Should the needs of society (the common good, majority rule, minority rights) take precedence over rights, desires, needs and values of the...

I also
think that to some degree, one's thoughts on this are likely to be strongly influenced by the
cultural values of the society in which one is raised.  There are societies that value the
common good more than the individual good, communitarian societies, and societies that value
individual rights more than the good of the society as a whole.  From what I have read, many
Asian cultures tend to be communitarian, while my own experience is that American culture is
highly individualistic.  This is playing out right now, in fact, in the tension between those
who want to insist on their right to guns and those who are concerned about general societal
safety.  It is to some degree the "rugged individualism" of the United States culture
that has allowed the former to prevail.  In a communitarian society, this would probably not be
the case.  What makes societies communitarian or highly individualistic makes...