Who needs democracy anyway?

The issue of private motor vehicles and their use is another area of pubic policy where professionals and experts promote minority 'solutions' which have little public support. High vehicle taxes, road user charges, limited carparking, 'road diets' and other policy levers designed to pry us away from the most convenient form of transport available for many might be measures toasted in academic and professional circles but are highly unlikely to win public support at the ballot box. Democracy, once again, is an inconvenience to be overcome if the solution proposed by the experts is ever to be applied.

Even what adults choose to eat and drink is likewise subject to a paternalistic "father knows best" attitude. Sugary drinks and fast foods should be punitively taxed and advertising restricted to save people from themselves, we are sagely warned by yet more experts. Meat is bad for any number of environmental, animal welfare or health reasons others will claim. These claims could not survive a ballot box test, but that poses no deterrence to the proponents. They know best.

Winston Churchill famously recognized democracy's limitations when he declared that "It has to be said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried." While the ballot box outcome may frustrate ardent minority groups or cliques of professionals, it remains a great leveler.

For the majority of people, the ballot box is their chance to express an opinion away from the daily noise of social or mainstream media and political debate. One vote one value may irritate those who feel their own vote and opinion has a great deal more value than others, but it's the best system we've got.

Rather than dismissing democratic outcomes or widely held views as ignorant, or planning activist campaigns that disregard the freshest ballot box evidence available, those who seek to change society need to work harder on bringing society with them. They need to respect majority views not deride them. They need to understand the freedoms they have to express and support their own views do not also mean the right to adopt stand-over tactics with those who do not agree, or resort to intellectual bullying of opponents by belittling or dismissing them.

They need to respect that the final decision in any democracy rests with the people. The alternative is a form of modern-day feudalism – something utterly at odds with the values of a free and open society.