Politics Is Broken

Politics is broken, and not in the way you think it is.

It’s not the shouting, the scandals, or the lack of morals. The real issue sits underneath all of that. We've built a system where politics is a job. A career. A way to earn a living.

And once politics becomes a career, the whole thing shifts. It stops being about service.

It becomes about survival.

When Politics Wasn’t a Job

Several hundred years ago, the people stepping into politics weren’t doing it for the salary. They were aristocrats. They had land, money, time. They weren’t calculating the financial consequences of every decision. They weren’t terrified of losing their income if they took an unpopular stance.

I’m not romanticising them. Many were useless. Often quite stupid. Some were even dangerous. But one thing they had, which today’s politicians don’t, was freedom from financial incentives.

They could make decisions without wondering how they’d pay the bills at the end of the month.

That kind of freedom changes how you think.

Career Politics Distorts Everything

Today we’ve normalised something that would have horrified people centuries ago: the idea that the people running the country depend on politics for their livelihood.

Imagine if your income, your home, your future depended on staying in office, would you take risks? Would you speak plainly? Would you make decisions that could cost you your job?

I know I wouldn’t.

I’d smooth my edges. I’d play the game. I’d avoid anything that might threaten my position. And that’s exactly what politicians do. Not because they’re bad people, but because the system pushes them into it.

We’ve built a structure that rewards caution and punishes courage.

And then we complain that no one is brave.

The Uncomfortable Truth

This is why I keep coming back to a point nobody likes to say out loud: we need more people in politics who don’t need the job.

We need more rich people running the country.

And yet, every time someone wealthy enters public life, the reaction is instant outrage. We treat personal wealth like a moral failing. As if financial independence automatically means emotional distance.

As if someone with money can’t possibly care about anything beyond themselves. As if it's impossible to have empathy, without lived experience. We hear it all the time:

"They don't know what we're going through.'

It’s nonsense. The person who doesn’t need the salary has more room to think about the long term. They have more margin to take risks. They can afford to make decisions that aren’t designed simply to keep them employed.

But instead of welcoming that independence, we attack it.

The Sunak Example

Rishi Sunak is just the latest illustration. Forget whether you agree with him or whether you like him. That’s not the point. What matters is that he entered politics without relying on it to pay his bills. His financial life existed independently of his public role.

And what did we do? We mocked him for it. We treated his wealth as proof that he couldn’t possibly understand or lead. It became a punchline. A target. A reason to distrust him.

Meanwhile, we quietly accept politicians who spend their time cosying up to donors, lying about how many houses they own, being paid to ask questions in the Commons, being swayed by corporate lobbying and whatever else they need to do to keep themselves afloat.

[Side note: total spend on corporate lobbying in the US was $4.44 billion in 2024! In the UK, there is no legal requirement to disclose amounts spent on lobbying. That is a problem, right there.]

We prefer compromise over independence. And then we wonder why politics feels compromised.

Freedom Changes the Decisions You Make

When you remove financial pressure, the emotional posture of a person changes. Their decisions change. Their timeline changes. Their sense of what matters changes.

If I knew my livelihood didn’t depend on keeping my job, I’d speak differently. I’d think differently. I’d take bigger swings. And I’m certain the same applies in politics.

Freedom is an underrated political advantage.

But we’ve built a culture that treats that freedom as a flaw.

What Politics Could Look Like

Sometimes I imagine a parliament full of people who don’t need the salary. Not because they’re all wealthy but because the income simply isn’t part of the equation. Imagine the difference. Imagine a room where decisions aren’t shaped by personal survival. Where courage isn’t punished. Where the long-term view actually counts for something.

We talk endlessly about wanting integrity in politics. But integrity doesn’t survive well in a system built on fear. If you want brave leaders, you need leaders who can afford to be brave.

And right now, very few can.

Time for a Rethink

This isn’t a love letter to aristocracy. It’s a call to be honest about incentives. Wealth doesn’t guarantee virtue. But financial dependence on politics almost always guarantees compromise.

And that’s the part we ignore. The misalignment. The structural flaw. The way we’ve set up the job to pull people inward when the job itself demands they look outward.

We keep vilifying the very people who might actually have the independence to do it differently.

Maybe that’s why politics feels stuck. Maybe that’s why it feels small. Maybe that’s why nothing truly long term ever happens.

Because we’ve made financial dependence a requirement. And then we’re surprised that everyone behaves like they’re dependent.

I Want Better Politics

If we want politics to work again, we have to stop treating financial independence as a disqualifier. We need more leaders who don’t need the job. We need people who can take money off the table and think about something bigger.

Politics is broken. But it’s broken for reasons we don’t like to admit.

The problem isn’t wealth. The problem is the lack of freedom that comes from needing the job.

And I’d take a leader who doesn’t need the job over one who’s desperate to keep it. Every single time.

Until next time,

Jon "Freedom Fighter" Kaye

Choosing to live more deliberately

P.S.

I always love listening to new music in the New Year. If you do too, then check out my new playlist. Thx