How Much Does Your Vote Really Matter?

When most people get into the discussion of how much your vote actually matters it immediately jumps into a conversation about comparison. What was your total contribution in a pool of 139 million other people in 2016? This may seem disheartening. And if you continue to think that way it will remain that way. Let’s look at it from a perspective you can actually control. You may vote every 2-4 years. That’s one afternoon every 730-1460 days. Is that all the contribution you have? What are you doing the other 729 days of the year? Or if you only do presidential elections, the other 1459 days of the year? How are you fulfilling your civic responsibility there? Looks like you may be more of a burden on society than a contribution. Here’s the deal, there are a lot of campaigns that want you to inflate how important voting is. This mentality is training people to believe that the “contribution” of voting is making a bigger difference in the world than it actually is.  The problem with this is that for each person who buys into this belief, there is a reduction in the belief of their own power outside of that moment. Your contribution outside of voting is infinitely more powerful. Your civic responsibility extends way beyond voting. It’s not even on the same spectrum.  Voting in an election is nothing compared to how you vote with your attention and behavior. That’s what makes the biggest difference in the world. When you start thinking about it like that it’s almost silly that we’ve put so much importance on electing someone who is going to boss our neighbors around and how they might spend 30% of our labor they confiscate each year. BTW, when do they actually pass the laws we want and spend the money responsibly? Even if you like them for some reason they’re mostly clowns arguing with each other. You want real contribution? Real Civic Responsibility? Step 1: Take 100% responsibility for your own life. That means you can NO LONGER blame anyone else for your current condition, NO LONGER do you wait for some person or circumstance or maybe even a law to change for you to take action. If you don’t take responsibility you are not a contribution to society, you are a burden. What is wrong with our society is just that. Too many people waiting for someone else to make things better. Get your own house in order first. This can take years for a lot of people. Step 2: Find what bothers you about the world the most. The problem that needs solving. Throw yourself at it. Make it your job. Take a hard look at your life and see where you’re personally contributing to the problem or solving it. Get into conversations with others about how to solve the problem. I’ll give you a hint. It’s not begging people in government to change a law or force someone to behave a certain way. Real change, real solutions come from ACTION. This may be hard to swallow. Most people were trained to be obedient first, do what you're told, and wait for permission. Very few people were taught to be proactive.  You will be directly involved in the solution. Expecting the government to solve it is part of the problem. Contributing to charities is better (gets hard when government takes so much already). Direct contribution (voting) of time, energy, heart, mind, and action is best. Who are you being in the world? Does your civic responsibility extend beyond a voting booth?