[PLUG-TALK] Re: [PLUG] Sounds good to me ;)

Russell Senior seniorr at aracnet.com
Tue Jun 18 09:42:39 UTC 2002


>>>>> "Scot" == Craighead, Scot D <craighead.scot at vectorscm.com> writes:

Russell> a) look up "tyranny of the majority";

Scot> Why?  Sounds like a bunch of liberal garbage.  Maybe another way
Scot> to say that would be democracy?

Wow.  Was James Madison a liberal garbage spewer?

Here's what google comes up with:

  <http://www.garlikov.com/philosophy/majorityrule.htm>

 ``In any institution in which a majority of citizens or members can
   pass laws or rules that apply, not just to themselves, but to all
   members of the group, judgment is required to distinguish potential
   laws which are reasonable and fair from those which are tyrannical
   because they are unnecessary, unfair, and justifiably intolerable
   to the minority that opposed them. And formal mechanisms need to be
   in place, wherever feasible, to prevent tyrannical laws from being
   passed by those whose judgment in such matters might fail.

   The founding fathers of the American republic were not unaware of
   this problem, and some of the provisions of the U.S. Constitution
   can be viewed as ways of addressing it even if that is not
   necessarily their expressed or realized intention. James Madison
   wrote in Federalist Paper 51: "It is of great importance in a
   republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of
   its rulers but to guard one part of the society against the
   injustice of the other part. If a majority be united by a common
   interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure." [...]''

Russell> b) mr or ms non-english speaking immigrant pays taxes too,
Russell> probably in greater proportion relative to what they receive
Russell> services than you do; and

Scot> Do you base this statement on any facts or does it just sound
Scot> good to you?

I've heard it expressed.  The rationale I've heard to back it up
sounds plausible, but I have nothing immediately at hand to point to.
Do you have anything to point to that supports the opposite
conclusion?

Russell> c) who is to say that maybe they don't want a dime of _their_
Russell> tax money spent on documents written in english.  Do you
Russell> really want to go down that road?

Scot> Does that even make any sense?

Not really, which is why what you propose doesn't make sense either.


-- 
Russell Senior         ``The two chiefs turned to each other.        
seniorr at aracnet.com      Bellison uncorked a flood of horrible       
                         profanity, which, translated meant, `This is
                         extremely unusual.' ''                      




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