&quot;We are the government&quot;? Come on, we&#x27;re not in high school social studies class here. The government of the country <i>I</i> live in answers to bankers and oil companies, with the democratic process providing little more than a glossy sheen of respectability.<p>There is no meaningful difference between a process I cannot influence and a process which could theoretically be influenced if I could put more time and money into it than I actually have. Either way, it is best regarded as an immutable aspect of the universe, damage to be routed around if possible and accepted if not. If the system were amenable to change it would already have changed.