disheartening as it may be, voters are not able to effectively influence policy against the interests of a very small number of very rich people. As much as I'd like to think it's still possible to change things within the system we have, that same system has been captured and manipulated to make that increasingly difficult over centuries.