[pipermerriam]

In all seriousness, what can I actually do. Nothing I've done in the past has felt like it moved the needle at all.

- Calling my local representative (Someone on the other end of the line thanks me and then politely dismisses me saying they'll pass it along). - Trying to inform friends and family (They don't really care for many of the reasons stated above)

I think apathetic is a good descriptor for my current state of mind around things like this. Any effort I've put into large scale change in the past has felt like spinning my wheels and generally decreased my overall happiness due to general frustration. Letting go of caring about politics was a major happiness/satisfaction increase in my generall well-being.

[swombat]

If you feel like you can't effect change where you are (a fair conclusion), I would suggest at the very least looking into moving to another country which is more representative of your values.

Yes, it seems like giving up. But then over time the more smart, educated, likely wealthy people leave the US and take residence somewhere less objectionable, the less economically competitive the US will be. Eventually it will decline.

At the very least, you'll know that you weren't one of the people contributing to sustaining this system. It might seem like a drop in the ocean, but, as the conclusion of Cloud Atlas puts it, what is the ocean but a multitude of drops?

[Zigurd]

Doxx the narcs. Track by their wifi radios in their smartphones.