Why the majority has to be always right?

I wrote the post below after the 2016 US elections and the question remains unanswered even now.

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Why the majority has to be always right? I have been pondering with this question for a while, as I repeatedly encounter situations on a daily basis, where we have to follow the decision of the majority.

In the scenario on the left, employees at my office were asked to choose their favourite time of departure of the shuttle bus from the train station. I gave my preference and I fully know that I have to finally follow what ‘majority’ of the people think is good or convenient. My convenience has to be compromised for the majority’s convenience. But is this an one off situation?

Imagine another scenario - You are in a team meeting at office and there are 10 people in the room. You have a sound reasoning on why the organization has to adopt a strategy that you think is good. But 6 out of 10 think that there is a different strategy and since 60% of the people thought something was right, it ends up going their way. You have to agree with that strategy even though your homework and analysis were flawless because there were more people who were not convinced by your strategy. Either your analysis was bad or it could be because those 6 people were insecure about your work or it could be because that they don't like you personally. We never know. The only time this could work with a minority voice is when the minority voice is the top boss. But that is autocracy.

Think of the elections in the US. Let’s say Trump won 55% and Hillary won 45%. Why do we have to elect the person who was chosen by 55% instead of the 45%? On what basis are we saying that 55% have a better chance of choosing the right person for the job? Why do the remaining 45%, a whopping 100 million+, have to accept the choice of the 55%?

Whether it is a bus ride to office or a meeting in office or electing a President, it is the choice of the majority that we will have to go with whether we like it or not.

The world has accepted for long that the choice of the majority in a group needs to be followed by the minority. Whatif I am a minority in every situation? Is the world saying that I should not have a choice?

In the case of the bus ride to office, I can take my own car and reach the office. In this case, the majority cannot control me. At work, I can choose to change teams or change companies so that my voice is heard. At a country level, I can go to a country where more people like me are there and become a majority so that my choice is accepted.

If it is so difficult for someone who is educated globally and worked in top companies to have a voice and a choice, what about the illiterate, low income, disabled, powerless people whose choices get crushed at every step along the way?

So, the world essentially works for two kinds of people — 1. the ones with power 2. the ones who are part of a majority. So, one has to be a ‘ruler’ or a ‘boss’ or a part of a majority in democratic settings to have your choice accepted. From monarchy where one person had power(which still is the case for some countries and many organizations), the world has moved to a place called democracy where there are more people who can get power if they are part of a majority.

The ‘choiceless’ and ‘powerless’ minorities operate under different identities in the name of religion, countries, companies, cities, families etc. We assume that democracy is the answer to helping individuals have a say or a voice. But from the above examples, I hope it is clear that not everyone get their voice even in a democracy.

In one way, it could be argued that the communist model is fair as no one has a voice and in that sense, there is equality. But this is a pessimistic view. Democracy has helped to move the needle on power from a small group to a large group of people. But we should not stop here. We need to explore how we can get power to everyone.

What is the model that will give everyone a ‘voice’ and hence, a choice?