I read recently a suggestion that countries that experience severe drops in population levels due to traumatic events might never recover psychologically. Today Ireland's population remains 25% lower than what it was before the famine (from 8 to 6 million in the whole island).
Ireland is a country that re-lives its history everyday. The almost genetically ingrained memories of pain from the great famine and the long process of securing independence are obvious on a daily basis. Much progress and healing has occurred in recent years, but it doesn't take much to raise the old resentment.
Even apparently innocuous mistakes by UK press such as naming a famous Irish person as British (They actually tend to claim Irish actors and athletes as theirs in the good days, but remember correctly the person's origin when they are associated with any bad news) can trigger highly protective feelings.
Northern Ireland has one of the most fractured societies in the world, and intolerance is common between the two main sections in the extremes of the political issues. Thankfully though, moderates appear to be a growing group.
With this strong connection between history and attitudes, I look into other countries where I had an opportunity to observe these links and try to draw some parallels to better understand how consciousness of national history (or lapses in memory) can impact a nation's well-being.
Two of my favorite countries for analysis are Japan and Cuba. They are hugely diverse countries, but have some intriguing points in common. Both are islands that have gone through massive changes since the mid 20th century, and remarkable national development work was done by previous generations in both countries - Japan went from a war-torn country to an global industrial powerhouse, while Cuba evolved from the equivalent of a brothel-casino for influential and wealthy North-Americans to having what are probably the most advanced medical, scientific and education systems in Latin America - yes, there are negatives also, but they are not relevant to this analysis.
Both also face a major challenge: young Japanese and Cubans seem blissfully unaware of the achievements and hard work of previous generations, and are less inclined to give continuity to the efforts and commitments of their elders. As a result, both economies have been facing permanent economic downturns, and this trend is unlikely to change for another generation. An interesting parallel can be drawn with Germany, that not only rebuilt very successfully from WWII, but also dealt with the costly re-unification, and is still a global economic and industrial leader.
A country that shows a strong influence of its past history over its prevailing cultural characteristics is Brazil. Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese, and unlike USA, Canada, Australia and others where immigrants arrived to build a nation, the Portuguese went to Brazil mostly to gather wealth and take it back to Portugal. There was little commitment to nation building.
This 'every man for himself' culture still prevails today and, unfortunately, in spite of social evolution in the last two decades, the system is still not designed to protect the individual, specially the poor.
A look into Brazilian history shows some events that had a strong influence over this national mentality. Take as an example how independence from Portugal was achieved. While many countries experienced bloody wars, the Brazilian independence was proclaimed by the son of the King of Portugal because he was unhappy by a letter sent by his daddy telling him to return to Portugal. He 'bravely' raised his sword and shouted "independence or death!". As if daddy was likely to send troops across the Atlantic to fight his rebel son.
This dramatic painting was commissioned to portrait the entire process of Brazilian independence, and that is the whole story.
So now Brazil had not a foreign king, but a self-proclaimed emperor.
School books try to make the whole thing look more heroic and intense, but it is widely known that there isn't much to be particularly proud of.
In conclusion, history can be a valuable and uplifting asset, but can also hold a nation back. Some countries like Japan and Cuba would probably benefit from a stronger connection with their past for the sake of giving continuity to national development efforts, while others like Brazil and Ireland would probably benefit from putting more of their attention on the future.
Of course, this is vastly a generalization, but the point is that sometimes a nation's memory can be a great source of strength. In other cases, it can hold a country from fulfilling its potential. That's when it needs to find a way to heal its wounds or even try to disengage from the guilt, pain and anger.
I raise my glass to a bright future for all.
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