Jonathan Anomaly’s recent commentary could have gone one step further. Not only do single votes not matter, but the elections themselves often result in little progress.

The belief that the latest midterm elections will result in significant change is rooted in hope, not in any sort of reality. Faces might change, policy might be re-examined in the short-term, but the fundamental structures still exist and will continue.

For an example of this, one needs only to look toward Iraq. The connection is rarely made between the million dead because of the economic sanctions, which destroyed their infrastructure (courtesy of our 42nd president, the jazz musician), and the hundreds of thousands dead because of the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation (courtesy of our 43rd president, “Satan”). The current debacle in Iraq didn’t spontaneously occur. It’s the physical manifestation of a continued Middle East policy.

Still, to emphasize this and leave it at that is counterproductive. Pointing this out only serves to further disenfranchise. The way toward change is not abandoning the current political system, but working within it, with a wink and a nod, acknowledging that it’s ineffective. The best quality of a democratic system is that it (ideally) limits the power and length of reign of those who seek power. So voting is important if for no other reason than to bring different intolerable and backward leaders to power.

But what is effective in advancing a given ideology or cause? To put it tritely, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” This requires a certain amount of qualification. The assumed advice here is that environmentalists reduce their ecological footprints, feminists fight against patriarchal norms, and peaceniks actively oppose war and imperialistic foreign policy. But again, the impact of a single individual is insignificant. One typical response to this goes along the lines of, “If everyone did it … .” But they don’t. Nonetheless, being a “part of the solution” is important because it works to change the fundamental structures of the system. The millions who took to the streets in protest on the eve of the most recent invasion of Iraq didn’t change the outcome of the war, but they did renew interest in and discourse on issues of peace. If nobody had taken to the streets to protest because they felt it was futile, then that dialogue would have remained largely internal. To change a society based on war and fear, these characteristics need to be questioned in the public sphere.

Voting is only the first, simplest and most limited means of civic participation. What is much more important than voting is action, taken not for an expected outcome, but for the sake of the action itself.

Don’t protest war thinking it will change anything. It probably won’t. Protest because it’s the right thing to do and not doing anything is contributing to the problem.

College is a peculiar time when we’re presented with overwhelming opportunities for taking action, and we largely don’t. Some of us voted last week; most of us probably didn’t. And for the purpose of affecting change, it doesn’t matter. What is more important is that we remain active in our student organizations, educate and inform ourselves and each other, and participate in open discourse with one another. The first step toward any change is becoming a full, well-rounded individual — something it would be nice to think college is all about.

Zeke Wright is a senior writing and politics double major. E-mail him at ewright1@ithaca.edu.