The speaker asserts that a people’s greatness can be determined by how well their government and institutions serve them. While such a statement is intuitively appealing in many ways, there are several problems with this view.

First, history is full of examples of nations that have achieved greatness yet were ruled by authoritarian leaders or controlled by ruthless warlords. The brutal repression of dissidents and the suppression of free speech as practiced by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany are prime examples. Such actions may have benefited the rulers for a time but exacerbated the hardships of the people. If a country’s rulers are malevolent, the people will suffer.

Second, the quote above seems to assume that only the rulers of a country determine its general welfare. In reality, every member of a country’s population plays a role in determining their quality of life. The choices of each individual, whether in consumption, intellectual pursuits, or interpersonal relationships, will have a profound impact on how the country is run and how it fares in the future. If all the citizens are irresponsible, the government cannot effectively govern the people, and the country will suffer the same fate.

Therefore, while achieving greatness certainly involves the actions of great individuals, it also requires the collective efforts of all the people. In particular, the proper functioning of government and the institutions that support it are crucial to a nation’s success. If the people’s interests are not protected, the government cannot enact policies that will benefit the country as a whole, and the nation will not achieve greatness.