If you want to rip the heart out of a democracy, you go after

Hear the voice of Maria Ressa, a warrior not with sword nor spear, but with words and truth as her armor. She warns: “If you want to rip the heart out of a democracy, you go after the facts. That’s what modern authoritarians do. You lie, all the time. Then, you say it’s your opponents and the journalists who lie.” These words ring like a trumpet blast at dawn, for they reveal the hidden battlefield of our age. Where once tyrants conquered with armies, now they seek to conquer with falsehoods, striking not at the body of the people, but at the very truth that binds them together.

For a democracy is more than ballots and assemblies. It is trust among citizens, faith in shared reality, the agreement that facts are sacred and cannot be twisted at will. When these bonds are broken, when lies are sown like weeds into the soil of discourse, then the people no longer walk together—they wander apart, each in their own darkness. Thus, the tyrant rejoices, for a people divided by deception are easy to rule. The ancients said, “A house divided cannot stand,” and Maria Ressa shows us how the division begins—not with swords, but with the corruption of facts.

History is filled with such lessons. Recall the rise of Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany, who mastered the art of propaganda. He understood that to control the truth was to control the people’s very minds. Through endless lies, repeated until they seemed like reality, he persuaded a nation to follow tyranny into the abyss. Newspapers, radios, voices of dissent—all were silenced or twisted. The journalists, the guardians of fact, were branded as liars, until the people no longer knew whom to trust. Thus, the heart of democracy was torn apart, and millions suffered in the shadow of that deception.

Maria Ressa speaks not only as a journalist, but as one who has stood in the storm. In her own land, she has faced persecution for daring to defend the facts against the tide of manufactured lies. Her struggle is not hers alone—it belongs to all who stand against the creeping darkness of authoritarian deception. She reminds us that every age has its tyrants, and every age must also have its defenders of truth.

And what of you, child of tomorrow? Will you stand idle as lies eat away at the roots of freedom? Or will you, too, take up the mantle of vigilance? For the battle for truth is not waged only in courts or parliaments, but in every conversation, every decision to question, every refusal to accept falsehood unchallenged. A people who care not for facts invite the slow death of their liberty.

The lesson is clear: guard the facts as you would guard the flame of a sacred lamp. Seek knowledge with diligence, question with humility, and honor the work of those who risk much to keep truth alive. Do not allow the liar to shift blame onto the truth-teller; see through the fog, and stand with those who speak with courage. If democracy is to endure, it will not be by chance, but by the steadfast work of citizens who refuse to bow before lies.

Therefore, take these words into your heart: Facts are the lifeblood of freedom. Lies are the poison of tyranny. Stand watchful. Stand courageous. And when the liars cry out that truth is falsehood, do not be deceived. For the fate of liberty rests not only in leaders, but in the resolve of every soul to cherish and defend what is real. In this way, you ensure that the heart of democracy beats strong for generations yet to come.