A government whose police power is used solely for this purpose is no threat to any peaceful citizen, since it may never initiate the use of force. It only acts to prevent the use of force. Historically, no people has ever achieved a society whose government strictly adhered to this f unction. This achievement of democracy is its only justification. If it fails in this function, a democracy has no justification at all.
Majority tyranny is no less a tyrranny because it is a majority.
The argument that democracy justifies the various pseudo-rights is pernicious. It perverts the function of democracy and further obscures the meaning of rights. In the end it serves to destroy democracy by giving rise to pressure-group warfare. Until these facts are recognized and acted upon, the present trend in domestic legislation will continue with undiminished vigor. At the time of the original publication, Mr. Lindl was a graduate student at Princeton University.