History reveals a cycle of vigilance and barbarism. In times of vigilance, ordinary people take the reigns of destiny and demand that the right things happen. In times of barbarism, we forget what is right, we let ourselves be seduced by greed or fear, and we let ourselves be led into great wrongs. We must learn to protect our moments of vigilance and refuse to relax our insistence that the right things happen—even in times of comfort.
