"Most Americans don't seem to understand that WWII was an inter-imperial war"

[Antiwar]

Man, today's "Letters and Politics" is fantastic! Unfortunately, it's not yet uploaded to YT. You can easily find the audio online, if you're interested. There are so many excellent points, and I'm not even into history. I'll post the YT link, if/when.

 

[Questerr]

Man, today's "Letters and Politics" is fantastic! Unfortunately, it's not yet uploaded to YT. You can easily find the audio online, if you're interested. There are so many excellent points, and I'm not even into history. I'll post the YT link, if/when.

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Antiwar what should America have done when it was attacked by Japan and then declared war on by Germany?

 

[Tigerace117]

Man, today's "Letters and Politics" is fantastic! Unfortunately, it's not yet uploaded to YT. You can easily find the audio online, if you're interested. There are so many excellent points, and I'm not even into history. I'll post the YT link, if/when.

View attachment 67383209

Of course it was. However, the Philippines was already well on its way to gaining independence by the time Japan invaded— a literal law had been passed giving a set date for when the US would be gone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tydings–McDuffie_Act

Imperial Japan’s psychotic brutality, however, made the previous European colonizers look downright benign in comparison.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

"Most Americans don't seem to understand that WWII was an inter-imperial war"

Good thing we were better at imperialism than Germany or Japan I guess lol

 

[Antiwar]

Of course it was. However, the Philippines was already well on its way to gaining independence by the time Japan invaded— a literal law had been passed giving a set date for when the US would be gone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tydings–McDuffie_Act

Imperial Japan’s psychotic brutality, however, made the previous European colonizers look downright benign in comparison.

Sometimes it takes "more brutal barbarism" for barbarism to be reduced by somewhat more compassionate(?) dealers of barbarism (don't read this sentence as excusing Japanese brutality).

In other words and another subject: It took T**** being so bad to usher in a slightly more progressive Democratic president.

In other words part two: Sometimes things have to get very bad for many people to recognize similar bad behaviors.

 

[Antiwar]

 

[Questerr]

Sometimes it takes "more brutal barbarism" for barbarism to be reduced by somewhat more compassionate(?) dealers of barbarism (don't read this sentence as excusing Japanese brutality).

In other words and another subject: It took T**** being so bad to usher in a slightly more progressive Democratic president.

In other words part two: Sometimes things have to get very bad for many people to recognize similar bad behaviors.

None of the Western Allies had anything even approaching Unit 731.

But let me guess, you don’t even know what Unit 731 was, do you?

 

[Tigerace117]

Sometimes it takes "more brutal barbarism" for barbarism to be reduced by somewhat more compassionate(?) dealers of barbarism (don't read this sentence as excusing Japanese brutality).

In other words and another subject: It took T**** being so bad to usher in a slightly more progressive Democratic president.

In other words part two: Sometimes things have to get very bad for many people to recognize similar bad behaviors.

Imperial Japan’s brutality meant that everywhere they went, sooner or later the locals sided with their former colonial overlords.

It didn’t really matter so much what the Europeans did as the fact that Japan was actively much, much worse.

 

[Antiwar]

Imperial Japan’s brutality meant that everywhere they went, sooner or later the locals sided with their former colonial overlords.

It didn’t really matter so much what the Europeans did as the fact that Japan was actively much, much worse.

The lesser of two evils.

 

[Tigerace117]

The lesser of two evils.

By a very large amount.

 

[Antiwar]

By a very large amount.

Some American chattel slave owners were probably relatively cruel to their slaves. Some American chattel slave owners were probably relatively kind to their slaves. Slavery was and is wrong.

 

[Questerr]

Some American chattel slave owners were probably relatively cruel to their slaves. Some American chattel slave owners were probably relatively kind to their slaves. Slavery was and is wrong.

What should the US have done when it was attacked by Japan and declared war on by Germany?

Should we have immediately surrender so as to not be militarists?

 

[Tigerace117]

Some American chattel slave owners were probably relatively cruel to their slaves. Some American chattel slave owners were probably relatively kind to their slaves. Slavery was and is wrong.

Except for the fact that the situation wasn’t even remotely comparable, because the Philippines was getting its independence anyway, as mandated under US law.

It was the Japanese invasion which threatened that, because Japan was never going to let the Philippines have any sort of sovereignty.

 

[Antiwar]

Except for the fact that the situation wasn’t even remotely comparable, because the Philippines was getting its independence anyway, as mandated under US law.

It was the Japanese invasion which threatened that, because Japan was never going to let the Philippines have any sort of sovereignty.

They're very comparable. I'll rephrase:

Something is really bad and the person in power behaves badly.

Something is really bad and the person in power doesn't behave badly.

That something is still really bad.

 

[j brown's body]

Vietnam is a great case study. After defeating the Japanese there, we used their personnel to hold the country hostage until France could return.

 

[Tigerace117]

They're very comparable. I'll rephrase:

Something is really bad and the person in power behaves badly.

Something is really bad and the person in power doesn't behave badly.

That something is still really bad.

The way the Japanese treated those it occupied really wasn’t comparable though. The Japanese were on a whole other level of brutality.....far worse than any previously experienced.

 

[Antiwar]

The way the Japanese treated those it occupied really wasn’t comparable though. The Japanese were on a whole other level of brutality.....far worse than any previously experienced.

I've heard about the brutality of Japanese soldiers during WWII, yes.

Humanity needs stop using violence and stopping using violence to stop violence, as best it can.

 

[Tigerace117]

I've heard about the brutality of Japanese soldiers during WWII, yes.

Humanity needs stop using violence and stopping using violence to stop violence, as best it can.

Imperial Japan wasn’t interested in negotiating though. That was the problem. Their idea of negotiating was “you give me everything I want, forever, and maybe I won’t attack you.”

You can’t negotiate with people who don’t see you as equal, or even human really.

 

[Antiwar]

Imperial Japan wasn’t interested in negotiating though. That was the problem. Their idea of negotiating was “you give me everything I want, forever, and maybe I won’t attack you.”

You can’t negotiate with people who don’t see you as equal, or even human really.

I'm not talking about drastically reducing or eliminating violence that already happened.

 

[Tigerace117]

I'm not talking about drastically reducing or eliminating violence that already happened.

.......then what’s the point of this thread.

 

[Antiwar]

.......then what’s the point of this thread.

We've been discussing a point that's not directly part of the thread's point.

The thread's point is that the interview is excellent and someone might listen to it.

The YT link is in #6.

 

[Questerr]

I've heard about the brutality of Japanese soldiers during WWII, yes.

Humanity needs stop using violence and stopping using violence to stop violence, as best it can.

So should the people the Japanese were trying to kill have just not fought back?

 

[Antiwar]

It's 2022, not WWII.

 

[Craig234]

Vietnam is a great case study. After defeating the Japanese there, we used their personnel to hold the country hostage until France could return.

After the Japanese were defeated, the Vietnamese adopted a 'declaration of independence' modeled on ours, and asked us to support their not having France return. We did the opposite of what our 'values' say. And maybe a couple million people were killed simply because we pointlessly abused power. We were worse than Putin.

 

[j brown's body]

After the Japanese were defeated, the Vietnamese adopted a 'declaration of independence' modeled on ours, and asked us to support their not having France return. We did the opposite of what our 'values' say. And maybe a couple million people were killed simply because we pointlessly abused power. We were worse than Putin.

They had helped us defeat the Japanese.