This is the one piece I took from my mother’s collection as it was bought when I was about that age and had a beagle. Like your father she had a quite extensive Asian collection of prints, some “quite valuable, until a prior owner glued them to cardboard, that meant I could buy and enjoy them”
One answer is to appoint people to political roles via sortition. Basically a lottery system. Single term, no parties, no campaigns or lobbying. “We might get unqualified people!” Look, we get unqualified and evil people now.