Guerras eran las de antes

Más del maestro Thomas Sowell, otro cachetazo de sentido común. Y, ya que estamos, un pequeño repaso de historia reciente. Soy perfectamente conciente de que decir estas cosas no es de lo más políticamente correcto en este momento. Para mucha gente la solución pasa por más amor y comprensión y por poner la otra mejilla, y la otra, y la otra.

Como diría Kate Bush, la cantante, no la sobrina del presidente de EEUU:

Hello, I know that you’ve been feeling tired.
I bring you love and deeper understanding.
Hello, I know that you’re unhappy.
I bring you love and deeper understanding.

Those of us old enough to remember World War II face many painful reminders of how things have changed in Americans' behavior during a war. Back then, the president's defeated opponent in the 1940 election -- Wendell Wilkie -- not only supported the war, he became a personal envoy from President Roosevelt to Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

We were all in it together -- and we knew it. People who had been highly critical of American foreign policy before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor now fell silent and devoted themselves to winning the war.

What if the people, institutions, and attitudes of today were somehow taken back in time to World War II? What would have been the result? Would we have ended up winning or losing that war?

What about the great cry of the hour, a cease fire?

It so happens that World War II had the biggest cease fire in history. It was called "the phony war" because, although France was officially at war with Germany, the French did very little fighting for months, while the bulk of the German army was in Poland and France had overwhelming military superiority on the western front.