You know, I’m glad our choices for President of the United States are so blatantly terrible.

It’s about time some people started to realize the truth: It doesn’t matter who wins.

No matter how much hysterical screaming is hurled at you from friends, family, and coworkers, it doesn’t matter.

This is The Thing You Cannot Say in Public, and yet, you know it’s true.

Trump’s policies would be different in tiny ways from Hillary’s. That’s true. But the entire system remains intact, no matter who sits in the Oval Office. The State, as an organization, is wholly unfazed by your voting. It doesn’t care. You are nothing in face of Leviathan.

Your mind may tell you that voting is a waste of time, and that it changes nothing. But we get caught up in the television ads. The radio ads. The latest polls. The debates. The water cooler conversations. The flag waving. The ritual of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at public events. The singing of the National Anthem. The bumper stickers. The yard signs. The banner ads. The smartphone games. The fundraising mailers. The talk radio shows. The local political party meetings. The scandalous comments. The opinion pieces about the scandalous comments.

It is inescapable. Why? The State depends on the fact that your emotional defenses will wear away before Election Day.

“But we can’t let Trump win!”

“But we can’t let Hillary win!”

Listen to yourself, and then listen carefully to me.

No matter how many times you play Chess, and no matter who you play it with, the game is the same. Chess is a war game. You can play quickly or slowly. You can play in silence or engage in a lively volley of insults. Your pieces can be plastic, glass, stone, or anything else. Chess is still a war game.

You can switch sides every time you play, but the game is the same. Chess is always war. Chess does not care what team wins. If you want peace, you have to play a different game.

No matter who you vote for, the winner is always the great enemy of mankind: The State.

(This post originally appeared on LukeTatum.com. The date has been set to match the original.)