RadioBanter - Hiroshima

On Aug 5, 11:26 am, D Peter Maus wrote:
dxAce wrote:
Not long from now, it will be Monday morning, August 6 in Hiroshima, Japan.

Let's pause, and remember the time when men were men, and the sheep knew their
place. A time when we actually gave our enemies the thumping they so thoroughly
deserved, without endlessly whining about it.

Yes, it will soon be the 62nd Anniversary of the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

And, I'm certain it will be mentioned on shortwave, so keep your radio on.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Steve, normally I would be amused by this. Lord knows I long for a
time when men were men, sheep were nervous, and Oprah wasn't mother to
US ALL. But that morning in Hiroshima, we entered an age from which we
cannot retreat. The end of innocence. The end of simplicity. The end of
nations minding their own damned business.

Truth is, if it hadn't been us, it would have been someone else.
Delaying our entry into that war, it would have been Germany. Or the
Soviets. Or, God help us, Japan. So, it was an era into which we as a
species were going to enter, no matter who threw down the gauntlet.

And that day were planted the seeds of much of the dissent that
threatens civility in our own land. And fertilized them with the loam
created by easier living.

Lack of natural enemies leads to cannibalism within a culture.

There is no doubt that Hiroshima, and the second kiss, Nagasaki,
ended a war that would have continued on for years. With millions dead,
and, eventually, WWII fought on our own soil. Japan, believing that
death was more desireable than defeat, would have fought until there
was no one left. On either side. And two of the most astonishingly
adaptive and productive cultures would would lie in ruins. And the boom
that was to follow that war, the boom in technology, in culture, in
manufacturing, in agriculture, in economy, that fed, clothed, rebuilt,
restocked, renourished, and labor-saved life in the world would not have
come. Life was hard before the war. Not so much, after. To the degree
that children then had to worry about invasion, bombing raids, enough
food to eat, and separation of family. Children today have to worry
about fading batteries in their iPods and why mom won't pay for texting
overruns on their cell phones. And which government agency to call to
swat her down when she doesn't.

In a lot of ways Hiroshima was the entry fee to the New Age.

It was a terrible price. It was a no-win decision for Truman,
who--give the man his props--had the balls to make the agonizing call
between the horrors of those milliseconds of atomic release, and the
horrors of the war that would have continued. True to the vision of the
founding fathers, the biggest decisions were made by a common man.

Whose inate humility should have remained an inspiration to us all.

Yes, not long from now, it will be Monday morning, August 6 in
Hiroshima, Japan. Let's pause, and remember the time when men were men,
life was hard, and values were easily grasped, and we shared them across
the land. And let's bow our heads, and take a moment for prayer, or
silence... but let's observe a moment of humility and homage to the
souls that were lost to pave the way to the New Age.

David Peter Maus

The Koreans have largely forgotten the sacrifices made during their
war too. The South is much like us-a materialistic society where kids
are mostly concerned about their personal comfort than about any
sacrifices made to get them there. The North is too busy trying to
survive to worry about the war. The South treats the North as a theme
park. Sacrifice isn't real to Southern Koreans. Seoul has been
described as an Asian version of LA in 1965.

Japan had mostly forgotten too. Until the economy that they'd pushed
so hard to beat the US collapsed. Suddenly, the "all middle class
society" started seeing economic winners and losers, and the losers
living in bullet train stations. When Japan was the TV Manufacturer To
The World, they could afford to whine uselessly about the war. Whining
about World War 2 was a national pastime in Japan, and still is to an
extent. Since the wreckage had mostly been cleared and new buildings
built, there weren't reminders everywhere, unlike Germany where you
can visit the huge mountains of rubble that were once German cities
before the war.

Germany also has a few ovens that have been preserved, such as at
Dachau. My grandmother, who is now dead, visited Germany around 1992
and by chance learned that Dachau had been partially preserved. She
had to bribe a cabbie to take her out there, paying him something like
double the official fare. Then she had to talk the caretakers into
letting her look around. The Germans are rather embarrassed about
their past, unlike the Japanese who have the luxury of denial. The
Japanese would rather whine about the war than take responsibility,
which is easy when you don't have piles of rubble, indestructible Nazi
bunkers, and huge crematoriums staring at you all the time.

I doubt that the Japanese had the ability to bring the war to the US
in any meaningful way by 1945. There probably would have been planes
flown into San Francisco and Sacramento, and more of those "balloon
bombs" that landed in the Oregon forest, but America would have gotten
off easy, especially compared to Japan. It's possible that the
Japanese would have committed self-genocide rather than admit defeat.

