sandorski
No Lifer
- Oct 10, 1999
- 70,825
- 6,374
- 126
Regardless of the moral implications of the events, it is important to remember them. Though some would like to downplay the savagery and brutal cruelty inherent in atomic warfare and in light of other atrocities of equal horror, nevertheless the use of the atomic bombs on Japan forever changed humanity. I doubt that many of those who made the decision to use the bombs had even a vague understanding of what the implications were. The American public were dumbstruck by their nations newfound power and it is my belief that the impact is still affecting the American psyche.
Into the 1950's America rode a wave of post war euphoria, until the Soviets developed their own atomic weapons and the launching of Sputnik. Suddenly it became quite clear that every American was now a potential target to Atomic weaponry. Euphoria turned to paranoia, McCarthyism(sp) reared it's ugly head and ruined many American lives through innuendo and suspicion, even though it was these peoples Constitutional right to believe what McCarthyism attempted to weed out of America, mass hysteria allowed the persecution to persist.
Until the 1950's, Christianity was the dominant religion/philosophy of America. As paranoia swept the nation, Christianity was replaced by Materialism as a source of comfort, reason for living, and life goal. Most Americans still identified themselves as Christian(as they do today), but it is quite clear, pre-50's Christianity != post-50's Christianity. The 60's Hippy movement was more than an Anti-Vietnam War protest, it was an affirmation of the shift of values that occured during the 50's. The Hippy's took their parents acceptance of Materialism over Christianity and went the final step to outright rejection of Christianity, but instead of embracing Materialism, they embraced Self-Gratification. Self-Gratification was acheived through extremely liberal sexual views and various drugs, but due to the inability of these things to acheive their philosophical goals( Peace and Love), the Hippy movement was short lived. The Hippy movement wasn't a complete failure, it's emphasis on Peace and Love re-invigorated and re-invented Christianity as many former Hippies gravitated to more traditional forms(religion) of life philosophies. Along with the growth in Christianity other religions, mainly of Asian origin, became more widely accepted.
The 70's were a complete wasteland, IMO. Former Hippies found meaning in religion or cults, but the majority wandered through the 70's still practicing the Self-Gratification of the Hippy movement, but without the philosophical trappings. It wasn't until the 80's when most of the generation that changed America re-discovered the Materialism of their parents, but they went further then their parents ever would consider, by declaring "Greed is good". The 80's was the begining and clear affirmation that America's philosophy was now Materialism and Money.
The 90's was less about the spiritual/philosophical views of Americans and more about Global Politics and America's place in a post-Soviet/Cold War world. Certainly there were many changes to America's foreign policy before and during the Cold War(Post-WWII military bases in Asia/Europe, Korea and Vietnam wars, supporting of many foriegn governments and rebel forces against Communism, etc), but it wasn't until the 90's that the internal spiritual/philosophical struggles of American's began to settle on a norm since WWII. Along with the end of the Cold War, the paranoia of Nuclear Holocaust also subsided. The US had expanded it's military presence in foreign bases during the Cold War in order to hold back the expansion of Soviet/Communist power on the world stage. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the US suddenly found itself with a Global military presence with nothing to hold it back. For the first time in history the US could have easily been a true Global Imperialist power, just by maintaining the status quo. It is my belief that the military budget cutbacks during the 90's were partially to prevent this from happening. Fate seems to be conspiring to draw the US into an Imperialist role however. Only time will reveal how that plays out.
Sorry for the long post, the above is my view on the implications to the US of the usage of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Into the 1950's America rode a wave of post war euphoria, until the Soviets developed their own atomic weapons and the launching of Sputnik. Suddenly it became quite clear that every American was now a potential target to Atomic weaponry. Euphoria turned to paranoia, McCarthyism(sp) reared it's ugly head and ruined many American lives through innuendo and suspicion, even though it was these peoples Constitutional right to believe what McCarthyism attempted to weed out of America, mass hysteria allowed the persecution to persist.
Until the 1950's, Christianity was the dominant religion/philosophy of America. As paranoia swept the nation, Christianity was replaced by Materialism as a source of comfort, reason for living, and life goal. Most Americans still identified themselves as Christian(as they do today), but it is quite clear, pre-50's Christianity != post-50's Christianity. The 60's Hippy movement was more than an Anti-Vietnam War protest, it was an affirmation of the shift of values that occured during the 50's. The Hippy's took their parents acceptance of Materialism over Christianity and went the final step to outright rejection of Christianity, but instead of embracing Materialism, they embraced Self-Gratification. Self-Gratification was acheived through extremely liberal sexual views and various drugs, but due to the inability of these things to acheive their philosophical goals( Peace and Love), the Hippy movement was short lived. The Hippy movement wasn't a complete failure, it's emphasis on Peace and Love re-invigorated and re-invented Christianity as many former Hippies gravitated to more traditional forms(religion) of life philosophies. Along with the growth in Christianity other religions, mainly of Asian origin, became more widely accepted.
The 70's were a complete wasteland, IMO. Former Hippies found meaning in religion or cults, but the majority wandered through the 70's still practicing the Self-Gratification of the Hippy movement, but without the philosophical trappings. It wasn't until the 80's when most of the generation that changed America re-discovered the Materialism of their parents, but they went further then their parents ever would consider, by declaring "Greed is good". The 80's was the begining and clear affirmation that America's philosophy was now Materialism and Money.
The 90's was less about the spiritual/philosophical views of Americans and more about Global Politics and America's place in a post-Soviet/Cold War world. Certainly there were many changes to America's foreign policy before and during the Cold War(Post-WWII military bases in Asia/Europe, Korea and Vietnam wars, supporting of many foriegn governments and rebel forces against Communism, etc), but it wasn't until the 90's that the internal spiritual/philosophical struggles of American's began to settle on a norm since WWII. Along with the end of the Cold War, the paranoia of Nuclear Holocaust also subsided. The US had expanded it's military presence in foreign bases during the Cold War in order to hold back the expansion of Soviet/Communist power on the world stage. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the US suddenly found itself with a Global military presence with nothing to hold it back. For the first time in history the US could have easily been a true Global Imperialist power, just by maintaining the status quo. It is my belief that the military budget cutbacks during the 90's were partially to prevent this from happening. Fate seems to be conspiring to draw the US into an Imperialist role however. Only time will reveal how that plays out.
Sorry for the long post, the above is my view on the implications to the US of the usage of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Facebook
Twitter