December 7, 1941, the day Franklin Delano Roosevelt correctly predicted would live in infamy. What followed reshaped the world, and very much shaped my generation, the boomers, because our parents and our culture had been so marked by World War II.
The lessons remain, even on the level of individual daily life.
Be prepared for crisis. If it doesn’t happen, fine. If it does, you won’t have to start behind the curve when you have to deal with it, as a largely unprepared United States had to in the early part of that war.
Don’t ignore a blip on the radar screen. Awareness and preparedness are two sides of the same coin. Preparedness isn’t enough if your guard is down and you’re totally blindsided; if you see danger coming but don’t have the wherewithal to stop in, you just get to watch in horror for a little longer as you are destroyed.
True then, true now. True in macrocosm and true in microcosm.
On the mark, as usual, Mr. Ayoob.
In honor of day, thought it would be worth passing this along. Today’s millennial generation especially knows so little of WWII and its events. So if you are inclined to learn a bit, this is a fabulous book covering how America won the Big War. Anyone with interest in American industry and its accomplishments will be surprised at the key players and what was done for the world in just a handful of years. This was when men and women worked 18 hour days 6 or 7 days a week. When all the “regulations” were thrown out the window. “Get it done” wasn’t Larry the Cable Guy’s motto…
http://www.amazon.com/Freedoms-Forge-American-Business-Produced/dp/1400069645/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_3?
Well said, this country of ours is in such a mess.
Mas, this is what drew me to your blog, and to those who faithfully follow the flow of wisdom flowing from your keyboard.
Most of those commenting here have a desire to learn, to hopefully further their knowledge and skills for the increasingly dangerous world we live in.
I, like most of them, see warning signs on the horizon. A storm that many, if not most folks in our country, seem to be oblivious of. This storm’s approach is speeding up, there appears to be no hope of stopping it, so our only option is to be prepared for when it strikes.
I, personally, believe we are being manipulated, divided intentionally to bring this country to it’s knees and destroy our freedoms.
I fear there is a fight coming. It won’t be pretty, and I can’t predict the outcome. Hopefully, those who love freedom and liberty will prevail. Hopefully, I will be up to the task before me. Not for myself, but for my children and grand-children.
Don’t keep all your battleships in one harbor.
Good point, LarryArnold.
I don’t remember who coined the phrase “my gunfight” in talking about the fallacy of thinking that we can predict what kind of danger we’ll face, or when or where we’ll face it. It ties into Pearl Harbor in that just about all of the officers in the Pacific knew that an attack was coming. They were all sure that it was coming somewhere else, almost certainly in the Philippines. Oops. (You are right, of course, about the blips on the radar screen, etc.)
I was conceived roughly 3 months after Pearl Harbor because my parents were convinced that my father might very well perish in the war, sans progeny. Fortunately, he survived but very rarely spoke of his experiences and even then provided little detail. No one was prepared for what happened that day but what a remarkable united effort it spawned. We, as a nation, could only hope to be so undivided and focused today. To Mas’s point, current events and the sad state of our government should stir us to be vigilant and prepared.
Yup. Spot on…
Mas, it seems like you’re trying to say something without actually saying it. If there’s something on your mind that we need to be heedful of, please say so.
The Japanese navy was able to bomb Pearl because the US Army, Navy, and government were not cooperating well, to say the least. We have likely avoided other Pearl Harbors when the US operated cohesively. Is everybody out there working to get it all together? Spiritual leaders, WH, Congress, Armed Forces, NG’S, DHS, NSA, FBI, CIA, BP, USMS, State governments, local police, IRS, banks, you and I, etc. Too bad it so often takes a martyr like a whistle-blower(I am not talking anti-US jihadi) to keep security together. Thanks for Americans who do care and act appropriately.
Not saying I agree or disagree with the article linked below, but an interesting read no matter your sentiments after reading.
http://www.rense.com/general24/message.htm
Seems to mirror what is happening in our country right now. My reluctance to agree or disagree publicly, could that be because in today’s reality of governmental digital surveillance of private citizens , I fear being targeted by our government as a threat to their goals?
Well said, Mas.
I don’t know your personal religious beliefs, but having taken one of your courses I think I know you well enough that you would not take offence but would rather be pleased when I wish you and all your readers “Merry Christmas”.
Professor Mike
I Tell You What Mas, I think the same things that you say, I wonder sometimes if I’m crazy. It does me some good to see other people saying the same things that I think.
Just curious, what was unacceptable, that caused you to remove my comments regarding the Islamic threat, and my response to LI Mike about the current oenership, pollution, and lack of war time support of what was once America’s mighty manufacturing industry?
Paul
Respond to paul63799@gmail.com, if you don’t wish to tell me publicly.
glenbo,
Remember, we are using the Internet, where every keystroke can last a long time. Also, Mas is a public figure, who gets called into court to give his professional views, and so he has to watch his words. We should all watch what we type on the Internet.
As the wise Alfred E. Neumann has said many times, “What me worry?”
With a great patriot like our Dear Leader in control of the country, we are completely safe from any danger. OBL is dead and GM is alive. Our economy is booming, employment is at an all time high, taxes are low, the national debt has been totally eliminated through expert handling by the government, and terrorists around the world tremble in their sandals and piss in their baggy pants with fear at the mere mention of barack hussein obama. What more can we want?
So what if the Anointed One wants to ban all guns in private hands and disarm the non-criminal population of the United States. He’s only doing it for our benefit and safety although many are too ignorant to understand our Dear Leader who thinks in a much higher plane than we miserable lowly peasants. Besides, we will still have pepper spray and can always call the police if help is needed immediately. The cops are there for us, unless you’re black and a racist white officer shows up. Then it’s Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!
Didn’t delete anything, Paul. Feel free to re-post if you think something didn’t get here that should have. Sure it was on this particular discussion thread?
> failed to act cohesively
Congress chose to make Admiral Kimmel their whipping boy, but it takes very little research to see that behind Tojo himself, Secretary of State Cordell Hull was as much to blame as anyone. Yet he remained in office through WWII, and Congress failed to indite him for treason during the investigations on the origin of the war later.
War was Japan was probably inevitable, but FDR chose to communicate with the Japanese only through Hull, and Hull was batshit crazy, telling one story to the Japanese and a totally different story to FDR, egging things on. It wasn’t until later, when MAGIC decrypts and office memoranda became available, that it became publicly known. It wasn’t that Hull made any effort to hide his actions; he was operating in his own little fiefdom with no oversight at all.
Thanks, may have been my error, but not important enough to try to reconstruct it now,
Paul
I believe Mas is just comparing Pearl Harbor with the need to be properly armed and trained to protect life and family. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, don’t duplicate a Pearl Harbor around your life. Reading anything else into it would be pure conjecture.
However, approximately 30 years ago nearly every gun magazine had ads for drop in auto sears for the AR platform. All of the other parts necessary to convert were readily available at gun shows. (I used to be a class dealer) It took years for the ATF to clamp down on these sales. There must be 1000s of these (kits) buried, waiting for what?
That’s what I get for using a smart phone to write with.
I meant to say that I used to be a class 3 dealer.
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