Freedom and minority rule

For no particular reason, I’d like on this day to reassert my belief that all systems of minority rule are illegitimate.

• Rule by nobles over commoners
• Rule by the holy over the earthly
• Rule by owners over renters
• Rule by bosses over workers
• Rule by elected representatives over voters
• Rule by bureaucrats over citizens
• Rule by a revolutionary vanguard over the masses
• Rule by the “talented” over the “ordinary”

We’re indoctrinated to view any alternative to minority rule with a mix of fear and patronizing contempt, but every ruling class has perpetuated a belief in its own inevitability. Ursula Le Guin said it best:

We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings.

The next words in her speech aren’t quoted as often, but they’re just as important:

Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.

We can live freely, without somebody else being in charge. It won’t always be easy, but it will be beautiful.

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