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Originally Posted by something
And as I understand, the most recent plebiscite demonstrated that 53% were in favour... A tenuous majority enforcing itself on the remaining 47%. Majority rule is not the superlative political determinant; especially by a slim margin.
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I believe that in a democracy majority rule is indeed the superlative political determinant subject only to the reasonable expectation of a minority to not be unreasonably interfered with in their liberties that are not socially maladaptive or unreasonable to accomodate.
i.e. I would not support government mandated "whites only" lunch counters even if more than 50% of the population supported it because that would be an unreasonable infringement on minority rights of freedom of association, and there is no inherently unreasonable cost for the government to support that minority right.
On the other hand, there are all sorts of impositions on minorities that are supportable. The imposition of taxes on everyone, despite the loud objections of a small minority against any taxation is a perfect example. Social utility supports the government collecting taxes to benefit everyone even if a minority feels this to be an unfair imposition on their liberty. Fluoridation is a similar situation in my opinion. There are arguments for and against, but ultimately it is incumbent upon the minority to shift public attitude, not for the majority to give up the benefits they have become accustomed to based on a minority's lobbying ability.
I sent an email to my alderman in this regard this morning.