How exactly can having "too much history" affect a country or society's present-day scenario?

I think it's like two people who have been related to each other for years and years and years. They have a lot of baggage between them, so much in fact that they "wield" it like a "battleaxe" against themselves. Too much history. Too much baggage. Too much water under the bridge. And it dosent fit anymore into their day-to-day lives. Their baggage has grown too big to be useful anymore.