Tyranny of the majority
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 I was provisionally booked to appear on BBC Breakfast this morning to discuss a story that appeared HERE in yesterday's Daily Mail. Frank Field, a Labour MP I have a great deal of respect for, is proposing compulsory community service for young people aged 16-25.
"I'm not against the idea of community service," I told a researcher, "but I am 100 percent against it being compulsory."
"That's what I was hoping you'd say," she replied.
Thankfully, I (or the item) got bumped - which was a relief because I only got back from Edinburgh late last night and I would have had to leave home at five in order to get to Television Centre in west London for 7.15.
Nevertheless, I did give it some thought and I am opposed to the idea for so many reasons. For a start, it would take an army of bureaucrats to administer, let alone organise. Young people would have to be mentored, motivated, advised, supervised ... and what if they didn't turn up? How on earth could the scheme be enforced?
If people of any age want to lie in bed all day and do nothing, that's their choice. You can't - in a free society - force people to work or get involved in a "national citizenship programme". (You can remove their taxpayer-funded benefits, but that's another issue.)
What I really don't like is the fact that the scheme is being promoted on the back of a poll for Prospect magazine that found that 64 per cent of Britons support the idea. Even among younger people (aged 18-30) the plan had the support of 52 per cent. (It would be interesting to know what level of support there is among 16-25 year-olds, the group that is being targetted. Less than 50 per cent would be my guess, but that's not a figure they want you to hear.)
Frankly, polls like this annoy me. I don't doubt that many people aged 25+ will support the scheme - because they're not the ones being conscripted!! Even if a small majority of people under 30 support the idea, that still leaves a substantial minority opposed to it.
What we have here - as I would have told BBC Breakfast - is a classic example of the tyranny of the majority. If people want to become "good citizens" and take part in community service, good luck to them. But it's not something that should be made compulsory just because "the majority" supports it.
It's like the smoking ban. Even if we accept (which I don't) that a majority of people supported a comprehensive ban, that doesn't make it right. The minority have rights too. Freedom of choice matters - whatever "the majority" might say.
Reader Comments (8)
As soon as I see a YouGov poll being wheeled out in support of the latest piece of state-repression, I roll my eyes. Yes, funny that the views of the group targeted were aggregated with those from 26-30 year-olds so as to achieve the reported appearance of support from "a majority of young people".
We ordinarys need to be raising our voices against the political-class; refusing to indulge their conceit of being our masters. They work for us, not us for them.
Bugger. I meant to change the screen-name back before posting that.
Undoctor Basil
64 per cent of Britons support the idea.
No, they don't.
More likely 65% of the people that Prospect magazine happened to ask (their mates, their Mums, and her indoors in Wigan) supported the idea. Or did that evening.
Tosh.
Glad that knee jerk, boot leg eu directive got the bump before it got to the drawing board.
We'd all be better off if Frank Field's coterie of overpaid spin doctors/advisers/consultants were made do compulsory community service and put their idle time to some good use for a change.
Does anyone else remember the episode of Yes Minister where Humprey demonstrated how you could get any answer you wanted from a survey? I think the issue under debate was bringing back National Service.
Anyway, the point being is this article isn't properly named. It's isn't a tyranny of a the majority, it's of the PERCIEVED/MANUFACTURED majority.
In reality it's a tyranny of the minority with carefully crafted surveys.
I think you can do anything in this world, especially if you're chancing your arm or conning people, if you know how to work, use or manipulate the english language and without ending up in jail.
A good example was the tv series Yes Minister pointed out by RTS. In those days of real entertainment we thought it was a huge joke and had a great laugh.
Little did we realise that little nasties who were later to become known as spin doctors/consultants/advisers were lurking in the shadows taking it all down for future reference and using it against us to put the nanny state into operation.
Not alone that, but were getting millions for the spoof. Maybe we should all try and get law degrees or have another look at english lit when applying for university place because obviously thats where the modern gold rush lies!!
Ann -
You suggest:
"Maybe we should all try and get law degrees...."
Been there, done that. Piece of cake.............
Trouble is that the STUPIDEST people I've met over the past 25 years or so ALL have degrees of some sort - most of them in Law.
Frankly, my City and Guilds Certificate in Bricklaying has proved FAR more useful (if rather less lucrative).
And an Incompetent Bricklayer is somewhat easier to spot than an Incompetent Lawyer (or senior banking executive, for that matter).
Wouldn't mind doing a Snipers Course, though....
Yes Martin V I agree. There's far too much learning and no education. Thats why we have no knowledgable people in govt or debaters. That was the basis of the french revolution, the higher archy had no practical knowledge and completely lost it to the point that the masses had to move in.
Its gone to the stage that when these people achieve some obscure ban they think they have done something important what with their spin doctors, press announcement and tv coverage, they really think they have achieded something important in life while taking their eye off the more difficult task of manageing the economy and doing the job they were elected to do. Its hard to have respect for such individuals who unfortunately are leading the country.
The danger of these people is, they are giving fuel for riots in the future.