issue 170, 路过的大侠们拍一拍

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From which view a great nation is well indicated, the achievements of its rulers, artists and scientists, or the general welfare of its total population? The author prefer the latter one. I partly agree with the author that the general welfare of its people is indeed a necessary indicator of a great nation. Meanwhile, we should not ignore the influence of its rulers, artists, and scientists. Only by combining the two aspects can we reach a accurate definition of “great nation”.

To discuss the topic, firstly comes the threshold question: How should we define a “great nation”? In my view of point, I would like to describe such a nation from two respects: Firstly, it must make its civics feel the greatness, which is to say, it should cover the basic needs of the people; secondly, it should play a vital role
on the world stage and take the responsibilities to make the world better.


On one hand, I admit that the general welfare of its civics is undoubtedly of great essentiality to a great nation, after all, it is a fundamental indicator of the living level of its people. As a great nation, it should guarantee that its citizens live a happy life, after all, the citizens are basis of a nation, and either artists’ or scientists’ creation are ultimately to serve its people. Even if a nation is powerful in politics, we can not group it into the great nations. For a fitting example, one need look no further than Soviet Union, a constitutionally socialist state who focused most of its attention on military industry but provided poor economic condition for its people, and thus end in breaking up in 1992.

On the other hand, I would like to say that the achievements of its rulers, artists and scientists are of equally significance to a great nation. A great nation should has its corresponding international standing, and its rulers, artists and scientists are necessary to earn a reputation for the nation through their achievements. In this sense, those nations whose people enjoy material life of high quality but undertake few international business also can not be classified as great nations. Consider Switzerland, the richest country around the world and its neutrality has been internationally recognized. Thus it rarely plays a role in any international issues.

As a matter of fact, the achievements of a nation’s rulers, artists and scientists and the general welfare of its total population complement each other. A wise leader is able to lead the people to get through the difficulties; a creative scientist is expected to elevate the living standards of the people; a talented artist may arouse people’s pursuit for beauty. In turn, a rich nation can provide its citizens with high-level education, thus likely to cultivate distinguished politicians, artists and scientists.

On balance, from what discussed above, we can generally conclude that the achievements of
its rules, artists and scientists and the general welfare of its people should not be observed from an isolated view. Instead, they should be combined to define a “great nation”. Moreover, the two aspects are supplement to each other, and promote the development of each other.