Every now and then somebody who would actually try to do something useful runs for office.

You could vote for them. You and the four other people who might vote for them.

So, yeah, it doesn’t help. The politicians who could be elected know very well that trying to do anything that would bring the slightest bit of inconvenience or the tiniest tax increase would only cause outrage from the ignorant voters.

So even if they’d like to do something, there is no point.