Most common training of American politicians: Law Most common training of CCP membership: Engineering Face it, we are a litigious nation that values due process (with one exception of course) over making things. An influential idea or book isn't changing this, it's in our DNA somehow
You’re not wrong, and that’s by design. Laws entrench power of those wealthy enough to afford competent lawyers, and thus build a system of rules that increases their advantage at the expense of others. Thus we have a society whose laws make it exceedingly easy to solely focus on profit per quarter, and impossibly difficult to plan or execute on a longer timeline (e.g., government policy). There’s always another election to campaign on, a scandal to dust up, a controversy to stir. Nothing gets done, apathy rises, and the empire wanes until - often suddenly - the floor falls out beneath it and the whole thing collapses.
Societies require vision of a future, something engineers are apt at creating. Empires require labyrinths of laws to entrench power, which lawyers excel at litigating. A thriving country requires both to be balanced, such that its benefits are distributed to all.