Majority rule has been recognized as a gold standard of democratic processes. When Americans assert that “the people must decide,” they mean that whoever or whatever receives the most popular votes should be accepted. However, only a moment’s reflection is needed to realize the limitations of majority rule. If the Ku Klux Klan, Fascists, or Nazis win the popular vote, should their views prevail? Alexis de Tocqueville (1831), a Frenchman, coined the term “tyranny of the majority” to emphasize the danger inherent in blind allegiance to majority rule. In doing so, however, he merely provided a phrase that encapsulated beliefs already enshrined in the American political system—namely, the 1778 Connecticut Compromise which decreed that the House of Representative should be apportioned according to population, and the Senate should be comprised of two senators per state, regardless of population. The Compromise succeeded because it ensured that both large and small states would be represented, respected, and protected.
Bullying is, and has been, a hot topic in contemporary America. In 1991, Georgia became the first state to initiate anti-bullying legislation, and, in 2015, Montana became the fiftieth and final one. The laws passed bipartisanly and overwhelmingly. Virtually no one could argue convincingly to justify intimidating and coercing the weak. State sponsored bullying legislation passed because it was regarded as both a practical and moral issue rather than as a political one.
Bullying certainly is a practical issue. An environment of bullying is an environment of exploitation and fear. Sooner or later, the bullied will unite to confront their oppressors. Bullying surely is a moral issue, too. Those who condone bullying tend to be either sociopaths who care only about themselves, or borderline personality disordered persons, comfortable with cognitive splitting by which they regard one position as all bad and another as all good.
In 2019 America, federal bullying is decidedly, almost exclusively, political. Many politicians want to eliminate the Electoral College that enables small states to have equal representation in presidential elections. If the Electoral College were abolished, nine states---California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, and Michigan---voting together would decide who is elected president. The other 41 would be irrelevant. The nine bullies then could maintain their own coalition that pushes for policies and laws that favor the large states over the small. You might notice that all nine of the large states are located on the nation's periphery. One could imagine a dystopian scenario in which power resources were allocated preferentially within that periphery, at the expense of the rest.
What might the other 41 states do? Should they rise up in a 21st century civil war, or fearfully kowtow to the bullies, passively accepting their second class status? One thing is certain: Federal bullying would create a Disunited States of America that in time would lead to the nation's demise.
Bullying is, and has been, a hot topic in contemporary America. In 1991, Georgia became the first state to initiate anti-bullying legislation, and, in 2015, Montana became the fiftieth and final one. The laws passed bipartisanly and overwhelmingly. Virtually no one could argue convincingly to justify intimidating and coercing the weak. State sponsored bullying legislation passed because it was regarded as both a practical and moral issue rather than as a political one.
Bullying certainly is a practical issue. An environment of bullying is an environment of exploitation and fear. Sooner or later, the bullied will unite to confront their oppressors. Bullying surely is a moral issue, too. Those who condone bullying tend to be either sociopaths who care only about themselves, or borderline personality disordered persons, comfortable with cognitive splitting by which they regard one position as all bad and another as all good.
In 2019 America, federal bullying is decidedly, almost exclusively, political. Many politicians want to eliminate the Electoral College that enables small states to have equal representation in presidential elections. If the Electoral College were abolished, nine states---California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, and Michigan---voting together would decide who is elected president. The other 41 would be irrelevant. The nine bullies then could maintain their own coalition that pushes for policies and laws that favor the large states over the small. You might notice that all nine of the large states are located on the nation's periphery. One could imagine a dystopian scenario in which power resources were allocated preferentially within that periphery, at the expense of the rest.
What might the other 41 states do? Should they rise up in a 21st century civil war, or fearfully kowtow to the bullies, passively accepting their second class status? One thing is certain: Federal bullying would create a Disunited States of America that in time would lead to the nation's demise.
No comments:
Post a Comment