Suppose there’s a group of citizens who think that the moon is made of green cheese, and that this green cheese is poisoning Earth’s atmosphere. They propose that the United States fire a series of giant rockets, with a billion tons of TNT attached, to destroy the moon and all its green cheese, thus ridding planet Earth of this noxious scourge.
And, perhaps a bit more sensibly, this same group of citizens thinks that the United States should base its monetary system not on the gold standard but on the value of diamonds. Call it the Diamond Standard. Perhaps such a change is needed because, once the moon is gone, there will be a green-cheese shortage so great that the price will skyrocket. Only the Diamond Standard can prevent runaway inflation.
But now comes the serious part. Do these people — these green-cheese fearing, diamond-loving, blue-tie and green-purse wary citizens — deserve representation in the United States Congress?
This is a thought experiment question. But it’s not so far from reality for, in fact, we Americans are highly irritated by politicians who represent views alien from our own. Yet, if we believe in a democratic system, we must admit, do we not, that behind these politicians are voters whose views, however different from our own, these politicians represent.
Many ancient philosophers thought this was the problem with democracy. It permitted representation of all sorts of idiotic viewpoints. And then there’s Winston Churchill, who said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.
I’m Tom McBride, and that’s my Perspective.
