You also see it in crumbling roads, ancient subway systems, shitty public schools, dumb regulations that make the market less competitive, "affordable" housing initiatives that make housing less affordable, pointless subsidies for farmers, and unsustainable pension funds.

This is true. It requires much more from the general populous than just the cash. Few private citizen wants to invest the time to fix the allocation. It’s a classic free rider problem.

A healthy democracy does require an engaged, educated voting populace to avoid being captured. I think the USA has been largely captured by the merchant kings who focus the populous not on their ability to change the nations trajectory, but instead on meaningless distractions.

Did you hear about the anti-gun nuns who bought a significant piece of ownership in the gun manufacturers? They have voting rights in those companies, and the manufacturers are slowly being forced to answer to them.

There's a very simple solution to making the government less susceptible to regulatory capture - make it as small as possible.

Isn’t that just trading a democracy for an oligarchy?