It is a system where you have skin in the game, the more skin in the game you have, the more power you have. Think it like a democracy where you are voting with your wallet.

The main difference with the fiat world is that with Ethereum you have transparency, and there is no corruption. You can't just bribe a politician to enact a rule you want. Everything that happens in the network is recorded permanently, and rules are not a suggestion, but a practical reality that can't be circumvented.