National Wholeness

Countries are generally pretty big nowadays. The national borders literally extend from the sight of one horizon and beyond. What does this achieve, however? Why do nations stay together? It is certainly not for the sake of efficiency. Understandably, smaller countries are easier to manage and can have greater efficiency of land use. They have fewer problems handling the diverse minorities that may become dissatisfied. Overall, it is often in the favor of a country to stay small.

Yet it seems that the expression of dominance over others is a very important theme in defining a nation. There are many examples of minorities wanting to break free, yet are violently prevented from doing so. Clearly, the nations fear that if they allowed one minority independence, the country would break up into its constituent dissatisfied minorities. Nice to stay together, except this seems to indicate that many countries are held together artificially, often with the threat of swift violence.

Perhaps it is exploitation, that nobody wants to surrender scarce resources. The gold mine is in the southern part of my land, and no way will I let minorities cede the area. Obviously, they are going to keep the gold for themselves, then they will come and dominate me. In the constant war of dominance and greed, there can be no efficiency. Ultimately, should the entire world come under a single leadership, they would still be little different from small independent states dealing with one another. Alternatively, a global hegemon may well have access to the sole military means to punish any detractors. Perhaps that is the miniature version we see in this day, the national hegemon that refuses to give any quarter...