The idea
suggests we have to use our heads, employ intelligence and rely on analysis
rather than risk being swept into a whirl-wind of indulgence.
An essential
component of wisdom is discipline, both personal and collective. Discipline
speaks to self-control, to living within ones means, to thoughtful planning,
and to the ability to make adjustments even when they are painful; discipline
suggests a pre-occupation with a larger prize, more than that afforded by
immediate gratification.
Following
the Budget last year, some asked: how it is possible that financial whiplash
could again be suffered so quickly; the music suddenly muted on our celebration
of nascent wealth?
Others
rightly express bewilderment that we have not taken care to prevent successive
deficits of $200 million and $450 million for the past two years and a forecast
deficit for the 2014-2015 fiscal year will be higher again. We have also done little to resolve the
accumulated debt of the first five decades of Confederation.
The question
is: are we any more enlightened than our 20th Century forbears?
