Whenever it is necessary that one of several conflicting opinions should prevail and when one would have to be made to prevail by force if need be, it is less wasteful to determine which has the stronger support by counting numbers than by fighting. Democracy is the only method of peaceful change that man has yet been discovered.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Democracy allows societies to resolve conflicts through voting instead of violence.
- In plain terms
- Counting votes is better than fighting to decide which opinion wins.
- What can you take from it?
- Use voting to settle disputes peacefully.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is voting always the most representative method?
- How do you protect minorities in a democracy?
Another view
Democracy can still be inefficient or gridlocked.
More from Friedrich Hayek
What a free society offers to the individual is much more than what he would be able to do if only he were free.
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