Let's be real here. At a local level voting matters to some extent, but since the fed exerted total dominance over the states (Civil War), the federal elections haven't really mattered. The whole idea behind America is a Republic, not a Democracy. Republics protect the minority, Democracies do not. To sum it up, I'll say the quote that impacted me the most in my life with regard to politics..."If voting really mattered, they'd make it illegal".
Basically, it doesn't matter if the pile of shit is in a blue bag or a red bag, it's still a pile of shit. I choose not to vote because I don't want to participate in a system I don't believe in. I think George Carlin described it best.
“I don't vote. Two reasons. First of all it's meaningless; this country was bought and sold a long time ago. The shit they shovel around every 4 years *pfff* doesn't mean a fucking thing. Secondly, I believe if you vote, you have no right to complain. People like to twist that around – they say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain', but where's the logic in that? If you vote and you elect dishonest, incompetent people into office who screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You caused the problem; you voted them in; you have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote, who in fact did not even leave the house on election day, am in no way responsible for what these people have done and have every right to complain about the mess you created that I had nothing to do with.”
You don't fix a termite infected house by replacing some rotten wood with other (less?) rotten wood. You burn the house down and build a new one.
