The Majority Myth

We don't really have majority rule in this country because there is no clear majority. What happens is several minorities form a coalition, either accidently or on purpose, become a temporary majority, and elect somebody. They might all like the guy for different reasons, or they might all dislike his opponent for different reasons, but that doesn't mean they all like each other. Obama was able to put together a coalition of Blacks, Hispanics, young people, and liberals, but some of these guys must have jumped ship on Hillary, leaving Trump to win by default. Trump has his own cult following, but they wouldn't have been enough to get him elected if he hadn't won the support of some other groups like White supremacists and disgruntled Rust Belt factory workers. I don't know what kind of percentages FDR had, but let's say 60% for the sake of discussion. That's impressive, but it also means that 40% didn't like him. If 12% had switched sides, for whatever reason, it would have thrown the election the other way. 

If Uncle Ken wants more money for his schools he can't afford to disregard the people who believe in creationism, intelligent design, the various JFK conspiracies, UFOs, and a flat Earth. If he alienates them all, they might join with the anti-tax people and vote down any millage proposal he advances. That doesn't mean you have to teach all those crackpot theories as scientific fact, but you should acknowledge that they exist and that some people have very strong beliefs about them. I remember when Mr. Sears taught us about the great religions of the world. Of course you can't teach religion in the public schools, but you can teach about religion and the role it has played in history, which is what he did. 

Most of the "spit and polish" tradition in the military is not mandated by the official regulations. It is a result of individual soldiers competing with each other for fame and glory. Sometimes the leadership gets carried away and you have to call them on it, like the time one of our sergeants wanted us to put shoe polish on our rubber boots. (It says right on the shoe polish can that the product will deteriorate rubber.) The intent of the regulations is to keep your equipment clean and serviceable, anything beyond that is ostentatious at best, and destructive at worst.