The Price Of Democracy Is Eternal Vigilance

I have been struck over the past few days by how well Barnett and Simpson have manoeuvred local councils into feeling they now have to defend positions they were bullied into during the process to-date. This prevents, in many but thankfully not all cases, their considering how it was they find themselves in this position and what they might do to remedy that situation.

I can do no better than quote one of the most respected western philosophers, John Stuart Mill, who stated, in 1867:

"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing".

I might also paraphrase the saying usually attributed to Thomas Jefferson that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance". Recent and current events demonstrate conclusively that the price of democracy is eternal vigilance.