I roll my eyes every time I hear an American politician extol the virtues of our Democracy. We are very specifically not a Democracy; we are a Republic. But politicians fully understand the popularity of things that are, wait for it… popular.
The worship of democracy rests on the idea that if the majority endorses something, it must be correct. Hmmm…
In Athens in 399 BC, putting Socrates to death by poison for “corrupting the youth” found popular support. Friggin’ Socrates!
In 1692 and 1693, a sizable group hailing from Massachusetts embraced painfully executing 20 people for witchcraft.
In the 1930s and 1940s in Germany, the will of the people got behind aggressively working towards the genocide of an entire ethnicity.
In the 1980s, great swaths of the American population rushed to purchase and wear acid wash jeans.
Clearly, what’s popular and what’s right go their separate ways with some regularity. In reality, bad ideas frequently take up residence in the popular imagination. Both parties currently suggest plenty of proven bad ideas and watch them receive wonderful receptions with their voter base.
A Solution Exists… If We Can Keep It
Which is why America exists very deliberately as a Republic. A Republic intentionally creates significant legal distance between popular votes and policy. Pretty much the entire Constitution is dedicated to limiting what government is allowed to do and keeping citizens from driving into the ditch every time some shiny object catches the public’s eye.
That’s why we have the electoral college, why senators serve six-year terms, why the Supreme Court is independent, and its justices are appointed for life, and it’s why the First Amendment exists.
But Will We?
You know what’s simultaneously ironic and terrifying? Those foundational principles aren’t particularly popular right now. People call for the elimination of the electoral college because it worked exactly as designed and for its intended purpose, but not in favor of their candidate. College students frequently endorse restrictions on the First Amendment and shout down speakers with views differing from their own. Critics deride Supreme Court justices for not taking activist stances (meaning interpreting the Constitution in ways that match party or popular sentiment).
Here’s the thing… these ideas aren’t outdated. They aren’t relics of another time. We haven’t learned more about human nature in the past 250 years than the people who studied 3,000 years of human governance and its failings before writing the Constitution. They make sense and show great foresight as well as hindsight. They exist specifically for times like right now when we so badly want to flirt with ideas responsible for the greatest human tragedies in all history.
Regardless of party, we should all vigorously defend the legal restrictions precluding us from legislating how other people can live their lives. One group’s beliefs, values or preferences shouldn’t govern another group’s existence just because they’re a minority. No matter how popular it is, that’s still tyranny. And much like acid wash… tyranny is never right.