That’s the thing, when most of society laughs at that, the chances of having any sort of democratic process work drop to nothing.
Americans have the most individualist “fuck you I got mine” ladder-pulling-upist culture in the entire world. Maybe someday we’ll have a cultural revolution and come out the other side less anti-social, but in the meantime if you want anything done in this country you’ve got to convince people that there’s something in it for them.