"The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance"

Guarding the Republic Against Apathy and Complacency

As a naturalized citizen of the United States, I have long admired the founding of this country and its divinely inspired constitutional framework. The Founders of this great nation bequeathed to us a system unlike any other, anchored in natural law, secured by checks and balances, and sustained by the virtue of a free people. However, the freedom we inherited is not self-perpetuating. Like a garden, it must be tended. Like a flame, it must be guarded. Like a covenant, it must be renewed by every generation.

Thomas Jefferson warned, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Yet how often do we assume that one election, one political wave, or one season of victory means the battle is over? How often do we breathe a sigh of relief after securing the White House, a congressional majority, or a Supreme Court seat, only to drift into apathy while the enemies of freedom regroup with renewed determination?

Complacency is a luxury we cannot afford, and history teaches us that the cost of ignoring this truth is often devastating.

A Lesson from Ghana

I was born and raised in Ghana, a nation whose democratic journey has been both turbulent and inspiring. In my youth, Jerry John Rawlings seized power through a military coup. His reign was marked by various injustices, and a palpable fear that drove many to believe that once he left office, the party he founded would never again be entrusted with power. Surely, we thought, the people had learned their lesson.

But history had a surprise. Eight short years later, Rawlings’ vice president during the final years of his presidency was elected president, returning that same political movement to power at the ballot box. The lesson I learned was clear: political fortunes rise and fall and nations are never permanently safe from tyranny, nor are political parties immune from decline.

The people’s memory fades, their resolve weakens, and their vigilance wanes. Without active cultivation of truth, freedom can be bartered away at the next election.