[probably_wrong]

My opinion on that dilemma: some problems are so widespread that it makes more sense to deal with them collectively, aiming to cut them down at the root. We usually appoint people to deal with with them because it's more effective than everyone having to act in concert. Those people are called "politicians".

Do those people do a good job? Kinda - they tend to get everything uniformly wrong and sometimes they really screw something up, but in general they land more often than not in reasonable compromises. And while your Senator may be a corrupt idiot, the people in their staff may be okay and steer them generally in a sane direction.