Big Originality VS Small Nations

　　Originality Apocalypse

　　2007 A.D. Deane.Lachmann, the columnist of British Financial Times wrote: Now it is an era of small nations
Looking at the fortune list of any country, small nations are in the ascendant. The list of nation’s per capital GDP announced by the IMF shows that in the most rich five countries in the world, the population of  four of them is less than 5 million( except for the fourth America). The Global Peace Index worked out by the British Economist Intelligence Unit ranks nations based on the criteria of crimes, and the number of prisoners, showing that small nations also achieve good results. Obviously, the most peaceful country in the world is Norway ( Susre it is cold there). In the most peaceful 10 nations in the world, 8 of them have a population of less than 10 million. The World Economic Forum Competitiveness Index shows that in the most competitive 7 countries, the population of 5 of them is less than 10 million. According to life span and education, the Human Development Index makes a list indicating that there is only one big country in the top ten countries, that is, Japan.
500 B.C. Lao-tzu (a philosopher of China) wrote in Tao Te Ching : Small nations have small population. It is not necessary for their people to take vehicles such as boats and carriages. And there is no place for the display of weapons. People are living and working in peace and contentment. Neighboring nations can see each other, and even the crows of cocks and barks of dogs can be heard, but their people between the countries don’t contact each other.

　　The Development Tendency of Small Nations in 21st Century

　　According to Deane.Lachmann, in the times of globalization, “It is out of date to be proud of being big nations.”Lachmann points out that in the past big countries have the advantages of prosperity and security, and free from aggression of other nations. Since the feudalism began in eastern and western countries, to be a big country has become a dream for every king.

　　In the east, there are Qin Shihuang and Kang Xi the great; in the west, there are Alexander the great and Napoleon; and up to the middle age of modern society, there is Cold War between America and Soviet Russia. Thus, to be great is the main stream of a nation’s development and competitiveness. However, with the development of globalization, the share between Internet and technology, and the expansion of free trade, the previous borderline between nations and traditional ideology are being replaced by the HDI(Human Development Index),HHI( Human Happiness Index), and Creative Index. And in its replacement, the integration of ecological environment and civilization will be the common topic of the 21st century. More concerns are put on humanism rather than on self-interests of a single country. It is seemed that people in the 21st century have the consciousness of peace and integration.

　　2,500 years ago, the first Zhou dynasty of China was spited into many small states, which led to the first explosion of cultural originality. Such movements included the contention among the Hundred Schools of Thoughts, the assembly of Confucianism, Taoism, Mo Tzu, and Legalism, which have great impact on Chinese culture. At that time, Lao-tzu proposed the thought of “small countries with small population”, and in Lao-Tzu’s view, reducing the scale of a nation can manage her people well, for they are all small states, none would have the desire for wars. Thus, people can live and work in peace and contentment, so as to live in harmony with nature.

　　After changes of thousands of years, mankind seems to have returned to Lao-Tzu’s ideal condition. Not only nations are smaller and smaller, but also individuals are more and more important. A person’s creative thought must be a sharing fruit of the whole world. No matter Microsoft, or ipod, or Face book, what influence the 21st century are all have something to do with individual creativity. And the global big events in the new century are often connected with a very small nation’s economy and politics. In the new century, small nations but huge influence has being the tendency.

　　The Era of Small Nations but Big Originality in Globalization

　　In the book The World Is Flat, Thomas L.Friedman tells us that the ten bulldozers for changing the world are removing the conventional barriers in old traditions. And the network technology is reaching everyone openly with a rapid speed, so as to maximize individuals’ creative values. In China, since the beginning of originality industry in 2004, it develops vigorously. Originality Medias, new cultural nabobs, and creative design institutions are rewriting the traditional fortune history rapidly.

　　Sweden, appearing to be common, has been a powerful originality country. It produces a gathering effect of industries; especially the film industry and music industry are outstanding. At present, Sweden is the third largest music exporter in the world, and the film industry is more successful. Many classical movies and movie geniuses are made and emerge. According to some statistics, about 9% of Swedish employees are working on cultural originality industry. And according to statistics of employees from 1994 to 1999, what develop most rapidly are design industry (the growth rate is 124%) and multi-media industry (the growth rate is 112%), followed by delicate art at the increase rate of 71%,( such as performing art, plane art, and literature). The development of Swedish cultural industry is centralized on cities, especially in Stockholm. With 1/5 of the country’s employees, Stockholm accounts for actually 1/3 of Sweden’s cultural industry employees, while in the dense cultural region, the educated people account for 73%, and even in non dense cultural regions, 53% of the population are educated. From this perspective, it is similar with Beijing of China whose employees working on cultural originality industry are 960,000.

　　Today’s Europe is not only a super union but also a smaller and smaller assembly. Smaller the nation it is, the greater soft originality it needs to attract the world’s attention. Moreover, it is more convenient for smaller countries to make flexible policies to develop education and the nation’s soft power. In Korea, originality has infiltrated into every aspect of the nation’s economy. It is linked with tourism, hairdressing, film industry, and the new Country Movement. Wherever you are, you can see the importance Korea attaches to culture and originality. Now, originality industry has been the vital content economy. All this should be owed to the government’s efforts put on originality industry. In 1999, the Korean government approved the law promoting cultural industry, in which favorable policies were made to help with the development of culture, entertainment, and content industry. In addition, Cultural Industry Fund has been found, providing special loans for Korean’s creative cultural enterprises. The fund is 54.9 billion won in 1999, and in 2002 it is up to 232.9 billion won which increases by four times in short four years. With the efforts made by the government, the relevant industries develop quickly in a short time: the game software industry increases by one time between 1998 to 2001, and the Korean movie export increases by 50 times between 1995 to 2001. It is not only a contingency for the occurrence of Korean Stream.

　　The Strategies of Small Nations on Originality

　　One of the smallest countries in the world is Israel, a tiny nation. It astonishes the world that it still maintains powerful national strength and sustainable development in continuous wars. On the Promised Land of God, what on earth support the development of Israel? The answer is simple and clear, i.e. the perfect education and scientific research system. The establishment of the nation relies on Jewish immigrants from all over the world. Taking in high quality talents and cultivating high quality people are the most important strategy the government puts in the first for the development of the nation. The territory of the country is very small, so it is short of natural resources including land. But the shrewd Israelites think in this way: intelligence production is more rewarding than material production. In the eyes of Israelites, if a land of 100 square meters is only used for grains, it can not feed few people. However, if it is used to grow vegetables and fruit, the income will be much higher than that of grains. And once it is used for intelligence production, the values it creates can not be imagined. Just because of this, high-tech companies are everywhere in Israel, more than 2,500 companies over the country, which is only after America. The more high-tech companies there are the greater demand for high quality talents. That will make people to update their knowledge from time to time, so as to form an excellent circle of education, geniuses, science and technology, and development. Compared with the western developed countries, the input of Israel into R&D and the number of science and technology employees all rank first, and the per capita of works is on the top list in the world. Genius advantage not only makes Israel develop quickly, but also attracts big high-tech companies to invest and build bases there, and to take in high level talents.

  　Israel, with less than 0.2% of the world’s population, won 15% of the world’s Nobel Prizes. And with only 6.8 million populations, Israel is equivalent to some of China’s central cities, such as Changsha in Hunan, Wuhan, and Chongqing, but it is as developed as the most advanced countries in the world. It ranks first in the world in terms of it per GDP, per living standard, and per science and technology talents index. All these should be attributed to the strategy for the development of science and technology and culture flourish. And this point is very worthy for China to learn in the process of our nation’s construction.