@cicerone imposter,
cicerone imposter wrote:
Quote:One way would be to only vote for politicians who stand for what we believe in.
I have voted that way since I was old enough to vote, and I'm now 78 yo. I've written to my congress reps and the president too, but those actions have had zero effect on "what I would like to see." I use to vote as a republican and democrat, but now registered as an independent. It's hopeless, useless, and of no effect in either local or national elections. I've decide just recently that I will no longer vote. Look at Washington DC; it's broken so bad, there's no way to reverse this trend, and my votes will do nothing.
The good news is that you are likely to leave this Earth, having wasted your time/efforts, rather than having spent that time and effort playing with grandchildren, for example.
For every great social movement, many people have first wasted their lives in trying to move the movement along faster. When the movement succeeded, it succeeded because society changed incrementally on its own calculus. So, you and many others will have wasted their lives' efforts. Plus, you really did not even have a dog in the hunt, so one might wonder why the concern; especially with your early experiences, one might think that you'd have the good sense to make up for lost time by concentrating on very personal concerns, since your personal concerns are most doable, and will benefit those closest to you? But, you are you, and I can't do a wisdom transplant. Your brain might reject it? All in my opinion, of course.
In my opinion, you should look up Eric Hoffer, who wrote the True Believer, in Wikipedia. You might see that the zealot is just an archetype of all movements. I hope you at least had fun in your efforts, but I am so glad you did waste your time, you being 78 and all.