At the end of The Wind Rises, the creator of the Zero reflects that not a single aircraft he helped design had returned from the short-lived Japanese empire.

He concludes simply, “That is what it means to lose a war.”

He’s not merely talking about the air force, which he only got involved with out of an engineering dream to create something beautiful. He is referring to the total destruction of Japan and its occupation by the United States.

He is accepting facts. Any rights and wrong in the matter are now moot.

Here’s a map:

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It is testament to the strength of the United States that the outcomes of its wars don’t affect it very much.

In the Korean War, having repelled the initial attack, the US and its allies attempted to push north all the way to the frontier with China. This drew in Chinese forces and led to a bloodbath, then a stalemate which persists to this day.

Most Americans are probably not even aware of this chapter of history, and its policy makers rarely consider it.

It mattered to the people there, of course, and to Korea and China, but to the United States it meant nothing.

People often talk about the blow to American prestige from the Vietnam War.

What blow?

Did Mexico smell blood and reconquista California? Did restive Texans take advantage of the chaos to declare independence?

Victories also make little difference. What practical benefit did Desert Storm bring to America? Had they negotiated an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait by making a few token concessions, how would that have changed things for the nation as a whole?

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Regime media is reporting that the US and Europe are ready to wind up the Ukraine war.

This has been greeted by shrieks and howls from commenters spoon-fed on ruling class propaganda. I’m seeing a lot of responses like, “Sure, Russia can have peace . . . once it gives back all the land, apologizes and pays compensation!”

This demonstrates a strategic inflexibility inherent to republics and other states in which the masses hold sway: the messaging required to drum up support for a war can ‘take’ too well, making it politically difficult for governments to exit a conflict in a way that suits national interests.

In the days of empires, rulers would pursue or end wars as they saw fit, reaching compromises with enemies where necessary. This was also the case with medieval kings. Both had to bend to elite interests at times but not much to the general public.

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No matter how old I get, it continues to shock me how little rulers care about human life.

If they care at all, it is usually with a degree of self-centered abstraction. If too many middle-class boys get drafted, the Vietnam War will become unpopular. If the Covid stats look bad, it might hurt at the upcoming election. We can determine that they have no real concern for human life by examining their actions when their power is not at risk.

The same people who despaired of each nursing home resident lost to corona now recklessly toy with nuclear brinkmanship to an extent we have not seen since 1962 – and back then the Dr Strangeloves were at least wise enough to realize the gravity of the game they were playing. They at least showed some consistency by having shrugged off the very Covid-like Asian Flu a few years earlier.

Laying out the reasoning of both sides in the Ukraine conflict will illustrate how low human lives are on the list of priorities for world rulers.

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Some people gassed some other people instead of shooting or bombing or napalming them like any decent human being would, and therefore President Clintobushamatrump has fired a bunch of missiles.

Okay, maaaaybe the story is true.  Maaaaaabye it really was Read More