I tend to be a rule follower, but I don’t like it when rules don’t make sense or seem fair. Who gets to decide what makes sense or what is “fair”?
In some countries, called autocracies or dictatorships, the guy at the top of the food chain gets to decide. He makes sure that, even in the presence of other lawmakers, what he wants is what in fact will happen. If you recall your high school history class, that’s the whole reason our nation came into being in the first place. First, the earliest European settlers came here to escape religious persecution. They didn’t like being told how to express their beliefs in God. Then, about 150 years later, colonists decided they didn’t like being taxed by the King of England when they didn’t have any representation among the rule makers. In other words, our nation was born out of our desire for fairness and reason. Sounds good so far!
In our system of democracy, we have agreed that a central government reflects the unity that we desire for our country. State, county and city governments tend to make local decisions, but overall, we still want to have a say in who makes what decisions. Democracy allows us to have regularly scheduled opportunities to elect representatives who share our opinions, including the guy at the top, and then we hold those representatives accountable for doing what they say they are going to do. We may not get to control every decision the minute it is made, and we may have to accept that “majority rule” may override our wishes, but we always can look forward to the next opportunity to elect representatives who agree with us. Still sounds good, right?
Here’s where the notion of freedom comes in, and how things have gotten messed up recently. Many people, perhaps many Texans especially, seem to have decided that freedom means doing whatever you want, and getting your preferred outcome, regardless of what anybody else might think. Oops, doesn’t that sound like the description of dictatorship? What has dawned on me while researching the topic of freedom is that it’s a very complicated idea that requires a deeper level of understanding than simply “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Majority rule might only feel “fair” when the majority agrees with you. So, for instance, if the outcome of an election is not what you wanted, you might decide that the election was not “fair.” You can even go to court to have your evidence examined, and sometimes the outcome will lead to a change. But sometimes it won’t. A level of awareness that is more developed than that of a toddler might allow you to accept, however grudgingly, that you will have to try again at the next opportunity. Part of our explicit written agreement in forming our nation (known as the Constitution) includes the concept that the “rule of law” is our foundational bedrock. This allows us to change specific laws, if the majority agrees, but not to ignore or undermine the laws that currently exist.
It’s easy to see how losing sight of the overarching principles of democracy can lead to frustration and even law-breaking. The wheels can turn so slowly! This is part of why some of our rules, for example, are designed to restrict younger people from having a full voice in many decisions: we believe they have not yet developed the maturity to understand the decisions they might want to make. Do you want children to be able to buy cigarettes and alcohol? Do you want them to be able to decide when they need to show up for school? We have collectively decided that we want rules to govern these decisions, not the beliefs of the individual shopkeeper or educator. (Don’t get me started about how recently women were included in this “immature” category!)
Some people, ironically often the people who used to support “small government”, have now decided that majority rule, along with the Constitution, are no longer concepts that really matter if they interfere with controlling their desired outcome. Their tactics for getting what they want are starting to resemble the tactics of schoolyard bullies, or even toddlers. Have you ever tried to get a toddler to admit they are wrong? But the stakes here are much higher than putting up with a tantrum. Does someone obtain a court ruling that allows them to do something you don’t want them to do? Well then, threaten them with physical harm, or try to stop them in some other way, regardless of legality. The level of interpersonal violence surrounding disagreements these days is frightening.
Some of our citizens, so far not the majority, but certainly louder than the majority, have decided that freedom means getting to tell other people what they can or can’t do but never being told that themselves. Please consider examining your beliefs to see if you might have become one of those people.
Susan Hull is a retired clinical psychologist, a horse trainer and an Independent voter. Her horses get to express their opinions and sometimes they even get their way, but only if she decides it’s fair and reasonable.
