Majority rule is a precious, sacred thing worth dying for. But—like other precious, sacred things, such as the home and the family—it’s not only worth dying for; it can make you wish you were dead.Imagine if all of life were determined by majority rule. Every meal would be a pizza. Every pair of pants, even those in a Brooks Brothers suit, would be stonewashed denim. Celebrity diet and exercise books would be the only thing on the shelves at the library. And—since women are a majority of the population—we’d all be married to Mel Gibson.
— P.J. O’Rourke
Found it at LGF:
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Indeed, the founders viewed majority rule (aka direct democracy) with great suspicion, and you can see it in their work with an appointed judiciary, electoral college and Senate (originally appointed by state legislatures). I think it was Jonah Goldberg who said "Democracy is the ability of 50% of the population plus one to pee on everyone elses cornflakes".
Today's society is governed through the implications of rules, legal restrictions that tell you if something is considered, in the eyes of society, to be right or wrong. All of these rules were created to uphold and maintain a ridged idea of ethical and moral values. For example the "10 commandments" which are thousands of years old, were created to teach ethical values, the difference between right and wrong. But who determines what is considered ethical? And what affects ones decision to act ethical or unethical?
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