Amazing the things you learn from Year 7 homework. Harassed into helping my daughter with an English assignment on the theme of courage this weekend, we brainstormed what exactly that word means. After a lot of whine (hers), followed by a lot of wine (mine), we agreed that courage means overcoming fear to do the right thing. And as my daughter defined her terms, I realised that this 11-year-old girl already comprehends the necessity of a moral compass better than most … at least judging by the news headlines. Because all weekend, I ve been wondering how our leaders can be so stupid that they don t realise the right thing to do.