Survival of the Fittest Nation

I've never been the biggest follower of politics before, but last Thursday I happened to switch on that quintessential British political show, Question Time, where I found myself listening very intently to the panelists' debate. They were discussing the fall of the euro and more importantly, how crucial it was that the UK hadn't joined the currency when it was initially proposed. One panelist brought up the point that the entire purpose of the euro was to create a unified continent, with merging economies, in which each country would effectively become a state (or a part of the 'whole'). In other words, it was to create a 'United States of Europe'.

This hit me as a somewhat desperate act to curb the ever-growing power and global influence of the USA and I was immediately thrown back to the week's lecture, concerning the rise of the 'nation-state'.

Every nation possesses its own identity, which is born out of a 19th century ideology called 'nationalism'. The great writers, artists, musicians, political leaders, sports men and women (the list goes on) work their way into the history of their native country, becoming canonized as timeless 'examples' that embody the 'spirit' of said nation. In turn, these individual stories become 'myth'; untouchable legends that are ingrained into the very fabric of culture.

But are they truly eternal stories?

Indeed, one might argue that the spirit of a nation is itself just myth, used to collectivise society by giving individual citizens a sense of identity themselves - something by which they may use to identify and distinguish themselves from (to use Carey's term) the global masses. So in several hundred years time, the inhabitants of the nation we know as the United Kingdom, may be very different from those of today, (us), and bestow an alternate indentity upon the country. The 'eternal spirit' of good ol' Blighty will have been washed away and that quintessential British show won't be so quintessential anymore!

Returning to my point, this sense of identity can give a nation its international authority. The USA is renowned for being 'the New World', which shunned and resisted the control of that age-old powerhouse, the British Empire. America may be described as an 'artificial nation', (due to its collection of diverse peoples over the last centuries), but it is one that has accumulated power through its association with freedom. The Declaration of Independence is, after all, the most endearing document in American history.

So, would a United States of Europe create a stronger, more unified nation? The answer is probably no. Each European country has its own historical identity, evidenced through their very different cultures, and so simply merging them together on an economic basis would not create the sense of unification that is present within America. As Rousseau would argue, a 'social contract' can exist only where each part works for the benefit of the entire entity, without alterior motives.

The perception that the euro could be used to unite the continent is perhaps an example of 'social Darwinism', on a national scale. That is, the constant race to stay ahead or catch up with other nations, the fight to 'out-evolve' everyone else. It's survival of the fittest.