With a small effort I can make my voice a lot bigger.
We just went through a big national vote but today our national Congress is in session and so is our Maine State Legislature and our civic leaders are expecting to hear from us.
And with every spending or investment decision, corporate leaders are counting our dollars to be sure. Dollars are votes in the world of commerce.
This newsletter focuses on how to influence your world. All the time.
I hear people complain about government policies yet do little about it. Voting counts. Contacting your elected leader counts. Talking about stuff on social media or other places actually doesn’t. Spending and investing money actually counts. Talking about what others should do with their money doesn’t.
I might not like the ways in which the world has established for me to have a voice and it might take some effort on my part, but these are the ways. Governments have set up many bona-fide channels for us to have a voice that counts, and markets are extremely responsive to our spending and investment signals.
A friend sent me this by email:
I hope you don’t really mean these statements, since I have learned a lot over my years these two ways: If we can’t learn from what other people say as well as do, why have a conversation with them at all? In some cases, even if they were not willing to act on what they were suggesting, I was.
And even just complaining is important some times, as a form of discharge. Maybe it’s the first step toward action, by thinking out loud why something needs to change.
Maybe these responses are less effective, but not necessarily ineffective.
On the other side of the coin, Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page did a study that showed that the US is an oligarchy and that, unless a person has significant power and/or influence and/or money, that their ability to influence those in government (Congress, president, other elected officials) is essentially zero.
Here is that article: https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/11/21/princeton-study-the-u-s-is-not-losing-its-democracy-its-already-long-gone/
So, I think what is a productive use of our energy and what is a waste of time is not as simple as it may appear.