“I do not believe in the doctrine of the greatest number. It means in its nakedness that in order to achieve the supposed good of 51 per cent the interests of 49 per cent may be, or rather, should be sacrificed. It is a heartless doctrine and has done harm to humanity.”
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Counting heads and calling the bigger pile 'the good' can quietly license running roughshod over everyone in the smaller pile. The objection is that a real answer looks for what serves the whole, protecting the outvoted rather than treating their loss as an acceptable price.
When to use it
- A committee redesigns the schedule so the night-shift minority isn't sacrificed to suit the majority's convenience.
- A tenants' board rejects a rule that would please most residents by pushing out the few who can least afford it.
- A teacher adapts a lesson so the three kids who are lost aren't left behind for the sake of the twenty who already get it.