undefined | Better HN

0 pointscousin_it2mo ago0 comments

The phrase "voting with your wallet" is hilarious to begin with, because it admits that rich people have more voting power and implies that's how it should be.

0 comments

8 comments · 3 top-level

altmanaltman2mo ago· 4 in thread

So you're saying if a company is boycotted by most of its poor customers, the rich customers will subsidize the loss? Do you really think that will happen?

Companies need customers, and if they lose customers, they can go out of business. The saying doesn't mean "the bigger the wallet, the bigger the vote" but rather "boycott this company and do not be a customer."

Y-bar2mo ago

This is effectively happening, not in the way you frame it, but companies has effectively moved to rely solely on the rich:

> The top 10% of American households in terms of income earned are driving nearly half of all U.S. consumer spending.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/consumers/us-economy-strength-ri...

Edit: An NPR episode on the concerning trend, https://www.npr.org/2025/11/21/nx-s1-5616629/consumer-sentim...

actionfromafar2mo ago

Ouch. That's a pattern in the developing world.

Eisenstein2mo ago

No, that's not what they are saying. They are saying that the literal reading of the term itself implies that poor people have less of a say than rich people.

altmanaltman2mo ago

It would if the saying was "vote with your dollars" or "vote with the dollars in your wallet". A literal reading of the term means you signal your vote/opinion by choosing what to pay for and it can hurt businesses since they have to generate revenue, not that $1 = 1 vote.

1 more reply

zeroonetwothree2mo ago· 1 in thread

Collectively “rich people” spend less than 50% of the total consumer spending so this isn’t actually true exactly.

If you mean an individual person then it really depends.

mememememememo2mo ago

Consumer being the operative word. What about business spend?

groundzeros20152mo ago

Vote with you wallet is not about civic function it’s about getting what you want from the market place.

And yes rich people get more goods and services.. which is why people want to be rich?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse