The tyranny of the majority (or tyranny of the masses) is an inherent weakness to majority rule in which the majority of an electorate, even if its majority is razor thin, pursues exclusively its own objectives at the expense of those of the minority factions. This results in oppression of minority groups comparable to that of a tyrant or despot, argued John Stewart Mill in his 1859 book On Liberty.
The idea that people who live by free and open elections in the practice of self rule end up behaving like, if not actually becoming tyrants (Nazi Germany, 1936). Having fringe groups on the margins of any culture is understandable but by definition they remain small and irrelevant. But when two competing ideologies are nearly equal in their support and their differences are profound, constructive negotiation and the art of compromise can give way to mob rule. That is what Mill was referring to with ‘Tyranny Of The Majority’. Whichever political party gains power they interpret the outcome as a mandate, license to expand their own power and advance their controversial agenda to its limits, by whatever means is available. Winner Take All is the principle and whatever you can get away with is the rule. Keep telling the same lie long enough and the truth gets lost. The lie is what we remember.
The Tyranny part is manifest in angst between competing parties and one’s identity and sense of purpose is as much if not more about the color of your necktie. Winning and holding power is more important than what you do with it. If you break ranks with your constituents over anything at all you get punished and become the proverbial, Man Without A Country (Liz Cheney; Wyoming).
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Tyranny is cruel, oppressive, government rule. If the government is authoritarian and rules by force it is what it is. But freely elected officials, even by the thinest margin of victory prevail with the pretense of manifest destiny and divine right. Reelection and personal careers are nearly always equal to serving a particular ideology. First and last, regardless of how qualified and competent leaders may or may not be; the American electorate is vulnerable to voting out of ignorance and prejudice at the polls.
I have been addressing human nature for years and the most compelling trait I find there is that we respond to charged emotions with extreme actions long before we ever consider reason and logic. We believe and behave as well, based on fears and desires that can not stand up to rationale scrutiny. What should be top priority gets kicked like the proverbial can, down the road. In this case the danger is that we use self rule to elect ruthless, selfish demagogues to high office and believe their emotionally charged propaganda. For the record, history has not been kind to demagogues across the ages.
When I think about the truly profound challenges we (U.S.A.) must address, if not sooner then certainly later; our most compelling concern is, who is to be in charge of a woman’s uterus, which books should be banned from public libraries and whether or not undocumented immigrants should have any rights at all. I would repeat myself: we respond to charged emotions with extreme actions long before we ever consider reason and logic. We prefer unreliable emotional feelings with decision making rather than logic and rationale, facts and due process.
I am old. If I die today I have lived a long and rewarding life. Since I don’t believe in a ‘Here-after’, I have little to lose. In my lifetime the U.S. population has more, much more than doubled and my great grandchildren (I have 2) will have face a daunting future. Because of population growth and lack of access to technological progress, they have more to fear and less influence on their culture than I experienced (mathematical probability). Mother Nature does not give our species, Homo sapiens, any special privileges. My concerns for young people is real. But since I have no control over anything after I’m gone, any anxiety on my part would simply be, piss in the wind so I don’t really care. But for those of us who pay attention and do the math, Mother Nature has been telling us all along; “Pay me now or pay me later.” When that dreadful day does come the political party that is in power will be blamed by the other, as if it matters.
The idea that people who live by free and open elections in the practice of self rule end up behaving like, if not actually becoming tyrants (Nazi Germany, 1936). Having fringe groups on the margins of any culture is understandable but by definition they remain small and irrelevant. But when two competing ideologies are nearly equal in their support and their differences are profound, constructive negotiation and the art of compromise can give way to mob rule. That is what Mill was referring to with ‘Tyranny Of The Majority’. Whichever political party gains power they interpret the outcome as a mandate, license to expand their own power and advance their controversial agenda to its limits, by whatever means is available. Winner Take All is the principle and whatever you can get away with is the rule. Keep telling the same lie long enough and the truth gets lost. The lie is what we remember.
The Tyranny part is manifest in angst between competing parties and one’s identity and sense of purpose is as much if not more about the color of your necktie. Winning and holding power is more important than what you do with it. If you break ranks with your constituents over anything at all you get punished and become the proverbial, Man Without A Country (Liz Cheney; Wyoming).
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Tyranny is cruel, oppressive, government rule. If the government is authoritarian and rules by force it is what it is. But freely elected officials, even by the thinest margin of victory prevail with the pretense of manifest destiny and divine right. Reelection and personal careers are nearly always equal to serving a particular ideology. First and last, regardless of how qualified and competent leaders may or may not be; the American electorate is vulnerable to voting out of ignorance and prejudice at the polls.
I have been addressing human nature for years and the most compelling trait I find there is that we respond to charged emotions with extreme actions long before we ever consider reason and logic. We believe and behave as well, based on fears and desires that can not stand up to rationale scrutiny. What should be top priority gets kicked like the proverbial can, down the road. In this case the danger is that we use self rule to elect ruthless, selfish demagogues to high office and believe their emotionally charged propaganda. For the record, history has not been kind to demagogues across the ages.
When I think about the truly profound challenges we (U.S.A.) must address, if not sooner then certainly later; our most compelling concern is, who is to be in charge of a woman’s uterus, which books should be banned from public libraries and whether or not undocumented immigrants should have any rights at all. I would repeat myself: we respond to charged emotions with extreme actions long before we ever consider reason and logic. We prefer unreliable emotional feelings with decision making rather than logic and rationale, facts and due process.
I am old. If I die today I have lived a long and rewarding life. Since I don’t believe in a ‘Here-after’, I have little to lose. In my lifetime the U.S. population has more, much more than doubled and my great grandchildren (I have 2) will have face a daunting future. Because of population growth and lack of access to technological progress, they have more to fear and less influence on their culture than I experienced (mathematical probability). Mother Nature does not give our species, Homo sapiens, any special privileges. My concerns for young people is real. But since I have no control over anything after I’m gone, any anxiety on my part would simply be, piss in the wind so I don’t really care. But for those of us who pay attention and do the math, Mother Nature has been telling us all along; “Pay me now or pay me later.” When that dreadful day does come the political party that is in power will be blamed by the other, as if it matters.
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