Your vote for president doesn’t do any good.

Statistically, at least. Millions and millions of votes are cast, and I can guarantee you that never once has a national election been won by one vote. Never will either.

I keep pointing this out and people will nod, but they don’t believe me when I say it. There are a zillion people out there who won’t bother showing up for a local school board election, but those same people would walk on crushed glass to vote in the every four year charade we call presidential elections.

That’s probably unkind but it’s the truth. From a statistical standpoint, it IS a charade. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t vote. What it DOES mean is that you should avoid thinking about it a lot. Look at your local races, and concentrate on them, and make sure you vote in those elections.

Now all of what I’ve said is worthless. Because Americans have always obsessed over presidential races. As early as the 1800 (!) presidential election, there was violent altercations over the race. Now is no different.

What things such as presidential votes accomplish is to tell us something about the voter. And for reasons I’m not totally sure of, that’s important to many Americans. Like political labels (such as “conservative” or “liberal”) we know something about our neighbor’s feelings, desires, and inclination by whom they tell us they’re voting for. Which is fine, but in the end, not very important. Far better to talk with our friends and neighbors and hash out the sometimes complicated matters of public life than to imagine that we know how they are thinking by a vote.

Takeaways: go local to make an influence, both in voting and in public discourse. Talk to those around you. Don’t try to solve problems you have no influence on. And try, in whatever way you can, to solve those you can.