I once talked to a former colonel in the Army who told me that she'd
seen still-classified reports that the Japanese leadership was
planning an uber-suicide of the entire population rather than admit
defeat at the hands of the Americans. Reportedly, small arms were
being distributed, with orders that the people shoot at the Americans
until the numbers were no longer in the people's favor, then to turn
the guns on themselves. If that sounds a lot like Seung Hui Cho's
rampage at Virginia Tech-shoot until you're cornered, then blow your
brains out-that's because it does.

That just points up how desperate the Japanese were to never
surrender, to die en masse first. MacArthur guessed that a million
American soldiers would die in the invasion of Japan. The true number
would probably be 5 million at least. KIA to that point was only
450,000 in both wars to that point. The question then becomes, what do
we do after losing 5 million guys, the entire population of Japan, and
gaining the hatred of most of Asia for it? America would have likely
been exhausted, and turned inward like we did after World War 1.
Communism would have gained control of huge chunks of Europe and Asia,
while America eventually stagnated. We would have had to fight the
commies eventually, except on their terms, and from a position of
weakness.

We won the Cold War because we were able to define the war and force
the Soviets to go along. The Soviets were so terrified of what we
MIGHT do to their effort that they tore their society apart trying to
compete. Now imagine that the shoe is on the other foot, and that the
Soviets are in the driver's seat, with all of Europe, Asia, and South
America behind them, and America is being dragged kicking and
screaming into the Workers' Age. We don't want another catastrophic
war, so we basically go along and dismantle the Constitution as per
Soviet demands. States become Socialist Republics, and the central US
government a Soviet puppet.

Then, around 2010, the communist order sags too far, and crumples.
Only there isn't a George Soros to ride to the rescue and tell the
headless beast what to do. So the beast shatters, and an Afghanistan
is the result. Eventually, Christian fundamentalists gain control of
much of the old United States, and institute various versions of
Biblical law, depending on your preacher. By now, buildings are
collapsing from 70+ years of neglect and civil war. Cars are unknown-
the cracked roads built by FDR are plied by horse drawn wagon. People
start living in scrapwood shacks, like in Orwell's London. The world
goes back to feudalism and medieval living.

The site of my house is a filthy, shallow lake like it was during the
Gold Rush. In fact, there is little settlement within 20 miles of the
river, because of flooding. Southern California and Nevada becomes
Indian land once again, with Paiute burials at the mound in Las Vegas
resuming. Basically, the invasion of Japan would have eventually
resulted not in a dramatic war to end all wars, but in a slow winking
out of the light of civilization over several decades.

On Aug 5, 8:51 pm, American Insurgent wrote:
On Aug 5, 11:26 am, D Peter Maus wrote:

dxAce wrote:
Not long from now, it will be Monday morning, August 6 in Hiroshima, Japan.

Let's pause, and remember the time when men were men, and the sheep knew their
place. A time when we actually gave our enemies the thumping they so thoroughly
deserved, without endlessly whining about it.

Yes, it will soon be the 62nd Anniversary of the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

And, I'm certain it will be mentioned on shortwave, so keep your radio on.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Steve, normally I would be amused by this. Lord knows I long for a
time when men were men, sheep were nervous, and Oprah wasn't mother to
US ALL. But that morning in Hiroshima, we entered an age from which we
cannot retreat. The end of innocence. The end of simplicity. The end of
nations minding their own damned business.

Truth is, if it hadn't been us, it would have been someone else.
Delaying our entry into that war, it would have been Germany. Or the
Soviets. Or, God help us, Japan. So, it was an era into which we as a
species were going to enter, no matter who threw down the gauntlet.

And that day were planted the seeds of much of the dissent that
threatens civility in our own land. And fertilized them with the loam
created by easier living.

Lack of natural enemies leads to cannibalism within a culture.

There is no doubt that Hiroshima, and the second kiss, Nagasaki,
ended a war that would have continued on for years. With millions dead,
and, eventually, WWII fought on our own soil. Japan, believing that
death was more desireable than defeat, would have fought until there
was no one left. On either side. And two of the most astonishingly
adaptive and productive cultures would would lie in ruins. And the boom
that was to follow that war, the boom in technology, in culture, in
manufacturing, in agriculture, in economy, that fed, clothed, rebuilt,
restocked, renourished, and labor-saved life in the world would not have
come. Life was hard before the war. Not so much, after. To the degree
that children then had to worry about invasion, bombing raids, enough
food to eat, and separation of family. Children today have to worry
about fading batteries in their iPods and why mom won't pay for texting
overruns on their cell phones. And which government agency to call to
swat her down when she doesn't.

In a lot of ways Hiroshima was the entry fee to the New Age.

It was a terrible price. It was a no-win decision for Truman,
who--give the man his props--had the balls to make the agonizing call
between the horrors of those milliseconds of atomic release, and the
horrors of the war that would have continued. True to the vision of the
founding fathers, the biggest decisions were made by a common man.

