Why nations fail goes beyond institutional reliability
Democracy and inclusive governments lead to a nation's prosperity, according to recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences.
However, The one component that runs deeper, at the core of every nation is: pride.
It’s not novel to say human resources are the most important component of every organization and that at the core of every organization, it all starts with people. Similarly, a nation is also an organization; thus, its population determines the level of prosperity.
But how does pride play a role in a nation’s level of prosperity?
PRIDE
PRIDE
The U.S. has been a hegemonic hyperpower for decades. At its peak, the U.S. has an “open-door policy” for people from all over the world. For a long time, it’s been ingrained in people’s minds that everything is possible in America, that the American dream is real, and it’s for everyone, despite their origins. Thus, even though the U.S. has a history of slavery and racism that is well-publicized in the media, even at its peak, people still want to come to America to build a new life, seek new opportunities, and, most importantly, to become Americans. The pride of being Americans drives people to work harder, to invest more in America, and to fight for the rights that they deserve. As a result, the U.S. received immense manpower from people with high-skilled labor and high intellectual capacity to build American infrastructures, develop technological advances, and build democracy.
Furthermore, the pride of being Americans makes Americans think of themselves as better than those from other countries. As a result, Americans feel the need to become an example of being just and successful for the world. Thus, on the national scale, this pride pushed them to be ashamed of their history enough to fight for equality for women and African Americans (that is to say, they take pride to move on from the past rather than having deep regrets about what had happened). On a global scale, the U.S. feels the need to exert and hold power internationally through organizations such as the United Nations, NATO, and the IMF, to name a few. This is why American problems are often portrayed as world problems and why Americans are often self-centered, even when it comes to other countries.
Another example of the U.S. portraying itself as being just and successful is by looking at international aid programs. The U.S., for decades, has provided aid for several countries through humanitarian programs, which has helped the population of those countries tremendously, especially in areas that are often overlooked by their governments. However, this is also an effective way to influence a nation not only at the institutional level but also at the individual level, ensuring that the American ideals reach beneficiaries of interest.
Nevertheless, since the 2010s, the remarkable advancement of the Chinese economy, along with the growth of social media has brought about the decline of American hegemony. Here, once again, national pride and identity play an important role as there’s a growing disdain regarding the pride of being Americans.
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Despite the official ban only lasting 12 hours, the anticipation for the ban made hundreds of thousands of Americans download Rednote (a Chinese social media platform). The content on Rednote somewhat opened Americans to life in China, which was different than the idea that had long been ingrained into their minds, of a China with nothing but poverty and zero tolerance for personal liberties.
Social media has made sharing information from personal perspectives easier than ever, and through which Americans can share their discontent with the government, with the quality of life, etc., almost immediately. Additionally, it is also easy nowadays to bring back wrongdoings and scandals from the past to criticize and reflect. The path to becoming a global power is never pretty, and thus, Americans can now see that the U.S. is not a just institution internationally and domestically. When the country they are so proud of starts to show its many dark sides, it contrasts heavily with who they want to become, the environment they want to raise their kids in, and the history they want to embrace. Essentially, people want to feel good about themselves, and this idea has been instilled in them for centuries through generations.
When people feel ashamed of their governments and their country, they will start to divert away from their national identity. This is because they feel that their governments are not reliable and democracy doesn’t work. This leads them to also divert away from national politics and yearn for other solutions such as contributing to other economies or starting lives in other “promise lands”, which is easier than fighting for their beliefs or starting a revolution.
This effect is even more severe when the U.S., with immense pressure from China’s rapid development, makes decisions with disordered and chaotic behaviors. The U.S. government seems to be in a state of instability and unpredictability, which signals to American citizens that the seat for the most powerful nation in the world, which has been true for decades, is now crumbling under their feet. This, in turn, diminishes the pride Americans have long held about their national identity as they see there are better environments with better governments elsewhere. As a result, they seek opportunities elsewhere to invest their physical and intellectual prowess.
The United States of America, as we know it, is only around 250 years old since the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Therefore, not only does American pride not have a long and rich history to fall upon, but it’s even shortened to more modern/new-age America as this country has a dark history of slavery for most of its establishment. Then, if the American people want to divert away from the past as well as the present, it’s safe to say this nation has failed (some of) its citizens.
If nothing changes in the near future, this sentiment will only grow stronger toward more Americans. That is, if the American government doesn’t work on enhancing American pride, if “Make America Great Again” doesn’t work, then the empire of the United States of America would be weakened even more.