> Corollary: the difference between a government and a warlord/organized crime syndicate is the time/money/effort spent on propaganda.

Only when the government is authoritarian. You can't vote out a dictator, king, warlord, or mob boss.

I can't vote out the people who decide who gets on the ballot, either.

Maybe not at the presidential level, but you can definitely do so at the local and legislative level if you get involved in your party's local nominating committees. The alternative is running every presidential election like a California recall election, which is a famously dysfunctional process.