In which politics is broken.

Periodically, I write to my representatives about something or other.

After some time, usually several weeks, I get an email, usually titled “Responding to your message,” which is always a form letter outlining the rep’s stance on whatever the issue is.

Their previous stance. They never indicate that my opinion as a constituent will affect how they legislate or vote at all.

I recently wrote about student loan relief. One of my reps responded with something soft about student burdens and then some vague shit about trade schools. (Specifically: “Trade schools, which generally cost less than do those offering a four-year degree, should be supported along with other types of post-secondary education. Such schools provide access to well-paying jobs usually with a lower burden of long-term educational debt. I am working to encourage and improve such offerings.”)

I… don’t care about which sort of college people went to? Doesn’t matter if it’s a state, trade, or ivy. I don’t give a fuck. I want student loan forgiveness. You’ve just said your response to student loan forgiveness is UTTERLY UNRELATED NONSENSE ABOUT TRADE SCHOOLS and A LOWER BURDEN OF DEBT, which means you’re not going to vote the way I fucking want you to.

People who want to go to trade schools should absolutely go to trade schools, literally nobody disagrees with this. Jesus fucking Christ, you moron. What we want is for it not to be obscenely expensive!

I understand staffers count the number of contacts that are either pro or con on any particular issue, but the canned responses never indicate that knowing what their constituents want actually impacts how our reps do their jobs at all. Except maybe briefly, in election years.