Many years ago, large packs of wolves roamed the countryside in Ukraine, making travel in that part of the world very dangerous. These wolf packs were fearless. They were not intimidated by people nor by any of the weapons available at that time. The only thing that seemed to frighten them was fire. Consequently, travelers who found themselves away from cities developed the common practice of building a large bonfire and keeping it burning through the night. As long as the fire burned brightly, the wolves stayed away. But if it were allowed to burn out and die, the wolves would move in for an attack. Travelers understood that building and maintaining a roaring bonfire was not just a matter of convenience or comfort; it was a matter of survival.
The founding fathers understood human nature and they especially understood the nature of man with power. In a speech at the Constitutional Convention, James Madison said, “All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” Joseph Smith, a 19th century pioneer religious leader, once wrote:
“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.”
Our Apathy is at the Heart of the Problem
So how do we citizens of the United States of America protect ourselves from the wolves that govern us? First, we need to recognize that we all bear responsibility for allowing the wolves to govern us. 
Thomas Jefferson said:
“We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest — which will be as long as we can keep the attention of our people alive. If they once become inattentive to public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors would all become wolves.”
Jefferson also said, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”
We are a nation that enjoys prosperity and freedom. However, we take these blessing for granted. Many go so far as to feel entitled to them. Most of us are far removed from the day when all lives were touched by evil men. Some spent their days fighting for freedom in the halls of government. Many gave their lives fighting for freedom on battlegrounds. Many fought for freedom in their homes teaching their children the true price of freedom. Today we enjoy the freedom that was bought and paid for by great women and men.
The words of Samuel Adams should haunt every American of our generation:
“The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them 
against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men.”
However, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, “Freedom is not free”.
The wolves are always lurking hungrily on the fringes of our liberty, impatiently waiting for us to fall asleep and let the fires of our vigilance burn low. Anxious to lull us into what promises to be a most fateful slumber, they make hollow promises as “evidence” of their good intent. What happens when the fires burn completely out? We are consumed by the wolves and the ashes of vigilance untended become cold comfort for generations to come.
Get Informed
After we recognize the problem and our part in it, we need to realize that we can and must be part of the solution. So, what do we do to keep the bonfires burning and the wolves at bay?
Thomas Jefferson taught us to educate ourselves, our family, and each other. He said, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Successful vigilance demands knowledge. As a minimum we should all read the documents that define our liberty: The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution and become familiar with how our republican form of government works. We can learn valuable lessons by studying the lives of those who led the way in our Revolution of 1776. To fulfill our duty as citizens, we must be learned enough to stoke the fires and defend our freedom.
What is your duty as a citizen? To protect and maintain the freedom that you enjoy for future generations. Thomas Jefferson taught that, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” We cannot let those bonfires go out.
In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy said, “my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” It is important to remember that our country is NOT our government and that our government was created by the people that it governs. In his famous Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln said that our government is a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Patrick Henry teaches us a very important concept about our constitution which maps out our government. He said:
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
Discuss
As we become more informed it is then our responsibility to educate our children, and inform our family, friends and elected officials. As informed citizens, we can be true patriots and keep our government in line. Once again, Thomas Jefferson counseled, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
Most people feel that they can change nothing by themselves. This is not true. Jefferson said, “One man with courage is a majority.” However, you’re not alone. There are many people who feel the same way that you do; people of all political persuasions. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Conservatives, Liberals –all feel disenfranchised by their party and their government. Most people sense that something is wrong with our government.
Meet with these folks. Share your concerns, thoughts, and ideas with each other. You will find that there is more that binds us than separates us.
Don’t start your discussions with issues that “divide” and remember that disagreement is fine. Debate is great. When dealing with stubborn people remember what these great quotes:
“It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.” — Thomas Jefferson
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. — Thomas Jefferson
Be Vigilant With Elected Officials
Write your elected officials. Tell them what you think about the issues of the day. Let them know when they make mistakes or overstep their bounds. They are less likely to step out of bounds if they know that we are watching and they need to know that we are watching all the time, not just on election day. Said Thomas Jefferson, “That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.”
Time For Revolution 2.0
Protecting our liberties is not something that we can put off. President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
Irish author Edmund Burke professed, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
We must combine our efforts to protect our liberties and save our country for future generations. Thomas Jefferson said, “Every generation needs a new revolution.”
Our own Declaration of Independence declares:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Our first president, George Washington seemed to have been speaking to Americans of today when he warned, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
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