The general welfare of a nation's people is a better indication of that nation's greatness than are the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In d

Nations are constituted by people. People serve nation and nation serves people. Certainly, achievements of exceptional people fasten pace of social progress, however, achievements also come from few geniuses in a nation and some of them are functioned in malignant way. Therefore, the general welfare of its nation’s people can be a better benchmark of nations’ greatness.

Some people contend that achievements are a better criterion of that nation’s greatness because they think achievements can push a society forward and give people happiness or satisfaction. If no illustrious geniuses make significant contribution, the whole society would experience stagnation politically, economically, and scientifically. they are groups of think tank and mainly determine the way how society move ahead. For example, rulers can constitute regulations and laws which is basic to keep society in order and stably develop. Thomas Jefferson drew up The Declaration of Independence which included the foundation of ruling the country: liberty, equality, and democracy. Until now, United State still utilizes this philosophy to manage communities and serve for people, satisfying most of people’s demands. Scientists still can have more pioneering creations or discoveries and change the world entirely. Brother Wright concluded defects of scientific experiments from former researchers and pored over how resistance of air flow influences balance of aircraft. And eventually they invented the first plane that kept the longest flight in sky. This creation has definitely facilitated people’s travel all over the world.

However, they cannot ignore that the achievements come from few illustrious geniuses and they are sometimes used into harmful way. Therefore, achievements are not more accurate to measure the greatness of a nation. Firstly, achievements come from several renowned scientists, artists or rulers. They do not represent the situation of a whole nation and reflect the developing situation of the country, consequently, this benchmark is one-sided to assess whether a nation is great or not. For example, China has several brilliant scientists such as Yuan Longping and Tu Youyou. Yuan Longping invented hybrid rice to shake off famine in China and even all over the underprivileged countries. Tu Youyou invented artemisinin which can treat malaria and minimized the fatality ratio in 1980s. Since they have made important contributions in medical and scientific world, China still has a large number of poor people with the lowest or even no salaries and lower literacy level. Some children lived in remoted regions still do not afford tuitions of elementary, middle schools, let alone that to college.

Secondly, some achievements are used to empower military competitiveness and enhance international prestige. Scientists are employed by government to invent new atomic bombs and military weapons with mass destruction to deter or even defeat rivals. North Korea invented nuclear weapon and then suffered sanction from a number of countries. This invention would break peace and stability in globe and will make it become the most dangerous and hostile country. In addition, rulers’ achievements are functioned as a means of brainwashing citizens, regurgitating aggressiveness. Adolf Hitler unified most of Germans in this way to sort Jewish people as an inferior race. They organized the Nazi regime to commit holocaust to Jews. If the achievements of its ruler are to reinforce a nation’s power at the cost of lives of other countries’ people, it has been never ever hailed as a great nation.

On the other hand, speaking of a great nation, the general welfare is a better measurement than achievements of rulers and scientists. General welfare can reflect the whole situation of people life. If they have stable jobs, higher literacy level, along with the fundamental rights of speech and equality, that nation is a great one. Conversely, if people are living in a country with the highest level of unemployment, illiteracy and with governmental surveillance to control their speech, that is terrible. Northern Europeans can make a stable living by high welfare provided by government. Free education and public medical care are available to ensure their safety. Certainly, there are the lowest level of crime and violence. An anonymous statistical data showed that countries with the highest rate of reading books all over the world were located in Northern Europe. All of these phenomena reflect that the general wellbeing of society can be more important parameter of a nation’s greatness.

Therefore, the achievement of some talents sometimes can change a nation or even world, but after all, they are scarce number of all people, sometimes they serve for politics and then harm to people and even other races. Therefore, the general welfare can be the surer indicator to measure the greatness of a nation.