Webmaster's Note -
This page, created years ago, contains links illustrating that the duplicity and arrogance of governmental "leaders" is not the exclusive domain of despotic regimes, notwithstanding the questionable argument that Franklin D. Roosevelt's actions were justifiable.
My own feeling is that the bellicosity in human nature had been inflamed, for profit,
by bankers and by the burdgeoning newspaper business in the early days of the century. It was reflected in the character and ambitions of Teddy Roosevelt, capitalized upon by big business, politicized by Woodrow Wilson, and culminated in the US entering the First World War in Europe.
Murray Rothbard's comments (at the bottom of this page) attribute to F. D. Roosevelt much of which I myself feel ought to be attributed to Woodrow Wilson. The character of our present State has been developed by war and, in fact, "War is the Health of the State". The nail was driven into the coffin of classical liberalism by scraping classical education in order to condition a compliant work-force and materialistic public for the plutocrats' industrial plants and production, removing
Thucydides, particularly, from the early curriculum of our future "leaders", "educators" and media pundits.
I recall my father calling my brother and me into the house from the backyard where we were at play on that brisk December afternoon (Dec. 7, 1941). He had us listen to a news report coming from our Philco radio and told us that we would remember that day for the rest of our lives. It was then that I had my introduction to foreign affairs. Somewhere in the world, a long distance from Staten Island, New York, a place called Pearl Harbor had been attacked by airplanes and, father explained, since that was a part of our country, we were now in a war.
We had a small mounted globe of the world in the dining room close to the radio.
Showing us where Japan was located, he told us that Japan was now our enemy. He went on to say that there was another country, considerably
more dangerous, with which we would soon be at war. Turning the globe all the way around, he pointed to
Germany. He said that Germany had plans to rule the world. That seemed odd to me and placing my finger on the small area called Germany I said,
"How can a little country like that take over this huge globe?"
Father, a scientist who relied for his geopolitical information on radio broadcasters Gabriele Heatter and Walter Winchell, said that they were already well on their way to do so, showing us areas Hitler had conquered. "Do you think that we will win?", I asked. I recall my father looking very grave and saying, "Yes, I think that we will, but it will be difficult and things will never be the same." |
