Voting seems like a placebo.

Going to the polls once or twice a year is like going do the doctor, hoping for a panacea, and being given a sugar pill. Sure, it eases your mind, but the problem still exists.

The real panacea is action that is taken much more regularly. That action is for me to become very well acquainted with my elected officials. Whether I “voted” for them or not. I need to get to know them, get to know how to contact them, and keep in touch, more than once or twice a year. Preferably once a week, if not daily.

I would argue that my vote today did little if anything. The votes that really count are the ones that will be cast every day in the legislature halls of my city, state, and nation. The votes that really count will be by those citizens who were given power by the people to represent them in official matters of state.