John Berry <[email protected]> wrote: Jed, do you believe that if you were in countries that had insane > governments, and you were raised in that culture and had a normal degree of > faith in that government. Would you have seen them as insane? >
I might. Many Japanese people did think their government was crazy in Japan in 1941, and many people in Georgia thought the Confederates were crazy. Just because the government is crazy, that does not mean that the whole population is. People in general tend to be sane, just as they tend to be healthy. If that were not so, our species would have gone extinct long ago. Insane governments are rare, and they usually come to their senses after a while. They seldom go to the extreme degree they threaten. Many Japanese people assumed their government and their Emperor really would have the nation fight to the last man, woman and child. That is what they said they would do. But they surrendered instead, much to the surprise of many people. Most wars stop long before the population is decimated (one-tenth killed). (Except in wars of extermination, where it the policy of the winner to kill or drive off the entire enemy nation.) > Hindsight is 20/20, you would not fall for that would you? > Many people did not fall for government lies in 20th century Japan, Germany, Russia . . . and in other places where the government had far more power to enforce its ideas than the U.S. government does. - Jed
