June 26, 2024
History regularly shows us how to make better decisions or, perhaps more appropriately, helps us avoid making the wrong decisions. However, you don’t always need that century-old history, as many important decisions can be made that way within our lifetimes.
Keeping it with the macro, we can easily see one significant variable if we look at the wars in Syria and Ukraine. They are not the only examples; they are just some of the most recent. Owning the higher ground is an essential strategy in on-the-ground combat infantry battles.
You will have difficulty winning any revolution or civil war without an Air Force. In Syria, the Rebels did OK until Putin came in with his Air Force leveling the place, which turned the tide to keep the dictator. Ukraine is having monumental problems without an Air Force. One was an internal revolution, while the other was the defense of its territorial boundaries from a needless attack by a neighbor.
Nonetheless, they both provide history lessons. They are not alone; the battle of Britton and Hitler’s Air Force’s failure to control the sky prevented the German infantry from coming in mass to England. Let history be the lesson so we are careful what we wish for and don’t casually wish for a Civil War here in the good ole USA. Even if neither of the civil war factions had an Air Force, someone did; just ask the Syrian Rebels. They might also ask themselves how well Governments fare that is formed at the point of a gun. I’m not quite sure we should use America as the shining country on a hill formed at the point of a gun as an example. We are simply too young, and the experiment is ongoing.
Does history show the rank and file of a country are better off after the point of the gun revolution? With the establishment of a new Cuban government, the Cuban people were better off than before the revolutions. Some would argue yes, others no, so much depends on who and their gains or losses from the revolution. Cuba, after two revolutions, still has a fascist dictatorship for a government. Cuba could be the wealthiest country in the Caribbean, but it has not been close after two revolutions. There closed isolated economy has created a plethora of classic cars and jobs to make parts for them.
Likewise with China. While there is no question that China was the sleeping giant and is now better off than it was under Chiang Kai-she, they should probably send thank you cards to Richard Nixon rather than Mao. It’s doubtful China would be where it is today without Nixon’s favored nation trading status, which sent billions of manufacturing facilities to China. No surprise, as cheap raw materials in abundance, along with cheap labor, is what drove the Industrial Revolution. All that with a fascist dictatorship.
The idea that a civil war would bring a better government is foolish. We are a very young country and very different. Not many, if any, other countries in the world were formed like ours. While we had a civil war, we have never had a religious war like our European neighbors. We have had only one kind of government for our short history. The passage of power to the newly elected is every so often four years or eight. While we may have had some fixed elections, we lived with it for the term and then had another election. Elections have always been a power struggle in America.
Its success requires accepting majority rule, at least for the election term. Do you think they will bring you a better Government with rigged election districts through gerrymandering? Will we have a better Government when leaders re-elect themselves? Should we allow State Legislators to give themselves the power to overturn State Election results for Presidential elections? Will we have a better government when 40% of the students at the leaders of Ivy League universities are under achieving wealthy kids of alumni?
It all sounds terrifying. If they buy your government entirely through campaign financing, we might find out how good it was. “Don’t it always go to show you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?”
Tom Flash