popular+majority = always right?

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks,
one still in use while the other unused.

Only one child played on the unused track,
the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming,
and you are just beside the track interchange.

You can make the train change its course to the unused track
and save most of the kids.

However,
that would also mean the lone child playing by the unused track would be sacrificed.

Or would you rather let the train go its way?



Let's take a pause..

and think...

what kind of decision we could make?












Most people might choose to divert the course of the train,
and sacrifice only one child.

You might think the same way,
I guess.

Exactly,
to save most of the children at the expense of only one child
was rational decision most people would make,
morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought
that the child choosing to play on the unused track
had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless,
he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends
who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.

In the office,
community,
in politics
and especially in a democratic society,
the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority,
no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are,
and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.
The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined.

And in the case he was sacrificed,
no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian
who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train
because he believed
that the kids playing on the operational track
should have known very well that the track was still in use,
and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens..

If the train was diverted,
that lone child would definitely die
because he never thought the train could come over to that track!

Moreover,
that track was not in use,
probably because the track was not safe.

If the train was diverted to the track,
we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!
And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child,
you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware
that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made,
we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

'Remember that what's right isn't always popular..
and what's popular isn't always right.'

Everybody makes mistakes..
that's why they put erasers on pencils..

p/s: "jika kamu mengikuti kebanyakkan orang di bumi ini, nescaya mereka akan menyesatkanmu dari jalan Allah. yang mereka ikuti hanyalah persangkaan belaka dan mereka hanyalah membuat kebohongan." - Al-An'am: 116 -