Quote:
Originally Posted by tee-ha-ha
Would you classify half the British population as an "angry mob"? I wouldn't.
You said developed, not democratic.  |
i'm an elitist bitch, so i think majorities are very often in the wrong
(btw, that was said tongue-in-cheek, not to be taken 100% literally
)
i bet more than half the population would support public executions of paedophiles and rapists - doesn't make it right. public executions used to be a form of entertainment, 'bread and circus' and all that... just saying. democracy is one thing, total majority rule/tyranny of the masses is another. you also need safeguards in place to prevent the will of the people always winning. sometimes the will of the people is wrong and has to be ignored. things like gay marriage, abortion, etc. cannot be decided by majorities. a good example of this is desegregation of schools in the US. i'm sure if you'd put it to a vote, it wouldn't have passed. instead, they had to decide it and send in the national guard to make sure it was enforced.
and yeah, i know i wasn't precise enough. but i meant developed, democratic countries because, like i said, china's not exactly the best example to cite in order to justify your own country's use of the death penalty.