Who won ?

[Splitpin]

Lately I've been thinking ( yes that's the burning smell you can sense ) we pat ourselves on the back for helping to win the war in the pacific , but did we ?
What did we win ? What did all those young people die for ?
Charl pulled me up on this a while ago ...... and now i see what he meant. (about a different way of life now , if "they" hadn't....)

Remove all the Asian made products from your home , garage etc , and see whats left..... wont be much.

Yes , I've heard the argument that the west set up Asia to succeed after the war ... cr@p! They would have done it anyway ? ...... thoughts ?
We (Allies) didn't win the war .... we won a battle , the war goes on, and its not looking good for us.

As i said , just thoughts , prompted by an almost argument with a friend tonight .....

[toprob]

'We' doesn't really make much sense to me, it was a different time, the end of an era of expansion via invasion, and I would guess that most of us have ancestors who were part of the invaders at some stage. These days an empire looking to expand is a bit of an anachronism, there are certainly other ways of dominating the world -- now it's all about expansion through finance.

So the biggest war to come is always going to be between those with and those without, and the money people have a lot of fire-power. So really, the whole 'free' world is closer to serfdom than anything else.

Luckily we have alcohol, TV, movies, video games, the internet, to keep the serfs content. Oh, and flight simulation!

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Dec 1 2014,10:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remove all the Asian made products from your home , garage etc , and see whats left..... wont be much.

Good example off not even going to the little tools, toys and trinkets and electronics ... you open up those gorgeous 'Schiffer Military/Aviation History' books - printed in China.

[omitchell]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Dec 1 2014,10:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remove all the Asian made products from your home , garage etc , and see whats left..... wont be much.

Little known fact, NZ, yes little own New Zealand, Godzone manufactures the worlds best telecommunications hardware, but it all gets exported overseas, none of it stays within our market, so despite the phone you talk on, or the modem your computers squawking at or the fibre optic cables the data transmits over saying "MADE IN JAPAN" it's not the best. Lets do some more, Seinheiser makes the best speakers, German, not Japanese. Italy, Germany and the USA make the best cars, again not japan. Companies like Samsung and LG manufacture some of the best home electronics on the plant and are actually Korean, again NOT Japanese. And lets not forget Fisher and Pykel for your whiteware.

Yes we can remove all the Japanese products from our homes (I know you said Asian but for the sake of the war it has always been the West versus Japan post WW2) but even if we did that, we would still be in good shape because of the companies that exist elsewhere. (And lets not forget the Swedish...)

Of course all the above goes out the window if you are North Korean because they have actually been led to believe that even BMW is a Nth Korean company...

And before anyone says "Don't forget Apple" they just lost 47 billion dollars in 60 seconds on the stock market so yeah..

[cowpatz]

QUOTE (toprob @ Dec 1 2014,11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

'We' doesn't really make much sense to me, it was a different time, the end of an era of expansion via invasion, and I would guess that most of us have ancestors who were part of the invaders at some stage. These days an empire looking to expand is a bit of an anachronism, there are certainly other ways of dominating the world -- now it's all about expansion through finance.

So the biggest war to come is always going to be between those with and those without, and the money people have a lot of fire-power. So really, the whole 'free' world is closer to serfdom than anything else.

Luckily we have alcohol, TV, movies, video games, the internet, to keep the serfs content. Oh, and flight simulation!

Yes sadly the Fuedal system is making a comeback.

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (omitchell @ Dec 4 2014,2:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

or the modem your computers squawking at or the fibre optic cables the data transmits over saying "MADE IN JAPAN" it's not the best. ......And lets not forget Fisher and Pykel for your whiteware.

Been in both industries , cable making and understand the weird's with wire and how it talks .... F&P components , up there with the best and engineering tolerances within +or- 0.005mm and with finish's better than 40 microns.

[toprob]

QUOTE (omitchell @ Dec 4 2014,2:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...
Yes we can remove all the Japanese products from our homes (I know you said Asian but for the sake of the war it has always been the West versus Japan post WW2) but even if we did that, we would still be in good shape because of the companies that exist elsewhere. (And lets not forget the Swedish...)
...

