Claim: The surest indicator of a great nation must be the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists.Reason: Great achievements by a nation's rulers, artists, or scientists will ensure a good life for the majority of that nation's people.Write a r

We often hear that the best marker of a great nation ought to be the accomplishments of its governors, scholars and artists because those achievements guarantee the prosperity of majority of the nation. Although this idea has many proponents, I disagree with it due to the fact that neither the achievements nor well-being of society are the best indicators of the majesty of the nation but, perhaps, its influence on the mankind history is.

To begin with, there is no doubt that the achievements of a nation may enhance its greatness. For instance, we may take a look at the Great Britain which perhaps became a global empire with many colonies which were located all over the world because of its technological and political superiority over its rivals. In fact, the state started technological revolution which allowed the state to dominate the world for two hundred years. If we take a look at Britain's science and arts, we may find that achievements were great as well. Consequently, we may aver that the nation's accomplishments may buttress the nation's majesty.

Furthermore, many of us aver that those achievements inescapably lead to prosperity of entire society; however, in reality this is not always true, for instance, although the Great Britain had many achievements the majority of the nation's people faced severe hardships from famine and disease to homelessness. Moreover, even if we take for granted the stance that those accomplishments inevitably lead to increase of well-being of entire society, I disagree that national greatness may be measured by life conditions of its people, for instance, we may take look at Denmark which has one of the highest standards of life. Although the citizens of the state live in comfortable conditions, it can hardly be named as a great state. By contrast, Greece which people suffer from high rate of unemployment and inflation may be seen as a great nation which gave the world Aristotle, Plato and idea of democracy. So what is the crucial characteristic of a state which makes it a great one?

The answer on this question is influence of a nation on the history and development of humankind. From this viewpoint, national achievements are important because they spread the state's influence over the world and the well-being of society does not make the state great, for example, no one thinks that Cesar's empire was great because it fed well its citizens but because it had a huge impact on the development of humanity owing to the fact that almost all European societies were affected by it. Thus, achievements are important because they influence the flow of the history. By contrast, even the greatest an invention which was not used is almost meaningless. Therefore, the influence of a nation is the surest indicator of the greatness of a nation.

In conclusion, many of us believe that well-being of society and its achievements are the best indicators of the nation's grandeur but as we have demonstrated they are important only in case they affect the development of humanity. Consequently, the trace which a nation has on the history of mankind is the best marker of its greatness.