# The Construction of Nations By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-07-11 In 1991, Margaret Thatcher gave a speech where she said: >Americans and Europeans alike sometimes forget how unique is the United States of America. No other nation has been created so swiftly and successfully. No other nation has been built upon an idea—the idea of liberty. No other nation has so successfully combined people of different races and nations within a single culture... The European nations are not and can never be like this. They are the product of history and not of philosophy. You can construct a nation on an idea; but you cannot reconstruct a nation on the basis of one. Any American who travels around Europe will quickly see just how little history America has in comparison. Astute travelers will also see how much this history tends to bind countries and their identities. But not all are this way. Many have found ways of existing beyond their history and embrace a broader sense of human solidarity. Even so, these countries tend to have a history and identity where collaboration and liberty were fundamental values before we gave these ideals names. One looks to many Scandinavian countries as examples where the environment and relative isolation required collaboration and a sense of independence to survive. America had the advantage of taking the best from European ideals while not dealing with all the local suffering that occurred over thousands of years. However, America also had huge geographic and natural resource advantages. This certainly tipped the odds in favor of the American experiment working out. Is it any coincidence that many Scandinavian countries are also seeing significant success now that technology has literally unearthed their countries' geographic and resource potential? Thinking about the challenges and opportunities present when a nation is formed based on history or philosophy is interesting, but this only tells part of the story. History, philosophy, and resources all explain part of our world and where things might be headed. Also, I'm sure Thatcher was entirely correct in saying you cannot reconstruct a nation based on an idea. An idea may not be enough, but an idea with multifaceted forms of energy has proven effective many times in history. Perhaps the point or larger problem is the paradigm of viewing the world as a collection of nations versus a collection of people. American culture and capitalism have already changed the world in a way not seen before. Why do we believe the world can't unite towards the next evolutionary stage? #### Related Items [[Nations]] [[American]] [[History]] [[Philosophy]] [[Geography]] [[Geopolitics]] [[Economics]] [[Beliefs]] [[Progress]]