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Home  Opinion Hope for the Coming Years
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Hope for the Coming Years |
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Written by Fred Bain
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 |
A new year often comes with many resolutions or plans to change and be better than we were the year before. This is often preceded by a time of reflection and/or regret of things done in the past.
Rather than grumbling about the past or being full of morose it seems to me that it is more helpful to look ahead and check what was left behind. Most of the time while sailing, a tillerman will steer to a compass course or to a fixed point ahead. When in fog, however, he will glance back to check the water to see, by the wash behind him, if the boat is being steered straight.
I think we are living in uncertain times as change is happening at an accelerated rate. Some of it is planned and some of it is put upon us from outside sources. We need to know who we have been, who we are and what we stand for when we are confronted by change, and even proposals for change, if we are going to continue to be successful during these times. We need to navigate through the fog.
So, who have we been? Those that have gone before us in this country have sacrificed and built a stable foundation of government, society and infrastructure. Each generation built upon what the previous one left for them. We have enjoyed the fruits of their sacrifices and labours abundantly.
Who are we? My observation of my fellow Canadians is that, when we are successful, we are fiscally conservative and socially responsible people. What I mean by that is that we try to live within our means while caring for the less fortunate.
This shows up in our stable banking system and our healthcare system. When a great number of banks around the world were in trouble, ours were less affected by the downturn. Our healthcare system is essentially a safety net that provides a minimum level of care for as many as possible.
That is not to say that our systems are perfect as there are many areas of improvement needed. It is the attitude of Canadians that I am addressing that moves us, as a nation, to try to live our lives with the tendencies that yield these systems. I think we and our predecessors should be proud of the nation we have built. Our intentions have borne a caring nation and, if a gentleman south of our border can be awarded a Nobel Peace prize on just his intentions, then I think we can at least take a bow. Well done, fellow Canadians.
Canadians also seem to be a more cautious people than most of the world. That is not too apparent when our nation's young people take to the ice, but no generality is one hundred percent accurate. The cautiousness shows up in our conservative financial attitudes that lead to a stable society.
Our stable society rarely accepts radical change in government, unlike our southern neighbours recently. Their President campaigned for “change you can believe in” and the majority voted for him thinking, I suspect, that the change was related to the previous administration's policies. Unfortunately, the change they are getting is a radical transformation of their society. I say “unfortunately” because of the disillusionment of the people as indicated by the plummeting approval ratings of their President and Congress. My hope is that we will continue to be a reasonable people and not fall for radical agendas as they have.
How do we do this? We should continue to examine leaders, proposals and movements cautiously, looking for the good in them while being astute in our evaluations of them. If we don't we will simply be at best, as the title of a song of the band U2, suggests, “Running to Stand Still”. At worst, we could destroy what we have been given and leave a mess for the next generations.
When large-scale movements come up, we should keep from being drawn into the euphoria and look at the possible consequences of the movement. Keep things in perspective. What is the proposed outcome of the movement and what other possibilities could there be? These questions can be answered by looking into the leaders' activities and agendas, and the facts on which the movement sits.
The climate change issue is a good example of this especially in the light of the recent disclosure of leaked documents indicating that the “facts” have probably been selected and/or filtered to provide a desirable outcome for the movement. That demands questions as to the real motives and agendas of the movement. Much more could be said about that, but I shall not digress.
The point is that we continually need to be discerning. We need to keep from being what one writer has called “Sheeple”. If something doesn't seem right, there is a good chance it isn't. Check it out and find out for yourself what is true, rather than accepting flashy presentations as being the final authority on matters.
The desire of most Canadians appears to me to be one of being responsible. This shows in, as previously stated, in our finances and our social conscience, but also in being good stewards of our land and environment.
My hope for all of us in the New Year, then is to be the people we have been and are when we make our decisions of finance, politics, social action, and community. A relative just said to me, “When the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box”. Humility goes a long way in maintaining a peaceful community.
Have a good and successful new year.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 10 January 2010 )
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