I like to complain. A lot. By which I mean that if someone I voted for is doing a bad job, I will call them out on it, even if it’s a Democrat. It might not make me the most popular guy in the party, but I think it’s far better than the alternative.

That I was born into a stable democracy where hard fought protections mean a young gay jew can speak his mind without fear of reprisal is by far the greatest gift I was ever given.

The tea party does have one thing right, the founding documents (and their protections) are incredibly important; they’re what started us on the path toward liberty and freedom that now separates us from a country like Iran (where I would decidedly not be able to speak my mind or even reveal any aspect of my identity).

So while I might complain that my party isn’t doing what’s right sometimes, I do so out of an intense love for the fact that I’m able to be a part of the party, and a part of that process. That I’m able to do so and not be shot is the difference between living here rather than an alarming number of “democracies” around the world. Try speaking out against the government in Egypt and see how far that gets you.

Even more important though, than my ability to openly identify myself for who I am, and to speak out politically even when it’s unpopular, is my privilege, and everyone else’s right, to cast a ballot and know it will be counted fairly. The courage with which Afghanis voted earlier this year despite death threats, only to find their election was marred by massive fraud, continues to amaze me. What’s disheartening is that because of elected officials in other states, voters in the US have been effectively denied that right at times (See Florida, 2000).

Finally, living in California, I get a privilege even most western europeans in stable democratic republics don’t get. My elections result in real changes in how government works. Seats change on a regular basis, and while I’ll complain about redistricting and other reforms, I still live in a state where I must still fight at the ballot box to get the governor, senator, and numerous other elected officials I want.

Once you narrow it down, the percentage of people in the world who get to vote every two years, speak openly beforehand about who they are and why others should vote with them, know the election won’t be tarnished by blatant fraud, and know they have a real choice in which their vote matters, puts me among an incredible elite.

And when you think of it that way, it’s not your fellow voters to whom you should apologize if you didn’t vote for say, 28 years; it’s to the 80%+ of people in the world will never have that chance.