Western people have become flabby both physically and intellectually, basically bloated baby-people who whine about how hard their passive easy lives are, as they cram McSlop down their throats and gawp for hours at their flickering shiny screens. Representative democracy amplifies these weaknesses and self-indulgence because politicians know the voters are incapable of dealing with reality. The only way to garner votes is to promise endless metaphorical free ice-cream forever, and you can't ruin the children's party with news about the real world.