I read the "Embracing Defeat" by John Dower. It's about Japan instead, but what struck me is that the wealthy and powerful in general paid little price and perh

I read the "Embracing Defeat" by John Dower. It's about Japan instead, but what struck me is that the wealthy and powerful in general paid little price and perhaps even enriched themselves from the war. All the government warehouses that had various stocks of war material and food, clothing, rubber, etc. all mysteriously disappeared into private hands shortly after the fall. US bombing campaigns tended to target the working class. The wealthy usually had enclaves that had substantial separation between their houses so they didn't even lose their homes to the fires. And the US occupation had to prioritize stability immediately and to do that they wanted to maintain the power of the already powerful and maintain the institutions wherever possible. Even some scientists that conducted inhumane experiments were let off scot-free because we wanted their research. I suspect that it's always been this way. As a conqueror, you always want whatever you conquer to be economically productive as soon as possible. So you always want to have the existing managers now simply reporting to you.