The problem isn't that people trust politicians too much - trust in the government in the US is at very low levels [1]. Calls for further disillusionment without any actionable points is likely to just cause people to disengage all together, which works out just fine for the people currently in power.

There are achievable goals to work towards, like non-FPTP voting [2] and more proportional representation. The single biggest problem with the US political system today is wasted votes and the spoiler effect. Allowing credible threats from third parties would immediately force the parties closer to the actual voter positions and remove the incentive to nudge voters towards increasingly extreme positions to keep them on "your" half of the board.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/04/11/public-trust...

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24943441

I actually think by and large politicians try to deliver on their promises. Democrats: healthcare, gay (and minority) rights, increased social safety net. Republicans: less immigration, lower taxes, less regulation. Overall, Democrats tend to reduce military spending (or keep it below the trend for the rest of the budget), while Republicans tend to increase it.

It is true that none of the parties is making a serious effort to balance the budget. But that's a genuinely hard thing to do from a political standpoint.