In his response to the opinions expressed by Jonathan Miller, Paul Gresser (“Diluted Democracy,” June 16) makes a valid point that the federal government is not a direct democracy and that the idea of checks and balances is built into the system. Yet, I come away from his article feeling as if someone is trying to pull a fast one on me.

Consider Gresser’s concluding arguments: While I agree with his assertion that people ought to be allowed to determine their government and the majority does not make right, the idea that a constitutional republic is meant to “protect the minority from the majority” is bogus.

His idea that a limitation to democracy is what stops “75 percent of the population from killing off the other 25 percent” is not only flawed, but it is wrong. Everything else being equal, nothing is guaranteed to keep 75 percent of the population in a nation from turning on the other 25 percent. We do not have to go back into ancient history to see examples of this.

Even in our short lifetime, we have experienced the effects of major events in Kosovo, Rwanda, Darfur, East Timor and other situations where there was no lack of limitation on democracy, and a majority oppresses the minority.

Groucho Marx said he would never be a member of an organization that would have him as a member. When Gresser said Hitler — another man with “a funny mustache” — was selected by the people to lead because of temporary mass stupidity, he neglected to mention that Hitler never got anything more than 30 percent of the German popular vote. What he did have was unconditional loyalty from his cronies and henchmen.

Historically speaking, if true “conservatives” were truly in the majority, as Gresser says, people who favor republicanism would be shouting for more democracy while the rest would be chanting, “Long live the Queen.”

The federal government is not the way it is because of some grand scheme — it was a compromise. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

That is what keeps a nation from killing itself. After the Civil War, a common interest or identity is what kept this nation together, and so even after the war there was still compromise.

Furthermore, can a democracy truly be a democracy if barely half its people vote on a regular basis? What good is republicanism if the representatives are not representing anyone but themselves?

Take a look at our own student government, where the turnout for the latest elections was barely 20 percent — not even 5 percent for graduate students. And we are all paying out of our pockets to keep them going.

So, I respond to Paul Gresser’s comments with a saying from Voltaire: “Cultivate thy own garden.”

People who find themselves in the minority do not have to take “abuse” from the majority. They can speak up and make their voices heard. That is diversity and the impetus for change and improvement.

And this is true regardless of democracy; to criticize those who voice criticism is to mistakenly believe this is the best of all worlds that can be.

Soun P. Kwon is a physics graduate student. He can be reached at spkwon@physics.umd.edu.