Cohesive

You may think it is immaterial to think about how a country hold its people together.

I beg to disagree.

It is not (only) because I try to be patriotic, but the basic idea has a much wider application in our daily life.

For example, what keeps twelve divisions a department, or nineteen departments a faculty, or nine faculties an institute? There must be something in common amongst all of them – a religion, a belief, a motto, or whatever. It is obvious that religion or belief is not something that could be created from thin air and implanted into (adult) human brain within days. For that reason, a charming leader is invaluable. Just like the relation between language and thinking, a good leader could express a belief, hide the problem of lacking a belief, or, more often than not, replace a belief.

And, if you need to hold people together but have neither a religion nor a good leader, all you could do is to create a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, this very feeling could not be cultivated by holding a yearly weekend retreat or Christmas party.