No one likes to hear it, but our selfish, transactional, solely self-interested politicians are a reflection of our values. A bunch of temporarily embarrassed millionaires dreaming about their turn to live large and punch down don’t make for much of a society.
This is what America values in practice:
“It has always seemed strange to me…The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.” ― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row