THE Swiss Model

Switzerland is a country of 8,000,000 people.  The Swiss people are surrounded by Germany, France, Italy and Austria.  Think about the history of these governments.  Think about how many major violent conflicts they have been involved in.

But when was the last time Switzerland was involved in an armed conflict?

1847.

Why didn't the National Socialist led German government invade them during World War II?  Probably because Hitler was afraid that widespread gun ownership by the Swiss people would cause the defeat of his army.  It is estimated that there 4 million firearms in the homes of the Swiss people.  Any authoritarian regime is frightened by this notion of a well regulated militia.  

OK, so these guns provide the Swiss people with a strong self-defense system but do they cause high murder rates?

Humpday Humor: How To Solve Unemployment

An American Farmer's 
World War II Draft Card

What is a politician to do about high rates of unemployment???  Conscription!

Thomas Sowell explains how to solve unemployment...

*clip from the Hoover Institution

The Destruction of Nagasaki, For What?

The ruins of Nagasaki Medical College, Japan, 1945
Credit: National Library of Medicine

Sixty-Nine years ago this week a 9,000 pound atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki, Japan.  The resulting explosion killed 74,000 people.

The death and destruction caused by the bomb is roughly equal to one 9/11 style attack...occurring every day for 25 days.

Destruction of Shiroyama elementary school,
Nagasaki

Photograph by Eiichi Matsumoto

There are a handful of theories as to why the U.S. dropped the atom bomb on Nagasaki.  I can't say which is most valid or who exactly had the final say in launching this second nuke over Japan.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay was commanding bombing raids in the Pacific late in World War II.  Five months before the dropping of the atomic weapons LeMay ordered the firebombing of Tokyo.  This brief campaign resulted in the killing of 100,000 human beings.

Adding to the confusion surrounding the reasons behind the dropping of the nuclear bombs is this passage from LeMay's New York Times obituary:

Years after relaying the orders from President Harry S. Truman to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, General LeMay said the actions were not necessary.

'Truman Told Me to Do It'

''We felt that our incendiary bombings had been so successful that Japan would collapse before we invaded,'' he said in a 1985 interview with the Omaha World Herald. 

70-Year Old Bomb Explodes in Bangkok

A tragic and crazy story about a bomb dropped during World War II exploding in Bangkok and killing at least seven people.  Article from The Times of India. 

The allies conducted bombing raids on the Thai capital in retaliation for the kingdom joining the Japanese war effort in Southeast Asia.

This is another data point confirming that wars have tragic effects for decades after the politicians who instigated them are long gone from the earth.