Depends on the person
when the pandemic hit I was a grad student, we didn't have kids, and our living situation was nice (tiny studio but it had a wonderful, if small, outdoor space). Scary times for sure, but life
at least the day to day
was...pretty good!
Now we have kids, and my god, I can't imagine.
Participation. Making things a tiny bit better when possible, and if not that, then minimizing damage.
Making things better nationally is hard. But locally, change can be efffected
my city (San Francisco) has ranked choice voting for local offices. It's awesome, and I vote for who I want first. It's small, but it's a start.