[statoshi]

To be quite honest, it doesn't matter if folks think that non-mining nodes are unimportant - they can't force folks who /are/ running full validating non-mining nodes into accepting arbitrary rule changes to the protocol. That's what's important.

[warboat]

If non-mining nodes don't accept it then they just fall off the network like a loud angry spectator at a football game.

[Frogolocalypse]

A couple of years of failed fork attempts have a different opinion to your understanding.