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| -Land of the Free |
| VDH - Coronavirus and Fear - Lessons from WW II |
| 2020-05-17 |
| [Fox News] Seventy-five years ago this month, Germany surrendered, ending the European theater of World War II. At the war’s beginning, no one believed Germany would utterly collapse in May 1945. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, German invaders were on the verge of capturing Moscow. Britain was isolated. London had barely survived a terrible German bombing during the blitz. A sleeping America was neutral, but it was beginning to realize it was weak and mostly unarmed in a scary world. But how did the U.S. arm so quickly, build such effective weapons so soon, and from almost nothing field a military some 12 million strong? Neo-socialist President Franklin D. Roosevelt unleashed American business under the aegis of successful entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Co., William Knudsen of General Motors, Henry Kaiser of Kaiser Shipyards and Charles Wilson of General Electric. They were all given relatively free rein from New Deal strictures to work and profit without burdensome government regulations. The result was a military juggernaut that overwhelmed America’s enemies. The media turned from either propagandizing the success of the New Deal or hyping its failures to warning Americans of the looming existential threat that would soon make their differences irrelevant. Most importantly, Americans lost their fears. Does World War II offer any lessons regarding our wrecked economy and staggering unemployment from the lockdown reaction to the coronavirus? Perhaps. Government cannot restore prosperity. Only entrepreneurs and risk-takers can. Americans must master their fears of the virus and dare to go back to work. Otherwise, locked-down states will continue to borrow to pay out public assistance without creating wealth from labor, production and investment. Bankrupt states will beg the federal government to print money that it doesn’t have for bailouts to pay those who are not working and not creating collective wealth. The media must stick to reporting on the virus and the ailing economy. Their often petty obsessions with destroying President Trump are long past monotonous. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #9 Ref #4: As long as no plastic straws were used... I guess you're ok. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-05-17 22:30 |
| #8 What a very odd dream, 3dc. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-05-17 21:28 |
| #7 I think too many special interests, Alaska. Even a flat tax could never take told here. Even former Eastern Bloc countries went to a flat tax at the beginning. What I don't want to see is reform in a bad way, like a VAT. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-05-17 13:18 |
| #6 Clem—- congress has been talking this up for decades. Many decades. They can issue special breaks but they are unable or unwilling To bring forth any meaningful reform. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2020-05-17 13:13 |
| #5 A re-vamping of this absurd tax code might be a good start. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-05-17 12:52 |
| #4 |
| Posted by: 3dc 2020-05-17 12:52 |
| #3 Had a pleasant mid-1800s Asian dream last night ... a few tables over in the outdoor sandy beach restaurant in the Philippines the stone wheel table was prepared for a dish of live monkey brains. Instead of Asians with long chopsticks placed in a circle around the stone there was a ring of ravens waiting. The two largest would be known to Odin. I told the wife this is good. With Covid we can not get entertainment I just hope the monkey chatters properly as its brains are sampled... and this beach setting does make clean up simple as the crabs will make quick work of it... and note Odin approves!!! Then the monkey was led out... one well known to us from San Fran and we let out a cheer.... It was a good dream! |
| Posted by: 3dc 2020-05-17 12:45 |
| #2 Right. Like those MBAs Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison... /sarc |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-05-17 10:20 |
| #1 successful entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Co., William Knudsen of General Motors, Henry Kaiser of Kaiser Shipyards and Charles Wilson of General Electric. Now all we have is MBAs. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-05-17 10:15 |