It's only idle imagination -- wild conjecture -- I know, but what if? What if the attack on Pearl Harbor happened today, December 7, 2023? Given the current people in the current United States of America with the current culture and the current mindset, what would happen?
I'm pretty sure there would be loud voices for action, for retaliation, for safety and security. There would have been outrage, of course. But, if you consider, for instance, the response to October 7, 2023, it is my suspicion that there would have been louder voices opposing any of that. There would have been those calling for no war, those calling for the U.S. to disarm. There would have certainly been those urging a ceasefire rather than retaliation. I'm pretty sure there would even be "Pearl Harbor deniers." "It never happened. It's a conspiracy!" (I have, on my wall at home, a paper from July 21, 1969 with the news headline, "Man Walks on the Moon." Recently we had some work done in our house and one of the workers saw that and said, "That never happened." They're doing it today with the October 7 attack.) There would be marches blocking traffic and wreaking havoc demanding we do no harm. They tell me that 2,400 people died in the attack in 1941. They tell me that Japan lost 2.5 to 3 million people including something like 800,000 civilians in the subsequent war, compared to the 111,000 or so Americans who died. That would be unacceptable. No way. And, frankly, patriotism today likely wouldn't have been sufficient to supply the needs of the military to do anything about it anyway. There would undoubtedly be those gloating over it. "America got what she deserved." There would have been fingers pointing to the "sins" of colonialization and racism and such. I'd guess no small number would applaud Japan for their sneak attack. "America earned it."
The response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 was a surge of outrage and a rush to join the armed forces to secure our nation and punish those who threatened it. The people were willing to make extreme sacrifices overseas and at home to accomplish this. But we live in different times. If the loudest voices clamoring for a ceasefire in Gaza and the end of Israel are any indication, America would have gone out with a whimper. They call that "progressive" and "liberal." I'd guess there are still people around today who would choose different words for it.
4 comments:
It's amazing how fast that turned too. I'm old enough to remember 9-11, and I don't remember any loud voices calling for non-aggression. There were some moderating voices, but none I recall saying no retaliation. But I agree that today there'd be many here that would cheer the deaths of American sailors and civilians.
On the whole I think that you are right. Our society today is unlikely to see the same response we saw after Pearl Harbor. I believe that there are still a core of people who would, but that the numbers are decreasing.
I know it's fanciful, but I question how the majority of people would respond if something like Red Dawn happened. I suspect all to many would be lining up to the invaders.
It definitely makes relocating to some land in UT more and more attractive.
Craig, when I was younger I used to imagine, say, a Chinese invasion of, say, Los Angeles. My first thoughts were that, given the large numbers of well-armed gang members there, they'd have a tough time of invading. Then I thought what you did. How many would just not try? Sure, they're armed. Sure, they could defend the country and all. But would they? I suspect less and less (you're right, there will always be some) would risk their lives to defend their nation.
Stan,
Interesting scenario. I suspect that the gang members might actually fight, but that they'd be fighting for themselves or their cartel bosses, not for the US. I'd suspect that there are major cities that would immediately surrender to an invasion under the guise of protecting their citizens. I'd also suspect that the leaders of those cities would be looking for preferment for themselves.
I can't help but wonder if today's 18 year olds would be willing to commit to another D-Day, Gettysburg, or Valley Forge to protect an ideal larger then themselves. Obviously, some would, but I can't imagine numbers on the scale of past generations.
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