Let’s be honest, your vote this Nov. 2 didn’t matter, and I don’t mean just because it was one of many.

It didn’t matter because regardless of which of the choices on your ballot won, nothing is going to change. Connecticut’s Senate race is a perfect example of that. Was there really no one more qualified in the entire state of Connecticut than Democrat Richard Blumenthal, who lied about serving in Vietnam, and Republican Linda McMahon, who dumped more than $40 million of her own money into the race?

Unfortunately, this race is representative of most House and Senate races across the country. Nearly everyone is faced with the choice between, in the words of “South Park,” a giant douche and a turd sandwich.

Judge Andrew Napolitano, a commentator on Fox News, put it well when he said “I believe we have a one-party system in this country, called the big-government party. There is a Republican branch that likes war and deficits and assaulting civil liberties, and there is a Democratic branch that likes welfare and taxes and assaulting commercial liberties.”

Though there has been much hand-wringing in the media over what the big Republican gains in this election will mean, little will change in the end. Here are three reasons the election did not matter, and why your vote did not make a difference.

1. American Empire – Virtually no candidate nominated by the two major parties would ever dare question America’s aggressive foreign policy or attempts at nation building. If Alexander the Great, the Mongols, the British Empire, and the Soviets all failed to beat Afghani resistance, we certainly won’t. And the situation is no different in Iraq. Obama may have said the war there is over, but he forgot to mention it to the 50,000 U.S. troops still on the ground there, and the hundreds of thousands of hired contractors.

2. The Federal Reserve – Few candidates in this year’s elections challenged the policies of the Federal Reserve System, which risks massive inflation. The Fed, which conducts U.S. monetary policy, is a quasi-public institution that is subject to no oversight by Congress. They continue to create money out of thin air, reducing the value of the paychecks you and I take home. Famous industrialist Henry Ford once said, “It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

3. Big Government – The new crop of Tea Party representatives may talk a good game about reducing the size of government, but that talk stops for the majority of them when you bring up social issues. They want to shrink government small enough to fit in your bedroom and tell you what you can and cannot do in the privacy of your own home. The establishment of both parties were united in their opposition to Proposition 19, a failed California ballot measure to legalize marijuana.

But all hope is not lost.

You can make a difference. It’s simply not enough for youth who care about politics to phone bank and knock on doors for candidates who suck slightly less than the opposition. Year of Youth is a project that seeks to encourage young people to run for office. Their website states they intend to “build a vibrant network of students, activists, organizers, candidates, intellectuals, and any other citizens who are concerned for their country’s future.” Only through direct action such as this, and by involvement in the primary process, can students bring about real change. Simply voting the straight party ticket, or voting for the candidate whose ads sound the best, won’t do a thing.