It didn't used to be like this. There was a time when politicians actually did want to help those in need. From Lincoln (despite the 13th amendment still allowing for slavery and involuntary servitude for those duly convicted - prisoners, which likely is why we have the number of incarcerated that we do and afor-profit prison system, which is, of course absurd) to FDR's New Deal which created many of the social safety nets we still have today, despite a certain party's best attempts to destroy them. Truman and The Marshall Plan which helped rebuild much of Europe after WWII. To the countless effforts that just fell short and candidates who did not win.
One of my favorites being LBJ's Vice President Hubert Humphrey Jr. who ran for President in 1968 against Famously Impeached and wildly racist Nixon and lost - marking a pretty drastic point where we had two paths before us, and in my opinion, we missed the mark quite badly. Regardlesss, from his last speech comes perhaps his most profound quote and a sentiment that has been lost by many in D.C. and state houses acrosss the country: