I agree with you on the principle. I don't disagree that it's a dangerous thing to think.

That said, literally speaking, individual votes don't really matter. One voter alone cannot change anything. It will not affect any outcomes. That is why it's really easy to believe that way, not because it's a falsehood but because conversely, it is a truth. You need to have the conviction to still go out despite knowing that nothing will happen because of you. It's not really sensible for someone who's busy and overwhelmed to go drive 15 miles each way to do something that is only symbolic and will not cause change.

To expect every single citizen to have such conviction that they will vote on principle, and understand they're not an individual but part of a bigger entity, even if their efforts do nothing, is asking quite a lot. It irks me when people act as though it's so easy.

Same deal with "voting with your wallet." Consumers are actually losing something there, just so that a corporate executive will see "4,538,411 unit sales" instead of "4,538,412" sales. They will never alter their harmful business practices because of an individual sale while someone has to suffer or fight their biggest desires for that 1-tally difference and they know that. The blame for the state of the world shouldn't rest almost entirely on the shoulders of the average citizen.

I think as long as we do not offer any compensation (stickers help, but it's not much of an incentive) for voting, we can't expect all citizens to participate. It doesn't make logical sense to vote on an individual basis if you're sacrificing your time and labor to vote in exchange for nothing when you have a family to feed, work to do, friends to spend time with and places to go.