I do not disagree with your first part. The second part, I would argue has been proven false. Voting changes nothing, and I dare say that were voting capable of changing anything, it'd be illegal. Obama and Trump both said they were antiwar and would end war, neither did. All of the Presidents of my life time have spoken against large deficit spending except for Clinton and Biden, and hilariously, only Clinton ever made any real progress on that front. The people are generally against the drug war, no change. The people are generally against mass incarceration, no change. The people are generally against corporate/government collusion, no change. The people have generally been against bailouts, no change.