I’ve always loved Linux, even when it was kicking my ass. I can’t imagine approaching it with the attitude “Ugh, I have to force myself to use this thing, and I know that it’s going to frustrate me”.
That sort of thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because everybody has cognitive biases. Since you expect it to be frustrating, you’re going to remember all the times that it is and forget the times when it isn’t.
Yes, voting is the baseline. It’s the least you can do.
I’m sure that there are anarchists out there who refuse to vote out of principle, but they still do activist work such as participating in mutual aid groups and so on. They’re wrong, but at least they’re still helping society in some way. I think the vast majority of people who don’t vote are just lazy, though.
Well, yes and no. The Democrat Party is structured to prevent takeovers like what happened to the GOP (e.g. super-delegates). I think it is moving to the left, but glacially slowly. 20 years ago, somebody like Bernie would have been a joke. Now, he’s a viable contender. Maybe in another 50 or 60 years, they’ll be where European leftist parties are now.