Hi doma,
I'll grant you your puppetmaster if we agree to call it Money. Or Incumbency, if you wish.
The great fight in every system of government is to limit the influence of money/incumbency to a reasonable scale.
And to find a way to permit fresh shoots to emerge.
This fight will never stop. But my view is that the US is losing it badly. Maybe the UK is too.
The thing that excites me about TC is the way - potentially - it opens robust commercial distribution channels to everyone.