Thursday, March 19, 2026

day no. 17,314: majority rule and mob rule

“You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.” – G.K. Chesterton, The Wind and the Trees from Tremendous Trifles

You cannot have mob rule without majority rule. You cannot have a revolution without mass rebellion. The voice of the people is not the voice of God. There is nothing inherently binding about the majority opinion. The minority may suffer at the hands of the majority for not being on board with the popular opinion, but that is merely might making right. That does not make might good or true or beautiful. In order to have that, there must be a standard that reigns over the majority and the minority. There can be more or less popular ways to try to achieve an agreed upon standard, but without a standard that rules over them both, you will have have mob where you have a majority.

“I am a [proponent of democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true… I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows.” — C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns

Democracy does not keep the mob in check, but it does keep one maniac from being without checks and balances. The doctrine of total depravity serves as a standard to govern those in the majority and those in the minority. It governs those who have the votes and those who don't. Democracy, while still less than ideal, when governed by that understanding, can make a go of it as it has in the United States for the last 250 years.

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