It feels really remarkable how quickly in the late 2010s that top level people in the US government (as well as the media and society generally) pivoted to using annihilationist rhetoric as though China is some sort of anime arch-enemy they have to power up to defeat. I guess this is probably what the red scare years after 1945 felt like when the US and USSR quickly shifted from allies to rivals

[–] MultigrainCerealista@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago (2 children)

[–] Fissionami@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago

Nothing has really changed (even in 21st century)

[–] Frank@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

It's pretty wild that the US engaged in an economic attack that destroyed the Japanese economy, despite the Japanese government pretty much being a US puppet running on a constitution the US wrote, because they were too good at making VCRs.

[–] zephyreks@lemmy.ca 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The US needs to be #1 in the world and they'll do anything to achieve that.

[–] HootinNHollerin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I hope ppl remember is that the US didn’t want to be in either world war. After that second round the US fundamentally changed. And that change wasn’t desired by the US. But they felt it needed to happen. No one wants another hitler. Stalin has already shown himself to be a mass murder. The massive problem is that those who were aggressive then took over. Using that reality and fear to do it. But one thing that holds is that for 4 years the US had the bomb alone and didn’t use that for territorial gain. Same can’t be said for Soviets. The US was tired of war and wanted peace and prosperity to return. From that era I can’t defend. But this series of events in my experience are not well reflected upon.

[–] zephyreks@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Who would the US have bombed? Canada? Mexico?

The US didn't have the logistics to project power globally like they can today. What exactly would you propose they drop a bomb on? Moscow?

People love to criticize famines in China and Russia as being mismanagement by government (and they are), but they're missing the forest for the trees. Prior to the communist governments, famines were a common occurrence in China and Russia.

The Sichuan famine in 1936 killed 5 million. The famine in 1928 killed 6 million. The Chinese famine in 1906 killed 20 million. The Chinese famine in 1876 killed 10 million.

Yet, since the Great Leap Forward? China has not experienced a single famine. Similarly, the last famine in Russia was in 1947. People sit in their ivory towers where food can be imported from around the world and 40% of food is wasted and wonder why so many people died trying to get something so accessible. Meanwhile, places in Africa are still experiencing mass famine and nobody cares.

[–] Frank@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago

It's been like this for a long time. Remember the Maine! And all that. I tried to nail it down once and I think like two US wars in it's whole centuries long history of ruthless warmongering haven't been wars of naked aggression conudcted under a false causus belli.

[–] HootinNHollerin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Haven’t reached the level of Mao murdering peasant farmers in china if they don’t join his communist Revolution

Or annihilating sparrows, to cover his own incompetence