Opus 27, The Tyranny of the Micro-Minority

When the Founders were hammering out the Constitution, they deliberately did not choose a pure democracy.  They studied history and realized pure democracy did not work.  One reason was that it was cumbersome and inefficient.  Another concern was what has been termed “The Tyranny of the Majority.”  This is a fear that 50% plus one can force anything on everyone else.  Picture if renters could take away property rights by a simple vote.  How about if people who owed money could eliminate their debt anytime at the ballot box.  Picture if your children could vote on what they wanted for dinner.  Oh, they do at your house?  You have my sympathy.

We were given a federal republic with checks and balances put in place to keep small groups of people from running away with things.  They are also there to keep big groups from running away with things.  For over two hundred years it has worked well.  Occasionally we have small groups of wannabe tyrants who try to get around the system.  We are at one of those points in our history.  We will survive but the damage can cripple us as a free people for years.

We do not have a Tyranny of the Majority.  We do not even have a Tyranny of the Minority.  We are coming to a place where we have a Tyranny of the Micro-Minority.  We seem to have a bunch of career politicians who believe that they are beyond the will of the voters.  They believe that logic, cause and effect and responsible behavior do not apply to them.  They are the new nobility, above the common man and able to manipulate society for their own personal preference.  I won’t even say it is for personal gain because I don’t know what financial gain they get from repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” or banning lightbulbs or trying to regulate the temperature in our homes.  It is all about the power to mess with people.

Maybe we need a Constitutional Amendment that makes legislatures and judges liable for the unintended consequences of their actions.  Maybe they would respond to hard time in maximum security facilities where they would be afraid to drop the soap.