"what is it that prevents you from running for public office and making a change?"

In America, politics is pay-to-play. You will never be able to lay down the kind of money the cult can lay down. Never. I know this from experience, because, surprise surprise, I come from a long line of humans who give a shit about life and are involved in their communities wherever they go, honored as moral people, often chosen to be leaders. However, when you go toe-to-toe with psychopaths and aren't ready to fully defend yourself, you lose. My ancestors lost, my parents lost. Why would I fight the fight they lost? I won't step onto their corrupted court, nobody should give legitimacy to their wickedness. Do you really think that running for office is a worthwhile endeavor? Or, that we can only make change if we play by the rules? Ha! What other fantasies do you entertain?

My family tried many times to play the same game you are saying I should play to "make a change". It only worked when the system wasn't morally corrupted from the bottom up. You can't vote evil out and replace it with good, not when the system has been a shit-show for decades now. You can't save up a bunch of money and bring about the change that is required. Seriously, you are humorous. You can only burn it out over generations of honest to goodness brawling, an absolute dog-fight of a brawl, both mental, and physical. This will only happen if individuals do things individually to break themselves away from their abusive relationships with the cult and their public fronts.