What Has Government Done To Us? Part Two
The ’Great Depression’ of 1929 to 1941, was caused by government and the Federal Reserve. It would have been a normal correction in the market, and not reached its huge proportions, if government had not gotten involved under Presidents Herbert Hoover initially, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) mostly. Free markets correct themselves if left alone, and don’t act in the extreme, if governments aren’t involved. The Congress and President, was Democrat from 1933 to World War Two. FDR, like Obama, attempted to write laws by executive orders, establish bureaucracies, and was responsible for myriads of rules and regulations, of the same proportions as does the Obama reign. The depression continued unabated, with it is said, a 25% unemployment rate. All of the rules, regulations, money printing, bailouts, subsidies, and programs didn’t help a bit. Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury from 1934 to 1945 said, "We have tried spending. We are spending more money than we have ever spent before, and it does not work." Roosevelt promoted what he called "The New Deal," which basically meant government printing money, and subsidizing and giving it away to those ’who needed it,’ and at the same time hog tying the business, farming, and manufacturing sectors. None of the ’New Deal’ programs worked, and America was still mired in a depression in 1941.
Roosevelt had been giving the Japanese a very difficult time. His excuse he said, was because of Japan’s invading and raping China and Mongolia in 1937. He cut off their use of the Panama Canal, stopped selling them scrap metal, and oil, blockaded their other sources of oil in the south seas, and cut off and froze all Japanese credits. That is only a partial description of FDR’s irritating and strangling Japan so much, that they decided to attack us, catch us off guard, and easily win a war with us. Admiral Husband Kimmel, who was in charge of Pearl Harbor, said in his book published in 1954, "The Roosevelt strategy of maneuvering the Japanese into striking the first blow, was unknown to us." According to a Gallup Poll taken in 1941, 88% of Americans liked our ’isolationist policy,’ (ignoring Hitler and the European war), and didn’t want to go to war. I read 40-50 books a year, and have read plenty about the Pearl Harbor attack. "At Dawn We Slept," is a good one to read, or maybe "The Roosevelt Myth," "President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War – 1941," or "Day of Deceit." America was lucky to have all of its aircraft carriers out to sea when the attack came. Battleships were sunk, but they were becoming a bit outdated anyway. It was our aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway, a few months later, which sealed the fate of Japan in the war she started with us, but it took almost four more devastating years of fighting in the Pacific.
Did Roosevelt and certain higher-ups, know in advance of the coming attack? Was this his way of getting America out of the ’great depression,’ when everything so far had failed? On October 1, 1940, a memorandum originating in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and addressed to two of FDR’s most trusted advisors, called for provoking Japan into an overt act of war against the United States. It was written by Lieutenant commander Arthur McCollum, head of the far east desk of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Roosevelt had instituted the "Lend Lease" act, in violation of three neutrality acts passed by Congress between 1935 and 1937. These laws ’prohibited America from selling or transporting arms or war materials to belligerent nations.’ Roosevelt sent dozens of convoys of ships containing huge amounts of arms and ammunition to Britain, obviously an act of war against Germany, but Germany, in spite of that, didn’t declare war on America. At a news conference on August 29th, a reporter asked Roosevelt "Could you say whether you believe that war can be averted in the Pacific?" Roosevelt would not be led into a discussion of it. On October 16th, 1941, Otto Tolischus reported to the New York Times, that the Director of Japanese Naval Intelligence had declared that the relations of the United States and Japan were "Now approaching the final parting of the ways." In a July 25th news conference, a reporter asked Roosevelt what the Japanese situation meant to our neutrality, and Roosevelt answered "That was a terribly iffy question." The reporter said it was a valid question, and Roosevelt said, "So many terrible things are looming."
