People often tell me time how politics is stupid. “Nothing gets done so why should I care?” How wrong they are. Politics matters, because laws and policies affect lives.

Many issues are too abstract to appreciate, making it easy to throw up your hands, or tune out entirely. Our energy policies are dramatically altering our planet’s atmosphere, but the change is too gradual to perceive. Tax policies favor the wealthy, yet we are simply made to feel our country lacks the funds to help ordinary citizens.

Other issues are only abstract until they impact you or a loved one directly, such as basic rights for gay, disabled, or migrant peoples.

Our laws and policies have a direct influence on all lives affected by these issues. These are real problems that demand real solutions.

Take a look at the Democratic and Republican Party platforms. Which future would you choose? If you think that nothing can get done, it’s because we keep sending Republicans to Washington. That party ceased to function as a factory for solutions when we elected Barack Obama as president.

Legislation passed by the GOP-led congress has slowed to a trickle. When the chambers were split, the Republicans blocked everything the Democrats tried to accomplish. They don’t compromise and they don’t care. They won't even hold a hearing for an open seat on the Supreme Court.  Aside from the occasional bill to restrict abortion or voting privileges, the Republicans have offered us very little.

This is not a “both sides do it” problem.

If you want to see movement on progressive issues, get involved, and then go out and vote. Send Hillary Clinton to the White House to get to work on the progressive agenda crafted together with Bernie Sanders. But she also needs a Congress that will do its job. Flip two do-nothing Republican-held seats and put Josh Gottheimer and Joe Wenzel in the House. Change the dynamics in Sussex County by voting for Michele Van Allen for Freeholder.

Get involved, because politics matters.