Arguably they are, but they are delegating all the management. When you invest your money or even put it in a bank, you are pooling your resources with others to accomplish things. If you pay taxes, you're doing the same thing.
Your question is better phrased as: why aren't we forming more organizations to which we directly contribute our time and talents, where we have an intrinsic stake in the outcome?
And I think that's pretty easy to answer, it's all the same reasons startups are hard plus a few more. It's hard to convince others, negotiate internal politics, and set up all the logistics. You also have another problem - if people are not rewarded with money, they tend to do only the things they find intrinsically satisfying.
The kinds of people who are willing to solve the above problems are called entrepreneurs, or politicians, or community organizers, or sometimes artists. However, there may be some technical hacks that would help. Kickstarter helps solve some of the questions above, particularly about where to put one's resources.
I think some of the other answers to your question are unnecessarily pessimistic. If I can take some of them one by one:
"People are lazy": not actually true. People are willing to work crazy stupid hours for the status items mentioned, like smartphones. Often they are doing this for social status. This suggests that people aren't lazy; they're irrational, and bad at managing their resources in a way that benefits them optimally. That is actually a useful characteristic if you want people to commit to something with a small rational chance of success.
"Everyone wants to be a chief": We want lots of things. The ideal is to be personally recognized within the solidarity of a group. A clever leader can rewire your motivations so that to obtain personal fulfillment, you start doing group-beneficial things.
Your question is better phrased as: why aren't we forming more organizations to which we directly contribute our time and talents, where we have an intrinsic stake in the outcome?
And I think that's pretty easy to answer, it's all the same reasons startups are hard plus a few more. It's hard to convince others, negotiate internal politics, and set up all the logistics. You also have another problem - if people are not rewarded with money, they tend to do only the things they find intrinsically satisfying.
The kinds of people who are willing to solve the above problems are called entrepreneurs, or politicians, or community organizers, or sometimes artists. However, there may be some technical hacks that would help. Kickstarter helps solve some of the questions above, particularly about where to put one's resources.
I think some of the other answers to your question are unnecessarily pessimistic. If I can take some of them one by one:
"People are lazy": not actually true. People are willing to work crazy stupid hours for the status items mentioned, like smartphones. Often they are doing this for social status. This suggests that people aren't lazy; they're irrational, and bad at managing their resources in a way that benefits them optimally. That is actually a useful characteristic if you want people to commit to something with a small rational chance of success.
"Everyone wants to be a chief": We want lots of things. The ideal is to be personally recognized within the solidarity of a group. A clever leader can rewire your motivations so that to obtain personal fulfillment, you start doing group-beneficial things.