I believe the US government anyway is held hostage by two political parties. These are private organizations who are funded by corporations and special interest groups. Try to achieve any significant level of elected office without bending the knee to one of the two parties. People say “it’s the system we have” but to me that’s like saying “well, this guy kidnapped me so he’s all I’ve got.” There are lots of ideas for a representative democracy or even a direct democracy that have never been tried because the architecture of this type of system is built and funded by those with the most to gain. I do vote, but I get no comfort in that fact that most Americans will be much poorer in four years no matter who I vote for. I’m wealthy thanks in large part to bitcoin, but I’m dooming my fellow citizens by voting for fiscally irresponsible politicians but there are no fiscally responsible ones because the corporations and NGOs need their money. So I vote for the kidnapper who at least takes us outside once in a while. 🤷‍♀️