Is the honours system out of touch and out of date with reality, or only a partial recognition reward for some?

Obviously all of the top honours go to those who donate the most to whichever party happens to be in power, then come the luvies and dahhhrlings of the entertainment world on the very bottom tier you may find a sprinkling of decent folk who have actually, through their own efforts, achieved something that has improved society as a whole but they are very few and far between.