"Skin in the Game" by Nassim Taleb is the best summation i have read of the idea that ANY system, when it gets too big, creates a situation where those in charge no longer have "skin in the game." That is, they don't pay the price for their terrible decisions. Look at any large corporation run into the ground while the ceo, cfo, etc., float away on golden parachutes. The people making the decisions that ruin any system should be the first to pay the price and pay it the most.

To me this is the heart of what the normal citizen feels and rages against in their mind, but cannot communicate or act against. They know that their society is being controlled by those who only reap rewards, no matter how much destruction they sow in everyone else's lives. Its a rigged game. If I lead this publicly traded corporation to greater profits, i win. If i destroy it, i still win. This is what has to end, at every point of power.

There is a critical mass reached in any particular system that pushes accountability out the door. We must reform our society to defend against allowing that line to ever be crossed, in every facet of our lives. However, can a people sustain such vigilance generation after generation? based on history, based on all the warnings our founding fathers gave, and looking at where we are at now, it doesn't look promising.