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Milestones

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Praefectus Praetorio said:
We should not confuse motives here. Part of the American economy benefited. However it was paid for by the whole country. While the sales may have cleared out some backlogs and stimulated some industries, the stuff was FREE for the destitute Europeans, even our recent deadly foes. And our leaders all knew, that what we were doing would help European industry rebuild to eventually compete with America.
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I think American strategists of the day probably also had a sharp eye on the possibility that destitute disordered post-war European nations might be ripe for communist intrigues and getting absorbed into the Soviet sphere. Quick economic improvement thanks to the helping hand of Uncle Sam however made joining the Western bloc something that would get much more popular support. As such it was probably among the best investments of money in purely geo-political terms which in no way detracts from the fact that it was also a generous thing to do.
 
On this day in 1917, the United States entered the First World War after Congress formally declared war against Germany. The U.S. had long resisted entering the conflict, which had been raging since 1914.

A fascinating but pointless what-if is to ask what if the US had stayed out? There were not overwhelming reasons for entry and it is conceivable that we would have just let whatever unfold "over there.'

Where would that leave the world today? No Hitler and Nazi Reich for sure. But more wars? Could the incredibly sick Austro-Hungarian Empire survived victory? Russia would have had its Revolution, but how might the politics there been different with no Western victory of Germany?
 
Praefectus Praetorio said:
On this day in 1917, the United States entered the First World War after Congress formally declared war against Germany. The U.S. had long resisted entering the conflict, which had been raging since 1914.

A fascinating but pointless what-if is to ask what if the US had stayed out? There were not overwhelming reasons for entry and it is conceivable that we would have just let whatever unfold "over there.'

Where would that leave the world today? No Hitler and Nazi Reich for sure. But more wars? Could the incredibly sick Austro-Hungarian Empire survived victory? Russia would have had its Revolution, but how might the politics there been different with no Western victory of Germany?
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Ah, counterfactual history. Always so much fun. What if the Confederacy had won the Civil War? What if Hitler had successfully invaded Britain?
 
Barbaria1 said:
I’m trying to wrap my mind around that one. What makes you so sure, Goldman?
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I doubt people realise how unlikely or probable each and every individual on this planet actually is.

I mean, your Mum and Dad had to have sex at exactly the same moment, under exactly the same conditions, with the 500 million to one sperm and egg shot occurring exactly as it did, just for you to become the zygote that would eventually become the baby, that would eventually become the babe that you became.

And that's just the START of all the long shots that had to take place ... going back through an infinity of times and places and events ... any one of which did or didn't occur which may have led to your non-appearance or appearance.

Any way you look at it the average person won an improbable lottery when they appeared.

Some rationalise their existence with Destiny or God's Will. Others are comfortable with Lady Luck or Egomaniacal Blindness or whatever. But in the final analysis Life or Existence hangs on a very tenuous chain of Probability, Temporal Determinism and (yes, I'll admit it) Boundless Luck.
 
Praefectus Praetorio said:
A fascinating but pointless what-if is to ask what if the US had stayed out? There were not overwhelming reasons for entry and it is conceivable that we would have just let whatever unfold "over there.'

Where would that leave the world today? No Hitler and Nazi Reich for sure. But more wars? Could the incredibly sick Austro-Hungarian Empire survived victory? Russia would have had its Revolution, but how might the politics there been different with no Western victory of Germany?
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After the US declared war, it took at least a year before American troops were fully deployed at the western front. Germany's two main initiatives in the mean time, unlimited U-boat warfare, and the great spring offensive in the west, both failed. The latter failure can be attributed to politcal stupidity - the German government was so eager for territorial gains in the east that, they needed nearly all the troops present on the eastern front, to occupy and secure these new territories, after peace was made with Russia at Brest-Litovsk. So they squandered the tactical advantage offered by this separate peace, since these troops could not be deployed during the spring offensive, where they could have made the difference.

After these failures, Germany was exhausted. A blockade was causing starvation among its population. Without the Americans, it would have been a matter of a few more months. After all, the fall has not started at the front, but inside Germany, with the mutiny of the Hochseeflotte, when the sailors were ordered on a suicide attack on Britain.

Most curious is, how the US fell back into isolation after the war, discarding the participation in the war, as 'the great mistake of our parent's generation'.
 
On this day in 1940, educator and reformer Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp. The Chicago Defender led the charge after seeing the suffrage movement successfully lobby to have Susan B. Anthony on a stamp.
 
Praefectus Praetorio said:
On this day in 1940, educator and reformer Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp. The Chicago Defender led the charge after seeing the suffrage movement successfully lobby to have Susan B. Anthony on a stamp.
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Booker T was the "acceptable" black for white Americans to see on a stamp in 1940. He was largely an appeaser. Frederick Douglass, among others, would have been a better choice.
This denial of AA history continues even today as the Harriet Tubman $20 bill is delayed. And white Americans wonder why black Americans "still seem so angry."
www.cnbc.com

Harriet Tubman $20 bill no longer coming in 2020: Mnuchin says redesign postponed

The redesign of the $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman will no longer be unveiled in 2020, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
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