Politics clearly matters, your vote doesn’t. US politics are very disconnected from the grassroots will of the people. The 2016 and 2020 democratic primaries are a great demonstration of this, as well as the 2020 election.

There are ways to be involved with politics in your local community and make some change, even if it’s just by shifting the Overton window. But even locally, gerrymandering, family ties, funding disparities, and support from certain groups are immensely powerful systems of influence, much more so than your vote.

I view voting as a form of consent, which is why I will not longer be participating in that form of politics. But to each their own.