What causes dictators to cling to power?

What causes political parties to prioritize their donors over their constituents?

What causes corporations to disregard the safety and health of the public if the worst they'll face is a fine for negligence?

These questions, while superficially unrelated, all point to the same underlying mechanism in the nature of societies.

Being apes, I guess.

A structure build painfully to get money. With enough time each scientist learns to became an entertainer or a politic.