Arrogance and consequences that are not serious enough? Is there not a direct enough consequence of the actions? Polls often express the displeasure of the populace but clearly the incentives are either not strong enough to discourage the actions or the people don't really care that much.

Could it also be that liberal democracy is just a ruling elite that has fooled the masses by the illusion of choice.

When Trump was running this last cycle it was clear he was the man of a different crew of elites. We are always ruled by elites. The ideals of democracy have always been an illusion. I sometimes wonder what has to happen for the average man to see this. I actually think they never will.

That's not to say things will never change. They will. But I doubt it will come form the bottom up.

It is actually comical how most people think about politics. The left has been obsessed with Trump for ten years. The right in California have been opposed with Newsom. These men will exit the stage and our path will continue mostly unchanged. You can't just take out the man at the top when the world is run by elites. Same is true many places.