When America declared independence, they cut from them the protections and money from the British Crown. In fact, the Boston Tea Party itself was not overpaying higher taxes. No, the Boston Tea party was conducted to protest the British corporation East Indies Company from having a monopoly on tea. The price of tea actually went down with their monopoly. However, the majority of Americans back then were not revolutionaries. It was led by about 30% of the population. Most just wanted to be left alone.
Conservative commentator Dennis Prager once made the claim that people don't really care about freedom. Instead, the vast majority just want to be taken care of. I think that is why Americans today seem to vote for people that don't care about individual rights. We saw this with Covid as the government stepped in to censor all media and take away the right to assemble and practice their faith at their local church or religious center. People just wanted to be "safe" and cared nothing about the government trampling over their first amendment rights. In fact, today, half of Americans favor the government in the US censoring all free speech.
We recently discussed the rise of a generation of censors as young people embrace the role of government and corporate censorship. The erosion of free speech rights is manifest in a chilling poll …
jonathanturley.org
Although this OP is not about America, it shows human nature. Could the US have broken away from the teet of the British Crown on the majority vote alone, knowing the hardships they would have encountered had they done so?
I say the answer is no. It took a minority of Americans to drag the rest of the country kicking and screaming towards freedom from the British crown. They then had to make their own currency, create their own economy and military etc., and it was hard as hell.
That is why today, most Americans seem only concerned about their right to take illicit drugs or have an abortion. It is also why Leftist ideology hinges on majority rule.
