While it's always emotionally satisfying to imagine a cabal of evil geniuses working behind the curtain to further their aims, the reality is far simpler and far more depressing. Creatures like Trump, and the US Republican Party as a whole, succeed not because of a few wealthy individuals but because of tens of millions of ignorant foolish citizens who eagerly embrace the simplistic lies and easy-to-chant soundbites they are fed. Representative democracy is our real problem because it requires neither competence on the part of those standing for election nor competence on the part of those permitted to vote. As Plato observed, democracy must always result eventually in tyranny simply because most people lack the intellectual capacity to do more than vote for whatever cynical demagogue gulls them with empty promises.