'WHY' - The world's shortest 4-letter word.

To those who might be wondering what all the fuss is about: are we just wasting out time? Shouldn't we get back to work like good little citizens; quit questioning our betters and let them get back to the dirty work of making the world more like us, er, I mean a better place...

Is all this discussion about the proper way to setup a government just a bunch a mental bubble-gum? All sweetness and light; keep you busy for a short while but lacking substance? Consider the following from the linked article by Paul Graham:

I suspect the biggest source of moral taboos will turn out to be power struggles in which one side only barely has the upper hand. That's where you'll find a group powerful enough to enforce taboos, but weak enough to need them.

When we talk about the tyranny of the majority, this might qualify. If the majority were actually right about the taboo in question, it wouldn't need to do anything to enforce the 'taboo'.

So, how do we protect the minority from a majority that would use the power of government to enforce belief (however wrong) onto an unwilling minority?