To the editor:

David Smith and his Grassroots Action organization seem to believe that by polling 205 registered voters and finding a majority opposed to a second Wal-Mart in Lawrence, this entitles “the public” to a referendum to decide the matter.

What if “the public” wanted to nationalize all businesses, not just ban particular ones? What if “the public” wanted to close unpopular newspapers, ban all liquor stores, book stores or Jewish-owned businesses? Should we put it to a vote?

In ancient Athens, citizens could show up for daily referenda and vote for any laws they wanted, or strike down any previous law. The result was chaos as the lives and property rights of all were subject to the shifting whims of the majority.

From Aristotle to the Founding Fathers, the best political minds of history have warned against this kind of “majority rule” mentality (known as direct democracy). America was established not as a democracy but as a constitutional republic limited to the protection of individual rights (including property rights).

When the property rights of any private individual or business are declared to be subject to majority approval, we are not only losing the distinction between a republic and a democracy, but between freedom and tyranny.

The lesson of history that groups like Grassroots Action have never learned is that property rights stand and fall along with all other rights. If they are ever placed at the mercy of majority voting, we will be officially on the road toward totalitarianism.

David Claassen-Wilson,

Lawrence