Saturday, August 06, 2016
True but stupid
Trump is complaining that Japs won't defend us, so the "mutual defense treaty" is wrong.
Strictly true at the surface level, but stupid and counterproductive.
Stupid: Trump doesn't seem to understand WHY Japs won't fight. Japs won't fight because we TRAINED them not to fight by wiping out their cities when they did fight. WW2 was the only just and necessary war in our history, and we fought it correctly. The current arrangement, while asymmetrical and nominally unfair, keeps Japs peaceful. We should leave well enough alone.
Counterproductive: If we give the Japs the idea that fighting is OK while simultaneously insulting and condescending to them, they're likely to attack US again. We didn't GMO their ferocious Samurai genes.
Wonder who would win that war? Just ask: Which country has a stockpile of old nuclear bombs that probably don't work? Which country could develop and build a million brand-new superefficient supernuclear bombs in about two weeks?
= = = = =
Yet again Trump is missing what SHOULD have been his own point. If a Populist wants to talk about Japan, he should be proposing ways to BRING BACK the Fordist model of industrial organization that Japan happily picked up when we trashed it. He should be asking how we can make our trade policies more like Japan's trade policies.
Labels: Alternate universe
¶ 3:13 AM
