Quote Originally Posted by Gilbert
If you want to believe they want what is best for the people of their countries, then go ahead.
I think most politicians are in the game of poitics because they hold beliefs about the way society should be run. If they were only interested in personal gain then politics is not that lucrative in a society that has largely outgrown corruption. There is much more money to be made in business.

Quote Originally Posted by Gilbert
You can never be president / PM if you are not hand selected by the elders of one of a few political parties
Prime ministers and Presidents are powerful people in their own right. They are occasionally puppets but not often. Margaret Thatcher, John Howard, Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd are all leaders who have been broadly accused of not listening to their party room and implementing policy without sufficient consultation.

Quote Originally Posted by Gilbert
The country gets shitter.
Countries are not in general getting shitter. Per Capita GDP levels are generally rising each decade. Quality of life indices are generally rising. Rates of civil and international violence are generally falling. The world is gradually getting the hang of how large scale society and a global community are best managed. It is a slow learning process but we are gradually getting better at it.

Quote Originally Posted by Gilbert
The money is funnelled away as fast as they can make it and it all happens under the watch of a load of hand picked toffs and millionaires reading scripts.
Governments publish detailed budgets before they spend any money and all the money has to be accounted for in the glare of the public eye.

Quote Originally Posted by Gilbert
What do politicians aligned with one of the established political parties actually do? What do they really do? Answer? Nothing. Absolutely nothing for themselves, but push through legislation that benefits their party's financial backers.
Legislation is very often at the expense of big business (Australian Mining Tax, Harsh penalties for price-fixing and insider trading) and for the benefit of the general population (Healthcare programs, social security, minimum wage increases). Governments cannot act without getting voted in and they do so on the basis of a manifesto of policies and they are then harshly criticised if they fail to implement these polices and are voted out. That is how democracy works.