Whose inate humility should have remained an inspiration to us all.

Yes, not long from now, it will be Monday morning, August 6 in
Hiroshima, Japan. Let's pause, and remember the time when men were men,
life was hard, and values were easily grasped, and we shared them across
the land. And let's bow our heads, and take a moment for prayer, or
silence... but let's observe a moment of humility and homage to the
souls that were lost to pave the way to the New Age.

David Peter Maus

The Koreans have largely forgotten the sacrifices made during their
war too. The South is much like us-a materialistic society where kids
are mostly concerned about their personal comfort than about any
sacrifices made to get them there. The North is too busy trying to
survive to worry about the war. The South treats the North as a theme
park. Sacrifice isn't real to Southern Koreans. Seoul has been
described as an Asian version of LA in 1965.

Japan had mostly forgotten too. Until the economy that they'd pushed
so hard to beat the US collapsed. Suddenly, the "all middle class
society" started seeing economic winners and losers, and the losers
living in bullet train stations. When Japan was the TV Manufacturer To
The World, they could afford to whine uselessly about the war. Whining
about World War 2 was a national pastime in Japan, and still is to an
extent. Since the wreckage had mostly been cleared and new buildings
built, there weren't reminders everywhere, unlike Germany where you
can visit the huge mountains of rubble that were once German cities
before the war.

Germany also has a few ovens that have been preserved, such as at
Dachau. My grandmother, who is now dead, visited Germany around 1992
and by chance learned that Dachau had been partially preserved. She
had to bribe a cabbie to take her out there, paying him something like
double the official fare. Then she had to talk the caretakers into
letting her look around. The Germans are rather embarrassed about
their past, unlike the Japanese who have the luxury of denial. The
Japanese would rather whine about the war than take responsibility,
which is easy when you don't have piles of rubble, indestructible Nazi
bunkers, and huge crematoriums staring at you all the time.

I doubt that the Japanese had the ability to bring the war to the US
in any meaningful way by 1945. There probably would have been planes
flown into San Francisco and Sacramento, and more of those "balloon
bombs" that landed in the Oregon forest, but America would have gotten
off easy, especially compared to Japan. It's possible that the
Japanese would have committed self-genocide rather than admit defeat.

I once talked to a former colonel in the Army who told me that she'd
seen still-classified reports that the Japanese leadership was
planning an uber-suicide of the entire population rather than admit
defeat at the hands of the Americans. Reportedly, small arms were
being distributed, with orders that the people shoot at the Americans
until the numbers were no longer in the people's favor, then to turn
the guns on themselves. If that sounds a lot like Seung Hui Cho's
rampage at Virginia Tech-shoot until you're cornered, then blow your
brains out-that's because it does.

That just points up how desperate the Japanese were to never
surrender, to die en masse first. MacArthur guessed that a million
American soldiers would die in the invasion of Japan. The true number
would probably be 5 million at least. KIA to that point was only
450,000 in both wars to that point. The question then becomes, what do
we do after losing 5 million guys, the entire population of Japan, and
gaining the hatred of most of Asia for it? America would have likely
been exhausted, and turned inward like we did after World War 1.
Communism would have gained control of huge chunks of Europe and Asia,
while America eventually stagnated. We would have had to fight the
commies eventually, except on their terms, and from a position of
weakness.

We won the Cold War because we were able to define the war and force
the Soviets to go along. The Soviets were so terrified of what we
MIGHT do to their effort that they tore their society apart trying to
compete. Now imagine that the shoe is on the other foot, and that the
Soviets are in the driver's seat, with all of Europe, Asia, and South
America behind them, and America is being dragged kicking and
screaming into the Workers' Age. We don't want another catastrophic
war, so we basically go along and dismantle the Constitution as per
Soviet demands. States become Socialist Republics, and the central US
government a Soviet puppet.

Then, around 2010, the communist order sags too far, and crumples.
Only there isn't a George Soros to ride to the rescue and tell the
headless beast what to do. So the beast shatters, and an Afghanistan
is the result. Eventually, Christian fundamentalists gain control of
much of the old United States, and institute various versions of
Biblical law, depending on your preacher. By now, buildings are
collapsing from 70+ years of neglect and civil war. Cars are unknown-
the cracked roads built by FDR are plied by horse drawn wagon. People
start living in scrapwood shacks, like in Orwell's London. The world
goes back to feudalism and medieval living.

The site of my house is a filthy, shallow lake like it was during the
Gold Rush. In fact, there is little settlement within 20 miles of the
river, because of flooding. Southern California and Nevada becomes
Indian land once again, with Paiute burials at the mound in Las Vegas
resuming. Basically, the invasion of Japan would have eventually
resulted not in a dramatic war to end all wars, but in a slow winking
out of the light of civilization over several decades.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

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