Maybe it's just the way we (there we go again, by 'we', I don't mean us...) create a bogeyman when we're going to war, it can take a long time to overcome that, and we tend to see him under every bed, and behind every dastardly deed. Yes, the Japanese are quite industrious, but so are a lot of nations. That's obviously a good thing. If New Zealand every becomes an under-dog, then it's our own fault, maybe we just need to work harder, and find a few more niches to fill, so that we don't just remain an outlying farm for the rest of the world.

On a not-too-different subject, I've been watching 'World War II through Arab Eyes', which, well, shows our own history through different eyes (unless you are Arab), which really helps to remove the 'them/us' view. I have my own personal interest in this, as a young Jewish boy growing up, I idolised Ben-Gurion, and if my parents hadn't split, I always imagined that I'd spend time on a kibbutz. Now it freaks me out to think that I could have been brain-washed like a lot of my distant relations, who promote Zionism on Facebook etc. The things you learn from your family as you grow up really need to be challenged at some stage, otherwise you can become the bogeyman yourself.

[gojozoom]

Interesting topic. Who won? It's a good question and it should go to the other theaters of WWII as well. For example - Europe. So, did Germany lose? Really? Not much after the war they went through their biggest economical and industrial boom (Wirtschaftswunder). Along with other countries that "lost" - France, Austria, Japan,Greece and Italy. It seems as if war is just another way of stimulating the economy (and it's been used for that purpose since) with a huge amount of "collateral damage". But hey, it's nothing personal right? I'm sure the old guys planning it all out have their families and friends taken to a safe location....

Anyways, if there is going to be a WWIII I'd be happy for someone to just push the big red button that blows up the planet - instead of going through 6 years of hell, watching my friends die around me (like our grandparents did)...

I know I know, strong words...but that's how I feel about it.

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (gojozoom @ Dec 4 2014,10:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know I know, strong words...but that's how I feel about it.

Best way of pointing it out Dan ...... I glamourize war in respect to the ones who from all sides who were Hero's, war is never going to stop and today I think due to the media it is hyped up but also shows horrors - that's where you look at politicians and leaders to blame .... you going to get the nutters that speak 'Jibber Jibber' and run round grabbing and then cut peoples heads off - that is an excuse to go to War!

A good example off both side having a respect is the recent drawing FGOFF Lloyd Allan Trigg VC , no one would have know how the crew perished but for the admiration of the emery he was attacking and from there recommend the highest Honour to the crew.

[Splitpin]

"Anyways, if there is going to be a WWIII I'd be happy for someone to just push the big red button that blows up the planet - instead of going through 6 years of hell, watching my friends die around me (like our grandparents did)..."
My feelings as well ..... didn't mean to stir the pot .... but some good , and thought out points came forward , and thats what forums are about .

[omitchell]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Dec 5 2014,9:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Anyways, if there is going to be a WWIII I'd be happy for someone to just push the big red button that blows up the planet - instead of going through 6 years of hell, watching my friends die around me (like our grandparents did)..."
My feelings as well ..... didn't mean to stir the pot .... but some good , and thought out points came forward , and thats what forums are about .

Having worked IT many years and dealt with so called "Network technicians" I can safely say this won't happen because there is no way that button is ever gonna work right...

[gojozoom]

Yup, I'm in IT too, I think that button has to be strictly mechanical, no computers, nor electronics

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (gojozoom @ Dec 6 2014,12:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think that button has to be strictly mechanical, no computers, nor electronics

Little like that push the shiney knob ... hope they keep it dusted , last thing you want is it to clog up before a good contact is made.

[scaber]

QUOTE (gojozoom @ Dec 6 2014,12:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup, I'm in IT too, I think that button has to be strictly mechanical, no computers, nor electronics

You chaps should obviously enjoy this article about the "open" button, if you haven't already heard of the story!:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2854353/i...the-button.html