I'm quite sure that something being beneficial is the thought behind many a decree. The decree itself is a massive problem as it is coercive and directly goes against the principle of voluntaryism, or what Hayek called "spontaneous order".

I'm probably not the right person to defend this because I'm much too practical a soul, which may be why this resonates with me in the first place. However, we should be really careful what we wish for.

A benevolent tyrant is still a tyrant. Even if the majority agrees; then it's just a democratic tyranny.