3 ms·
The Reasonable Optimist
- redis_mlc 6y agoIt's an interesting article that should be required reading for Millennials, who have an incorrect and nihilistic view of American history. However, the German economic recovery anecdote is wrong. The US bombed Germany's economy from 1945 back to 1900, so naturally there's a large bounce in 1950 - that looks like 1940 again: https://www.edmundconway.com/2015/02/the-uk-germany-and-france-gdp-over-history/ https://www.edmundconway.com/2015/02/the-uk-germany-and-fran... Note that Germany itself was very late to get on a war footing itself. For example, consumer car models were in production for years after the start of the wars, which was the opposite of the US and Britain. This was because Germany relied on slave labor and imports of many goods, not internal production. (The French resistance ramped up after Herr Sokel initiated the slavery draft of all able-bodied French men and women.) Hitler made 4 mistakes that helped doom Germany: 1) He thought the occupied countries would continue to be productive and willing exporters of goods and slaves. 2) He mistreated the slaves working in his arms factories, killing around 10 million through malnutrition and mistreatment. 3) Russia was shipping in the area of 30% of Germany's goods via rail until the day of Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia, Germany's super market. 4) No oil. :)
- lcall 6y agoI think I agree w/ the general direction of the article. The longer I observe, the more reasons I find for very long-term optimism, and the importance of, over time, improving one's own skills and foundation for handling problems that arise, and helping others.