Considering this is a common belief, it’s hard to agree they’ve convinced anyone.

Have you been to a country that has actual corruption?

You say that as if the US is free of corruption.

I have, I find it just as nuanced as the US system

I was expecting wheelbarrows of cash not having to set up a foundation!

> Have you been to a country that has actual corruption?

Absolutely, I lived in E. Europe for a significant amount of time; and I almost respect them more for making it as obvious as they do. At least there isn't an air of goaded legitimacy, and everyone knows that if you just pay the bribe you can just go and live your life on as normal. Whereas in the US you are pressured to pretend it's not all that, and that questioning such a system makes you a heretic of the best system ever devised.

Seriously, it's pathetic and I just don't have the patience anymore; this is exactly what happens when Corps, Banks and Wall Street lobby to create legislation that favors them.

The biggest failure of populists is to convince themselves that lobbying is bribery. Lobbying played a significant role in environmental regulation and civil rights. However, now that lobbying has become taboo among grass roots movements, creating a power vacuum that corporate lobbyists are happy to fill.