Another message of Liah Greenfeld’s Spirit of Capitalism that seems to have struck a chord with Thaksin is that the economic-nationalism surge to economic take-off can sometimes get distracted and derailed by other social and political agendas. She argues that the industrial revolution in Britain was unusual because it was the pioneer case, and that the USA’s experience was in many ways copied from Britain. In these two places, the individualist entrepreneur of Weber’s theory had a key role. But in countries that came later, success came from a belief that the nation was engaged in an economic war with more advanced rivals. Greenfeld’s starring examples are Germany, which felt threatened by Britain’s economic might, and Japan, which resisted colonialism. In these two countries, nationalism was romantic, anti-rationalist, and illiberal. Patriots were urged to forget their individualist urges, and contribute their talents to the nation. It seems likely it was these ideas that Thaksin was reflecting when he said in March 2002 : Let me repeat again that sometimes we think individualism is what makes us triumph, but it is only a short-term victory which brings defeat in the longer term. So we have to think and act in unison, by thinking of this common interest as the overriding principle. It may seem like a defeat in the heart of success under capitalism…. For capitalism to succeed, the people in the country must be nationalistic. Individualism is highly dangerous to capitalism. (Pran 2004, 318-9)