Legitimizing Plunder

You, telling me the things you gonna do for me
I ain't blind, and I don't like what I think I see
--Doobie Brothers

In this recent missive concerning forcibly taking from some for the benefit of others, the always insightful Walter Williams makes this observation about democracy:

"A majority consensus does not does not make acts that would otherwise be deemed immoral moral."

Indeed. Many people like to use majority rule to legitimize plunder. Robbing a person on the street is deemed illegal. But forcibly taking people's property indirectly via strong armed tax collectors that have been approved by majority vote is deemed legal.

In this way, democracy becomes an instrument of offensive force.