In many of our societies, especially in the third and developing nations, it is who you know, not what you know, that can advance you financially in great leaps. In Russia, within a few years after the collapse of the Soviet system, we saw the emergence of billionaires in relatively short time. In China, there are now so many millionaires amongst the milions of poor.
Regarding the US presidential system, the Americans actualy do not directly elect their president, and it takes a lot of money to finish the race. In my view, the British Westminister system is the better model, although the entrenched two major party system has made it very difficult for small parties or independent candidates to get up.
