> I do get annoyed with people who "complain online'. That's just a waste of time.

It's really not. I learned about this situation by reading complaints and passive comments online.

Let me clarify: I believe it's a waste of time if we're also not complaining to our elected representatives.

If 10,000 people read this article and got annoyed, and then we made 10,000 phone calls, things would happen. If 10 people pick up the phone... not so much.

> Let me clarify: I believe it's a waste of time if we're also not complaining to our elected representatives.

I still disagree with your clarification. Even ten phone calls are better than zero.

> Call your representatives. They will respond to thousands of phone calls from constituents saying "do X".

What do you say to people who don't really believe this? I don't think I'm the only one who looks at the political scene (and much of "reality" as it is projected into our brains through the media) and thinks it's largely theatre. Kayfabe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfMe0dsxk_Q Kanye and The End of Reality – Wisecrack Edition

Oh sure, you can surely find discrete examples of where the system worked as advertised, but are these examples actually representative of the overall truth?

I can't shake this feeling that if I (or most any other person from this forum who has worked on large, complicated projects with many interconnected moving parts) was tasked with managing the affairs of this planet, the organization and means of communication/documentation would not look anything at all like what we've seen with our very eyes, for many decades.

How does a person sort out what is actually true anymore?

> What do you say to people who don't really believe this?

Nothing really. They've lost faith in democracy and have given up on the country. What else is there to talk about? If you have no faith in the system and don't want to participate then I'm not sure what you want or you're expecting.

I would add that if voting/protesting isn't enough to feel like it's "doing something" there is always the option of fixing things from within. I know that's a bit of a fairy tale idea for many, and few seem to have the convictions to actually do so once they are in a position to, but that doesn't mean that YOU, dear reader, would fail the same way.

Seriously, run for city council or something. Fix the bugs the same way you would an interconnected system: find where things (money, proposals, solutions) drop out, find where things are miscommunicated, optimize, upgrade, and secure the edge systems that directly interact with the client (the people).

It might take a lot of effort and people doing this, and many many years, but I think it is a more viable long term solution than waiting for things to magically get better enough that you feel like a vote will suffice.

> They've lost faith in democracy

"Democracy" is a principle - our current implementation of it is but one of many possibilities to go about it.

Democracy (in general, and our rather arbitrary flavor of it) is only one form of governance, is there some reason we're bound to this approach? Nothing else shall be considered?

> and have given up on the country

This is speculation - it is not possible to know the thoughts, dreams, intentions of other people with accuracy.

> If you have no faith in the system and don't want to participate then I'm not sure what you want or you're expecting.

I believe I want something similar to what the BLM protesters believe they want, who are also displeased with the outputs of "the system" as it is. I'm weary of the "my way or the highway, reality is what we say it is" approach to "Democratic" governance theatre.