There is a lot of politics and lobbying present, but there's also intertia. It takes time to fix things. Present patent system is woefully inadequate to the world of Internet-delivered software, which is quite a recent development. It serves somewhat better in other areas.
The point of a patent is to protect your idea from being sabotaged by others so the money goes into your account hopefully and feeds your family and pays for your kids education, etc. Patents are not a block, they are a building block. If you find a patent that makes you think you are stuck and have to abandon your idea; think again. Look for ways to improve on the already patented idea and file a new patent referencing that patent and any others that apply. Patents are not a block; they are a building block. I'm not a lawyer though so my views are not to be taken as legal advice.
Google "build on a patent", here's on example of what I'm talking about:
"Your brilliant idea needn't fall by the wayside simply because you don't want to deal with the patent process."
We also need to comply with laws in order to live in a civilized society. Where in the world are there no patents today and that also has any significant positive impact on society as does America and Europe? Europe does have software patents after all.
Where in the world are there no patents today and that also has any significant positive impact on society
Due to the Berne convention, we don't get to have that comparison. Although lots of people argue that China's weak enforcement of non-Chinese IP has had rather a positive influence on their industry.
If the patent system were "horrendously broken" it would have been fixed long ago. It obviously serves powerful political interests horrendously well.