4 ms·

Honestly way more with just being the one super power standing after the war. We were basically untouched, even accounting for dead and wounded we only lost ~1

by rtkwe 1y ago

Honestly way more with just being the one super power standing after the war. We were basically untouched, even accounting for dead and wounded we only lost ~1 million people and practically zero manufacturing infrastructure so we came out of the war roaring and flush with cash. That catapulted the US to where it has been for the whole of the time since but a lot of people seem to have believed we were owed that or earned it through some special property of the US and the come down from it is not going well socially.

wat10000 1y ago
We were, it’s just that this special property was owning our own private continent.
- nine_k 1y ago
  Australia tried that, too, but their continent is really problematic.
  - rtkwe 1y ago
    They were also only quasi independent at the time of the wars too so they had less flexibility to decide on their policy.
- gilleain 1y ago
  _It's free real estate_
- rtkwe 1y ago
  True I meant more in the political/economic sphere. Being isolated geographically from both WW1 and WW2 was a major boon to the US economy, we got the economic benefit of the wars without the damage (beyond lives lost of course). And as time has gone on that geography is less and less effective as a shield.
  - wat10000 1y ago
    Yeah, I was really just reinforcing your point in a cheeky way.
vessenes 1y ago
This feels revisionist to me. It was not accidental. The US had the booming wartime economy, AND it had a State department that went at solidifying global influence. Essentially the "greatest generation" locked in America's situation, and doubled down on cultural and economic dominance. The combination of state, industry and WMF-type loans extended American power globally. It was a very very good time to be American. This is the core of the "Great Again" part of the slogan. Boomers remember this America and want the growth, wealth and dominance back.
- xboxnolifes 1y ago
  Maybe not "accidental", but it's lucky for the US that the Nazi regime came to power in central Europe instead of Northern Mexico or Canada. Or even inside the US itself.
  - rtkwe 1y ago
    It definitely feels like the US could have swung the other way, we were deeeep into eugenics over here long before the war and there was plenty of explicit support for the american Nazi party.
- rtkwe 1y ago
  My point is that dominance flows from the fact that every other major world power of the age got massively bombed and the US didn't. Just look at the graph of pre-War GDPs and note how far you have to scroll down before you see a country that didn't have intense fighting and bombing within their borders. [0] Much of what happened post war that set the US up would not have been possible if the US was bombed out like Germany or the UK and needed to rebuild it's entire economy like Germany, the UK, Russia, France, China and Japan who made up the rest of the upper crust of the GDP pie in the pre-War economy. > This feels revisionist to me. Reexamining past narratives/theories based on new data or ways of viewing things is the core of science. It's particularly important in softer social sciences where so much of the effects can only be viewed in the long term. > Boomers remember this America and want the growth, wealth and dominance back My point is you can't go back to there, at least not without another massive war and this time the chances the US gets by unscathed is practically zero. Not to mention shattering the alliances that put the US in that position isn't the way to get back there either. Even if we tried countries are going to be a lot more wary of trusting the US for critical things like military protection which was a major part of the deal for the US's position, we extend a military umbrella across your country and we get good access to your markets. Trump et al fundamentally misunderstand why we were in the position we were and their actions push us further away rather than bringing us back to it. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1334182/wwii-pre-war-gdp/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1334182/wwii-pre-war-gdp...

by rtkwe 1y ago

wat10000 1y ago

We were, it’s just that this special property was owning our own private continent.

nine_k 1y ago
Australia tried that, too, but their continent is really problematic.
- rtkwe 1y ago
  They were also only quasi independent at the time of the wars too so they had less flexibility to decide on their policy.
gilleain 1y ago
_It's free real estate_
rtkwe 1y ago
True I meant more in the political/economic sphere. Being isolated geographically from both WW1 and WW2 was a major boon to the US economy, we got the economic benefit of the wars without the damage (beyond lives lost of course). And as time has gone on that geography is less and less effective as a shield.
- wat10000 1y ago
  Yeah, I was really just reinforcing your point in a cheeky way.

vessenes 1y ago

This feels revisionist to me. It was not accidental. The US had the booming wartime economy, AND it had a State department that went at solidifying global influence. Essentially the "greatest generation" locked in America's situation, and doubled down on cultural and economic dominance. The combination of state, industry and WMF-type loans extended American power globally. It was a very very good time to be American. This is the core of the "Great Again" part of the slogan. Boomers remember this America and want the growth, wealth and dominance back.

xboxnolifes 1y ago
Maybe not "accidental", but it's lucky for the US that the Nazi regime came to power in central Europe instead of Northern Mexico or Canada. Or even inside the US itself.
- rtkwe 1y ago
  It definitely feels like the US could have swung the other way, we were deeeep into eugenics over here long before the war and there was plenty of explicit support for the american Nazi party.
rtkwe 1y ago
My point is that dominance flows from the fact that every other major world power of the age got massively bombed and the US didn't. Just look at the graph of pre-War GDPs and note how far you have to scroll down before you see a country that didn't have intense fighting and bombing within their borders. [0] Much of what happened post war that set the US up would not have been possible if the US was bombed out like Germany or the UK and needed to rebuild it's entire economy like Germany, the UK, Russia, France, China and Japan who made up the rest of the upper crust of the GDP pie in the pre-War economy. > This feels revisionist to me. Reexamining past narratives/theories based on new data or ways of viewing things is the core of science. It's particularly important in softer social sciences where so much of the effects can only be viewed in the long term. > Boomers remember this America and want the growth, wealth and dominance back My point is you can't go back to there, at least not without another massive war and this time the chances the US gets by unscathed is practically zero. Not to mention shattering the alliances that put the US in that position isn't the way to get back there either. Even if we tried countries are going to be a lot more wary of trusting the US for critical things like military protection which was a major part of the deal for the US's position, we extend a military umbrella across your country and we get good access to your markets. Trump et al fundamentally misunderstand why we were in the position we were and their actions push us further away rather than bringing us back to it. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1334182/wwii-pre-war-gdp/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1334182/wwii-pre-war-gdp...