FMF FEATURE ARTICLE
The dumbing down of power
Some activities are just not suitable for a majority vote. What you choose to have for dinner is not a matter that you would submit to a committee for a decision. You might get a family consensus on shared meals, and on a special occasion you might really take a family vote, but most would find it absurd to seek a decision from an outside group or the city council.
Similarly, when you purchase a personal item at a shop, the transaction is between you and the people running that shop. It is what we call a bilateral decision: there are only two parties involved. You have the best sense of what you wish to purchase and, with only two parties involved, the transaction can be simple and quick. Shifting that decision to a committee would slow down everything and you would be at risk of receiving an item that you would not have chosen for yourself.