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"an American general at the time expressed the desire that Germans would henceforth be a “nation of shepherds”, incapable of playing a major part in world affai
by walkingolof 7y ago
"an American general at the time expressed the desire that Germans would henceforth be a “nation of shepherds”, incapable of playing a major part in world affairs—yet shortly after the war’s end, it was well on its way to accomplishing the Wirtschaftswunder, the economic miracle that it maintains to this day. Japan arose the ashes in a similar fashion. And the United States…the country that for the entire postwar period served as a source of aspiration for people the world over, a model of domestic stability and good governance, and a guarantor of its allies’ military security, is now riven by toxic political discord and stands at the brink of social collapse."
- baybal2 7y agoThe history might be written by the Victors, but is always read by the survivors
- MichaelMoser123 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan that wasn't a general: " It was first proposed by United States Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr."
- mikorym 7y agoI don't agree with that last statement at all. Americans have seen too little hardship to have an idea what "social collapse" and "toxic political discord" is.
- mieseratte 7y agoConsidering my family lived through WWII in the thick of it and later came to America, and this is not a unique occurrence, to say “Americans don’t know” is just wrong.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoI think by "Americans" he means "the upper middle class Nth (N>=4 or so) generation Americans that dominate political discourse the 364 days of the year that aren't election day"
- rawTruthHurts 7y ago'“Americans don’t know” is just wrong.' Not so much. Sounds to me that, if you consider your family american, by your description they sound more like "european immigrants with the paperwork done".
- kmlx 7y ago"is now riven by toxic political discord and stands at the brink of social collapse." lol wut? the USA has seen a incredible rise on so many fronts: quality of life, removal of segregation, rights of gays, right of blacks, rights of women, emergence of computing, emergence of startups, and so, so many more. to say that the US is on the brink of collapse shows the author doesn't really understand the situation, or is simply pushing a narrative.
- walkingolof 7y agoI think you and the quote is both right in some sense...