Democracy, Compromise, and Progress

I got a Gibson
Without a case
But I can't get that even tanned look on my face
Ill fitting clothes
I blend in a crowd
Fingers so clumsy
Voice so loud
--The Who

This article makes a number of thoughtful points.

Variation is a basic axiom of nature. Innovation results from variation. In most if not all cases, progress must come out of an extreme minority of opinion, not out of majority opinion.

Democracy squelches innovation by imposing the will of the majority on the minority.

Compromise is also prone to stop progress. "Truth is not a thing that can be compromised. A thing is right or it is wrong. Principle cannot be compromised; it can only be abandoned. The route to the discovery of truth is to allow a person to be wholly right or wholly wrong. Compromise is bound to be wrong."

An essential feature of effective government is to protect the rights of minorities from plunder by the majority. The ultimate minority is one person. Thus, the goal of effective government is to protect each person against the plunder of one or more persons.

The protection must be general--i.e., it must protect all persons equally.

Doing so maximizes the chance of progress.