The parent post here is actually reasonable, not cynical.
Think about most of the things that actually influence your daily well-being and the future of the country. We need good schools with good teachers. We need natural places for kids to exercise and learn about the world. We need sane neighborhoods with low crime and shorter commutes and people who actually know and look out for each other.
While the federal government can debate and fund large projects for these things, the people who actually make them happen have boring-sounding titles like County Commissioner and Zoning Board Member. Even if the federal government funds them well, the money gets misused unless local officials use the money thoughtfully and non-corruptly. If you think the corruption on the federal level is bad, you probably don't follow your local politics very well. In most areas they involve not just corruption but also incredible, routine incompetence even on fairlay basic matters.
So if you want to change the status quo, the real tradeoff is something like this: you can either cheer someone's reddit campaign that will probably not get them elected to Congress and pat yourself on the back for trying to make a difference, or you could actually monitor and run for a local office and concretely make people's lives better.
I understood the point. It is a false dilemma though. I can participate in local government (or in my case continue to do so) while still hoping and working for someone to push a better status quo through at higher levels. Suggesting only one or the other is the best possible way to maintain the status quo - since real differences need to exist at all levels.
For example, I live in a place that zealously enforces wiretapping laws to stop police filming. I can push my hardest to get my town to change their enforcement policy, even to great effect, but the law is in place and a zealous district attorney could still prosecute. The next town over won't change their enforcement over my local actions. Perhaps while doing my thing, I should endorse and support someone who will do the same thing at the state level, no?
Think about most of the things that actually influence your daily well-being and the future of the country. We need good schools with good teachers. We need natural places for kids to exercise and learn about the world. We need sane neighborhoods with low crime and shorter commutes and people who actually know and look out for each other.
While the federal government can debate and fund large projects for these things, the people who actually make them happen have boring-sounding titles like County Commissioner and Zoning Board Member. Even if the federal government funds them well, the money gets misused unless local officials use the money thoughtfully and non-corruptly. If you think the corruption on the federal level is bad, you probably don't follow your local politics very well. In most areas they involve not just corruption but also incredible, routine incompetence even on fairlay basic matters.
So if you want to change the status quo, the real tradeoff is something like this: you can either cheer someone's reddit campaign that will probably not get them elected to Congress and pat yourself on the back for trying to make a difference, or you could actually monitor and run for a local office and concretely make people's lives better.