In India, pseudo-secularists have sought to underplay the role of culture and nationalism in framing a robust society that can deliver extraordinary results, both in political and economical spheres
The most interesting part about last Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final match was that the winning German team’s critical goal was made out of a pass hit by one of its three substitute players, and even the strike that put Germany on the top was by yet another substitute. In fact, Germany had three substitute players in that game. This means that the Germans had achieved a level of perfection wherein each one of its 25 players was as good as the other. This is rare.
Compare that with the collapse of Brazilian team, once its star player Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was injured in the middle of the tournament and could not participate in the later games. Also, look at the failure of the Argentinian team once its star player lionel Messi failed to score.
For Germany it was a well-planned and well-executed climb — from its humiliating rout in the 2000 European Championship where it ended up at the bottom of the pile to its coronation as the world champion in Brazil. Since the German victory, sports writers have been meticulously analysing the different components of the German strategy that brought the country to the top.
Also, the worldwide interest in the football World Cup may be an affirmation of humanity’s steady move towards the Mcluhan dictum of a ‘Global Village’. In a way, however, this also counterpoises nationalism as an equally strong force to balance the world between globalisation and nationalist machismo. Germany itself appears to represent both trends.
In the aftermath of World War II, Germany was divided into two intensely adversarial states, free enterprise West Germany and communist Eastern Germany. The visionary West German chancellor Conrad Avenue extended the hand of cooperation to a previously adversarial France, and the seeds of a new united Europe were sown in the 1950s itself. It was Germany that took the pioneering steps towards the making of the European community, a fact worth remembering in the background of the two World Wars it caused.
Starting with the Franco-German steel and coal community, the re-unification of Germany in 1990 gave further strength to the pan-European move even as it sharpened German nationalism. And finally a ‘One Europe’ with a single currency among over 25 states was ushered in.
This was history’s greatest miracle — uniting nation states that were at war in one combination or another for over 400 years. Germany as well as France led the efforts in this regards.
Yet, for all its pioneering moves towards a European community, Germany itself has not merged its leadership in the European personality. Its economy is one of the strongest in the world. Even during the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, that crippled some members of the European Union, Germany held its head high. It even helped Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and France to stay afloat. The German economy, writes Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the last Man, and one of the leading thinkers of the modern era, “has been extraordinarily successful for a very, very long period of time.”
What makes this success possible in Europe, where every other state is passing through a loss of self-confidenceIJ That the German economy is holding up despite maintaining a welfare state that now consumes more than half of the country’s GDP, is a tribute to a people who are nationalist (as the Sunday’s triumph in Brazil demonstrated when the entire country went into disciplined celebration) yet have been pursuing a pan-European path.
In his extraordinary examination of what makes modern nations click, Mr Fukuyama writes in the subsequent classic Trust: Social Virtues and Creation of Prosperity that, “These are societies whose members enjoy playing by the rules... long tradition of professionalism... great gift of precision manufacturing...”
In India, pseudo-secularists have sought to underplay the role of culture and nationalism in framing a robust society that can deliver extraordinary results, both politically and economically, without losing sight of a much broader world vision.
What distinguishes Germany, says Mr Fukuyama, is a “strong work ethic and self-discipline.” He adds: “Germany has undergone a much more profound cultural change since the war and as a result has become a much more open and individualistic society likes Japan”.
liberal thinkers in the modern age have interpreted globalisation as a phenomenon that subsumes other aspects of a nation. They argue that global economics is the ultimate decision maker. But Mr Fukuyama points out that, “Economics is not what it appears to be either; it is grounded in social life and cannot be understood separately from the larger question of how modern societies organise themselves”.
Culture helps create trust, which in turn helps individuals organise themselves into an extraordinarily successful unit. The connections between culture, nationalism and economic success, as shown by Germany, are important lessons for emerging nations today.
One of the many impulses that tend to weaken societies, making it difficult for them to resolve inner contradictions, is the culture that puts the individual above society. This prevents, what Mr Fukuyama calls, “reciprocity.” For example, in the last three years of economic downturn, France, Italy and Spain have been torn asunder by labour unrest and by conflict between workers and pensioners.
In our country, intellectuals and political leaders, influenced either by the collectivist and divisive economics of the left or by the all-consuming ideology of globalisation as the only path to success, have derated culture and nationalism as a powerful force that could organise and drive successful societies.
Successful organisations are what we need, as a nation, whether in economics or in sports, to be at the global high table. Perhaps the German victory in football, read with that country’s leadership in the Eurozone, and the momentum it has provided for international co-operation, could be a case study for those who wish for India to reclaim the place of pride in the comity of nations.
It becomes relevant in this context that the country, as one people almost, installed a stable Government at the Centre, and cast aside the idea of India as an amalgam of diverse units with their own political preferences. Notably, India has some good football teams, like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, although not a national team that could even qualify for the tournament. But things can surely change. And for the better.