America didn’t declare war on Germany, and didn’t declare war on Japan till she attacked us. England and France declared war on Germany, when she attacked Poland. Germany was attempting to recover territory taken from her by the Treaty of Versailles. With that treaty, the German-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires ceased to exist. Europe was re-configured. Germany had all her overseas territories taken from her, as well as 15% of her European territories, which had seven million German speaking occupants. Danzig, Sudetenland, etc, she wanted back. German industry was obliterated and prohibited from rebuilding. Germany, for the first time in history, thanks to the Treaty of Versailles, was forced to pay reparations for the damage she had done. America, after WW II, rebuilt its former enemies at taxpayer expense, under the absurd "Marshall Plan." Germany was broke after the war, and had no money, so she printed it, and it became worthless, which brought on Hitler. Hitler was, like Castro, FDR, and many other politicians, an excellent public speaker, even though he was not an intelligent man by any means of measurement. He bluffed his way through a horrible war, which was started by his invading Poland in an attempt to regain Danzig. England thought this was horrible and gave Hitler a few days to change his mind. When he balked, England and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. A huge mistake, which cost England millions of casualties and millions of buildings destroyed.
A few years earlier, Hitler had signed a non-aggression treaty with ’uncle’ Joe Stalin, who was perhaps the bloodiest ruler in history, other than maybe Chairman Mao. In 1941, Hitler broke his agreement and attacked Russia, losing the war for all practical purposes. Hundreds of thousands of German troops froze or starved to death, and equally more were injured. This was before America got involved. Like the ’Civil War,’ we should probably never gotten involved in World War Two. If England and France had not declared war on Germany, there would have been no German bombing of England. I am only looking at history after it has happened, and hindsight is always 20/20, I admit. I just hate war, and I can see how we could have avoided The Civil War, both World Wars, as well as Vietnam, and Korea. Government did these wars to us, the civilian populations. In violation of the 13th Amendment, government drafted our young men, and they went off to battle to be killed and injured. Civilians didn’t vote to go to war. They were opposed to it, and Roosevelt ran on a platform of peace and no war. We suffered from these government declared and undeclared wars. We were attacked by Japan, after she was provoked beyond tolerance, but we the civilians, didn’t provoke her, government and FDR did. Germany declared war on us after Japan attacked us, but also because we had been shipping millions of tons of war materials to England, in violation of our three neutrality acts. We, the civilians didn’t send war material to England. Government did, and without our permission. We just suffered, died, and were injured.
We lost 50,000 troops in Korea, as well as hundreds of thousands injured, and for what? Both sides are still far apart and hate each other. America still has many thousands of troops in Korea, and why? Is Vietnam non-communist now, after we lost 59,000 troops and hundreds of thousands injured and disabled? No, Vietnam is now a communist nation. The hundreds of billions spent in Vietnam, resulted in the hippie movement and mass protests about that war. They were right! That war was disgusting. I have talked to many Vietnam vets, and asked every one if they knew why we were there. Not a single one has said that there was any reason they could think of, and hated that place. The Korean and Vietnam wars cost close to a trillion dollars, which was printing press money, causing inflation. Retail prices during the 3 1/2 years of WW II, saw a doubling of prices, thanks to printing press money. My Dad bought a new Plymouth for about $600 in 1940, and a new Ford after WW II had been over a couple of years for $1900. Did American citizens declare war, or was it our fault that consumer prices doubled in three and a half years? No. Government’s war did it to us, which cut the purchasing power of the dollar by 50%. It also cut the value of savings by 50%. Thanks a lot government.
P.S. When Sarah Palin was John McCain’s running mate, we all loved her. She probably got more votes for McCain than he got for himself! I bought a used copy of her "Going Rogue" in a Goodwill last week, and WOW! Want a candidate who could mop the floor with Hillary? Want a President who would do what Sarah did for Alaska, namely cut taxes, balance budget, fire bureaucrats, etc? Sarah Palin would be your choice too if you found a used copy of "Going Rogue for a buck or two and read it. What a gal!
Last column for two weeks or so. Going on vacation, There’s lots more to say about what government has done to us.