[pessimizer]

You can end donations entirely, and disqualify candidates who accept them. The government can put up a website where you can get information about candidates, send everyone bundles of information, schedule debates in a standard format with clear rules for participation, and throw events where candidates can give speeches, and distribute those speeches to everybody who wants them. You can give everybody a day off to vote.

The reason government is corrupt is because we want it to be corrupt. If it weren't corrupt, nobody would pick this endless shower of dynastic creeps.

There is no good democratic outcome for $175K a year jobs that cost half a billion dollars to apply for.

[skykooler]

> The reason government is corrupt is because we want it to be corrupt.

The reason government is corrupt is because it is corrupt, and corrupt governments don't give their citizens an option for "stop being corrupt" in the ballot.

[spicebox]

> There is no good democratic outcome for $175K a year jobs that cost half a billion dollars to apply for.

I would argue that this is a reason to reform our electoral system rather than just resign ourselves to a corrupt system. If it didn’t cost half a billion dollars to become a politician and the pay better reflected the job responsibilities (along with other reforms) we’d probably see less corruption

[sdenton4]

Is there a word for the situation where incumbents produced by a system try to maintain that system even though it's shite for everyone else?

Politicians hate electoral reform.

[wredue]

They only cost half a billion to apply for due to lobbying…