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Authors: Brigid Brophy
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democracy, I have a right to a say in shaping the system I live under. Am I not justified in being glad?’
‘Certainly,’ the sage replied, ‘—if you’re correct in thinking you have such a say.’
‘I have a vote. I have freedom of speech. I am free to join a political party – or even to start one. Can you deny that I have a say?’
‘I neither deny nor affirm it,’ the sage said. ‘I don’t know whether you have a say. To find out, I should have to ask many questions.’
‘Ask away.’
‘It is not you I should have to ask. However, without knowing whether you in fact have a say, I know that whether you have a say or not is a matter of pure chance.’
‘I foresee the point you’re going to make,’ the disciple said. ‘Let me save you trouble by admitting at once that the amount of say a person has may be affected by chance. A person who chances to be born into the ruling class or to be rich may well have extra opportunities to influence public opinion. In a sense I should have more freedom of speech if I could afford to become a newspaper proprietor than if I merely have to address myself to passers-by from the street corner. However, it is already possible to rise to power without chance giving you a good start. And increasingly democracies are ironing out the chance factors.’
‘I am not sure that democracies are ,’the sage said, ‘but I readily grant that they could iron out those chance factors if they set their mind to it. However, those were not the operations of chance that I meant. Let us suppose that a democracyhad ironed out all the uneven starting-points you mentioned. You would still say you were glad to live in a democracy?’
‘More fervently than ever.’
‘And would you say that, in such a democracy, you and I had equal opportunities to make our will prevail?’
‘Yes. That’s what’s good about a democracy.’
‘Let us say that you want X and I want anti-X to be made part of the system we live under. Which of us will get his way?’
‘Obviously, we can’t tell until we know which of us is supported by the majority of our fellow-citizens.’
‘Then you and I’, the sage said, ‘do not have equal opportunities to make our wills prevail. If it turns out that 51% of the population support me, I will get my way, and you will be frustrated. We do not know which of us will have more supporters. It is a matter of pure chance. All we can say is that one of us has the right to have his will put into operation, and the other has no right. The distribution of right and no-right between us depends on chance.’
‘Not on chance,’ the disciple said, ‘but on the will of the majority. The great advantage of democracy is that it is not the will of one man that prevails, but the will of the majority.’
‘Is there a being that can think to itself “I am the majority, and this is my will”?’
‘No of course not. The majority is merely a large number of individuals.’
‘Then the will of the majority is the will of one man?’
‘No.’
‘Surely, it is the will of one man, which chances to accord with the will of another man and another man and another man … and so on, up to the number required to make a majority?’
‘You could put it thus.’
‘When you shape your political will, on a matter that has not yet been tested at the polls, you do not know how many other wills coincide with yours?’
‘No.’
‘From your point of view, whether you will in fact have a say in shaping any given part of the law or of the political constitution is a toss-up?’
‘From my point of view, perhaps. But the majority—’
‘Yet you said the majority is only a large number of individuals . For each individual citizen, whether he will have a say in shaping things is a toss-up? His say depends entirely on the chance of how other people see the matter?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Then in fact no citizen has a right to a say in shaping the system. All that a citizen has
‘Certainly,’ the sage replied, ‘—if you’re correct in thinking you have such a say.’
‘I have a vote. I have freedom of speech. I am free to join a political party – or even to start one. Can you deny that I have a say?’
‘I neither deny nor affirm it,’ the sage said. ‘I don’t know whether you have a say. To find out, I should have to ask many questions.’
‘Ask away.’
‘It is not you I should have to ask. However, without knowing whether you in fact have a say, I know that whether you have a say or not is a matter of pure chance.’
‘I foresee the point you’re going to make,’ the disciple said. ‘Let me save you trouble by admitting at once that the amount of say a person has may be affected by chance. A person who chances to be born into the ruling class or to be rich may well have extra opportunities to influence public opinion. In a sense I should have more freedom of speech if I could afford to become a newspaper proprietor than if I merely have to address myself to passers-by from the street corner. However, it is already possible to rise to power without chance giving you a good start. And increasingly democracies are ironing out the chance factors.’
‘I am not sure that democracies are ,’the sage said, ‘but I readily grant that they could iron out those chance factors if they set their mind to it. However, those were not the operations of chance that I meant. Let us suppose that a democracyhad ironed out all the uneven starting-points you mentioned. You would still say you were glad to live in a democracy?’
‘More fervently than ever.’
‘And would you say that, in such a democracy, you and I had equal opportunities to make our will prevail?’
‘Yes. That’s what’s good about a democracy.’
‘Let us say that you want X and I want anti-X to be made part of the system we live under. Which of us will get his way?’
‘Obviously, we can’t tell until we know which of us is supported by the majority of our fellow-citizens.’
‘Then you and I’, the sage said, ‘do not have equal opportunities to make our wills prevail. If it turns out that 51% of the population support me, I will get my way, and you will be frustrated. We do not know which of us will have more supporters. It is a matter of pure chance. All we can say is that one of us has the right to have his will put into operation, and the other has no right. The distribution of right and no-right between us depends on chance.’
‘Not on chance,’ the disciple said, ‘but on the will of the majority. The great advantage of democracy is that it is not the will of one man that prevails, but the will of the majority.’
‘Is there a being that can think to itself “I am the majority, and this is my will”?’
‘No of course not. The majority is merely a large number of individuals.’
‘Then the will of the majority is the will of one man?’
‘No.’
‘Surely, it is the will of one man, which chances to accord with the will of another man and another man and another man … and so on, up to the number required to make a majority?’
‘You could put it thus.’
‘When you shape your political will, on a matter that has not yet been tested at the polls, you do not know how many other wills coincide with yours?’
‘No.’
‘From your point of view, whether you will in fact have a say in shaping any given part of the law or of the political constitution is a toss-up?’
‘From my point of view, perhaps. But the majority—’
‘Yet you said the majority is only a large number of individuals . For each individual citizen, whether he will have a say in shaping things is a toss-up? His say depends entirely on the chance of how other people see the matter?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Then in fact no citizen has a right to a say in shaping the system. All that a citizen has
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