ICOs show quite well how that "democratization" can have bad effects. Most of them are plain stupid (better and easier to realize without a blockchain or smart contracts). I assume they are for speculation/gambling only. There should be safeguards in place to prevent people from dumping all their money into it.

Now, I agree that crowdfunding startups should be possible. Why shouldn't I be able to participate funding with 10$? The valid argument is that the process is so costly that it makes no sense for this tiny amount of money. So, how can we make the process cheaper without (!) removing all the safeguards?

You can. Republic.co and a few others are allowing non - accredited investors access to startup investing at nominal levels, thanks to title iii of the jobs act. Adoption will grow with awareness that this is an option.