People like Graham are oblivious to the huge opportunity WWII gave us to dominate markets because Europe and Asia had been destroyed. They think it was American Exceptionalism all the way. Their inability to grasp this is why they are ineffective at leading now that other nations have caught up.

Obviously you haven't seen that fine documentary The Man in the High Castle.

Hey now. The threat of destruction was just as bad as the actual destruction across Europe and Asia.

It's very hard for people (well, neurotypical people) to understand what real destruction means when that contests their system of considering themselves (and their friends, their country etc) very cool.

Most of those advocating for bombing cities and big wars would turn into whining piss-smelling sacks of shaking meat the moment they meet one person not weaker than them angry at them in a back alley.

I mean, yes and no. Pearl harbor wasn't the only place hit 12/7. Philipines, Guam and Wake were all hit as well

Hong Kong and Singapore were also attacked and the empire invaded Malaysia.

America took a sharp hit square in the face, but Britain got sent home in a body bag at the end of 1941. By Feb 1942 the UK had lost all of Malaysia, lost Hong Kong and lost Singapore. They lost 12,000 troops, the rest surrendering. Zero soldiers made it home. Out of 120,000. Australia and New Zealand were in extreme danger and the Raj was expecting assault at any moment. I'm the spam of a few months Japan had sunsetted the largest empire the world had ever seen.

America had never been pit against such an enemy. You have to take all of WW2 into that context. Fuck in WW1 they played soccer across no-man's-land on Christmas. The next year the Canadians had arrived and...well...I'm not saying shit about canuckistani military just that over half of the geneva convention exists because of Canada.