Our country is based on democracy. Why is it that the minority wins?

Question

Such as "in God we trust" being removed, Spanish is becoming a first language, etc.

Answer 1

Dang good question! I guess we don't want to "hurt anyone's feelings." Hogwash!

Answer 2

Interesting that the two examples you gave, um, came out the other way...

"In God we Trust" hasn't been removed from anything, is still an official motto, and appears on all our coins.

English has been declared the "official" language of many states, and there are very specific and generally quite limited protections for Spanish speakers (such as the requirement that largely spanish-speaking districts get Spanish ballots for elections).

I think you've fundamentally misunderstood democracy and government. Just because the United States is a Democratic Republic, doesn't mean that 50%+1 gets to decide how to do everything. There are other considerations, including protections built into the constitution, and structural compromises and procedures. For instance, two thirds of the country supports stem cell research, but the nature of the way we elect congresmen and the veto power of the president mean that won't happen. That may be "anti-democratic" in some way, but it's the way our system works. At one point, a majority of people believed that slavery and lynchings were ok, but I think most everyone agrees at this point the constitution bars those things.

Answer 3

The minority never wins.

The best you can get is to have a document -- such as the constitution -- which guarantees certain rights regardless of whether you are in the majority or not.

We're a country with a constitution that prohibits government from endorsing or supporting any religion. Yet, we have the phrase "In God we trust" on many government buildings and on our money. I still don't understand how the court can say that's not an endorsement of religion, but so far it's not.

As for Spanish becoming 'a first language", that's non-sensical. You can't mean that it is the first language used by the US, because that's obviously not true. And as for any given individual's first language, that entirely depends on their parents' fluency. Not too long ago, italian and german and chinese were the first languages spoken by many US citizens born in the US, because their parents were immigrants from Italiy or Germany or China a centurty ago.

So, you must mean Spanish may become the primary language of the US. And that would only happen if (1) the majority of people were speaking it, and (2) that majority decided to impose their beliefs on the minority. But that's exactly the type of democracy the current majority seems to want -- might-makes-right majority rule where the current 51% gets to impose their beliefs and practices on everyone else.

They just don't like the idea of not being the majority anymore, because they're afraid someone is going to do to them what they've been doing to everyone else.

Answer 4

The problem is you have to protect the rights of the minority, or the majority could vote the minority off the island (so to speak). People often say how this is a Christian nation, well its true most people are Christian, but there are a lot of Jews and Bhuddists and even Moslems, too, and the Founders learned from history that ramming one religion down everybodys' throat was a great way to assure continuous war. Peace breaks out every once in a while in Northern Ireland, where its Christian Catholics against Christian Protestants, but it has been mostly continuous religious war there since the English tried to ram protestantism down the throats of the Irish over 300 years ago. You just can't force a matter of such deeply held convictions upon people--in many matters, one size just does not fit all.

Answer 5

The minority never wins. What happens is that the majority never gets to do everything that it wants (for example, 75% cannot choose to kill the other 25%). It also complicates things that people called "moderates" exist -- you may be in the majority on one issue and the minority on another.

Also, "In God We Trust" is still the national motto, and Spanish is only the first language in Mexico. It would take centuries for enough Hispanic immigrants to come in and outnumber every other ethnic group, even assuming that none of them learned English. And as I'm sure at least 51% of the country realizes this (notice that not many people speak Spanish in Ohio), YOU'RE actually the one in the minority.

Answer 6

It's the new "compassion" and indoctrination into being ignorantly politically correct. The tables are reversed due to attacks by any minority group. When they vocally rise up, the majority returns fire and then the slurs begin. The majority is now expected to sit down, shut up and let the minority dictate what the majority thinks and does. It's a lovely little mess.

Answer 7

Because a whole bunch of "minorities" together make a majority then again that could also describe a mob and have to say sure seems like a mob mentality lately in more ways than not!

Answer 8

Because the majority doesn't bother to vote. We had an election in my town last week...with less that 22% voter turnout.

What happens is that the people who feel strongly enough about something go and vote, and the majority stays at home and complains when they lose.

Decisions get made by those who show up.

Answer 9

Oh, everyone thinks we have to be politically correct. Ugggh! The second some minority doesn't get what they want, they run to the ACLU and it turns into a multi-million dollar court case.

Answer 10

We may be a majority, but we are a silent majority. The minority that is "winning" is just louder and more persistent.

Answer 11

It's called the "Tyranny of the Minority."

Everyone is so afraid of being labeled a racist, bigot, homophobe, etc.