You're on to something, but it's more complex than that. Politicians don't get to choose shit, because they all stab each other in the back by design every election. Nobody is at the wheel. It still works better than autocracies because they have an incentive not to be openly corrupt or explicitly elitist.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Nobody is at the wheel.

There's no one single person who controls everything, but there are lots of local admins that control choke points in economy and bureaucracy.

The backstabbing is about positioning yourself. But once you're in a good spot, can extract enormous amounts of wealth with very little effort.

It still works better than autocracies

As the line between autocracy and democracy gets fuzzy, the appeal of democracy declines.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm close enough to politicians and other "powerful" people to say that nobody's getting a free lunch like that. If you want to climb the ladder, you hustle for it and probably lose, whether you're gunning for a position in a national cabinet or just food security. The best return you can reliably get on wealth is around 10%, if you don't mind volatility, and if you could buy connections or fame it's my guess that it would work out about the same.

If you're talking about white collar crime, you can make a lot of money that way very easily, but you're also on borrowed time until someone else looks closely at the books. If you try to completely cover your tracks that's pricey and complex itself, and it seems that soon enough you're just working a different kind of 9-5 (blackhat hackers being a great example).

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I’m close enough to politicians and other “powerful” people to say that nobody’s getting a free lunch like that.

I don't know how close is "close", but I can point you to a litany of local political insiders just in my municipality who benefit enormously thanks to their proximity to power. The HISD Superintendent just got caught sending Houston money to a network of charter schools in Colorado that he has a personal stake in just for instance.

If you’re talking about white collar crime, you can make a lot of money that way very easily, but you’re also on borrowed time until someone else looks closely at the books.

Not when the person looking at the books is Ken Paxton. Then he simply declines to prosecute anyone who is on his team.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 months ago

I'm not Texan, so unfortunately I can't really comment on that, but it does sound like a messy clusterfuck.

I'm not denying that having positions and influence can be used to make money, and even in legal ways, but you bet the backstabbing continues, at least in every situation I'm privy to.