@left_adjoint I would just emphasize that the main thing people can do about the federal government is be careful about who they elect as representatives.
So often people are so obsessed with the presidency that they don't even know that they are reelecting representatives that are promoting the exact situations that they regret so dearly.
You're right, drinking down despair is not useful. Educating yourself on what your representatives are doing might just be, though, because you might find out you're re-empowering people that are failing you.