cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16451158
this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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Your frequent reminder from the local queer, leftist furry that if "voting didn't work," Republicans and billionaires wouldn't spend billions of dollars on voter suppression and propaganda telling you that your vote doesn't matter.
Do your part, waste billionaire money by voting anyway, by any means necessary~
That really depends on what you mean by "voting doesn't work."
First of all, the amount that billionaires spend on elections is tiny compared to their net worth. When Elon Musk was interfering in the elections in 2024 he was worth about $250 billion. What he spent on the election was about $250 million, which is 0.1% of his net worth. His wealth has gone up so quickly since that point that $250m is basically how much is wealth changes over the course of half a day. To put that in perspective, the one-time wealth tax proposed in California is 5% of a billionaire's net worth. 5% of that would have been $5 billion, or about 33x as much as he spent to influence the presidential election.
So, the amounts being spent are small compared to the wealth of the people involved. That means you can't judge voting as important based on this spending.
Also, what people mean most of the time when they say "voting doesn't work" is that you can't make significant changes to the system with your vote. That's also often true. Let's say the most important thing for you is to stop Israel from destroying Gaza. There is most likely no vote you can make that will have any effect on that outcome. The democratic and republican establishments are so in bed with Israel and AIPAC that it's extremely likely that any candidate you could vote for has a pro-Israel position.
On the other hand, it's clear how much damage Trump was able to do to the world, and especially to the US, and that wasn't possible without him winning the latest election. Of course, because of the electoral college, etc. if you're a voter in Oklahoma or Massachusetts, your vote for president basically doesn't matter. There are too many other people with a voting preference in those states for your one vote to swing the electoral college the other direction. Instead it's a few misinformed voters in Nevada or Philadelphia who get to decide the president.
So anyhow, voting can sometimes change things, but most of the time it's going to be a very slow process of incremental changes with a lot of backsliding. The billionaires know that, so while they spend a bit on elections, what they spend is basically pocket change to them. It's probably still a good idea to vote, but nobody should go into it expecting that voting is going to radically change the world.
It's also why people should be doing a lot more than just voting. They can campaign for candidates, send them money, run for office themselves. More importantly, join unions when possible, protest in the streets whenever possible, and don't merely go into a booth every 4 years, push a button, and think that it's going to change much.