The Need for Political, Economic and Socio-cultural Vigilance

The Need for Vigilance

A wise leader must:

 
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…cope not only with present troubles but also with ones likely to arise in future, and assiduously forestall them. When trouble is sensed well in advance it can easily be remedied; if you wait for it to show itself, any medicine will be too late because the disease will have become incurable. As the doctors say of a wasting disease, to start with it is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose; after a time, unless it has been diagnosed and treated at the outset, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure. So it is in politics. Political disorders can be quickly healed if they are seen well in advance (and only a prudent ruler has such foresight); when, for lack of diagnosis, they are allowed to grow in such a way that everyone can recognize them, remedies are too late
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(Machiavelli, 1999:12).

This calls for watchfulness on the part of the leaders.

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. And if a captain relaxes too long, the crew will go on vacation; and a rat does not eat what belongs to someone who is awake. Blessed are the people that have a leader who has foresight to detect problems before they occur.

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency issue. A wise ruler should always protect his people from dangers. Surely, as Machiavelli rightly noted that the Prince who does not detect evils the moment they appear is lacking in true wisdom; but few rulers have the ability to do so.

If a state cannot ensure security of lives and property of its people it loses justification for existence. The need for vigilance has been called for.  Its importance cannot be over estimated. The worst thing that can happen to anybody is to have a constant fear of insecurity. Therefore, there is need for security, political, economic, socio-cultural and religious vigilance in human society.