Medinda Gates on ending Wuhan Virus Lockdown

Maybe she has a valid point - but without ordinary citizens having a direct say in decisions the political debate is giving too much importance to high profile celebrities from business, entertainment of sport.
melinda-gates-some-governors-are-moving-too-fast-to-reopen-their-states-184701807.html

Global Citizen: clever labelling, but what say do 'Citizens' have?

What should one read into the name of this organization? Do the 'Citizens' have any say? Who controls the money? What benefit do the performers enjoy? They may work for free or not, but in any case they should PAY for the privilege of being associated with what they consider a good cause (otherwise they have at the very least the benefit of free advertising). Apart from that, the easy access that promoters or NGO's and Celebrities get to politicians is cause for concern and another reason why Direct Democracy needs to be introduced as a safeguard to any potential abuses of power.

CNBC

Obama cashes in from Big Money

Politicians are the real "Deplorables" - too much focus on individuals (esp in this age of  media focus on "Celebrities") allows this sort of behaviour. Merkel, Hollande, Putin, Erdogan, Modi - short term limits and collegial government would prevent excessive power in their hands.
Obama may help Dems by hurting himself—Commentary

Top Philanthropists Wield Power Through Their Donations

While the abuse of tax subsidies for "charitable" donations is most extreme in the USA this pernicious favoring of the wealthy is slowly finding its way into other 'Pseudo' Democracies. Let the 0.1% be charitable, by all means, but do not give them favorable tax treatment in return. And posing as benefactors also gives them special access to politicians and allows them undue influence on political decisions.
Wealth Matters: How Top Philanthropists Wield Power Through Their Donations

Celebrity Politics due to lack of proper Democracy

When the likes of Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Bono and Bob Geldof can get prominent media exposure and access to political shakers and movers it is only due to the fact that democratic practice is dysfunctional. Neither they nor our politicians really do have a democratic mandate for the policies they support. Being detached from the electorate they form a closed society of cronies that mutually support each other. Politicians gain from being associated with supposedly glamorous 'artists' that the media fawn over while the 'celebrities' can boost their brand value. Has-beens such as Bill Clinton or Tony Blair later on effortlessly move from one side to the other and cash in on their prominence.