I insist on staying interested in geopolitical events in the world. Even if I am right about that, some allowance must be made to human nature. A human can only look at ultra-serious, grim news so much before they need some psychological relief.
I got some relief by reading a book about the Battle of Midway, when America was on the way up in the world. (The Battle of Midway, by Craig Symonds.) The Battle of Midway occurred early in the Pacific war of World War II, and turned the tide of war in America's favor.
It offered me some relief to think that most Americans believed the newspapers, in that era. They thought their institutions were basically sound and non-corrupt most of the time. Americans had a bright future!
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| It is especially fun for a baby boomer to think back to what America was in 1945. |
More recent histories of World War II do a better job, I think, at emphasizing the decoding of messages. Americans had a great advantage in knowing what Japan was up to, prior to the battle. Of course Hollywood movies made in the 1940s and 50s didn't want to focus on math nerds working on codes in a basement. They wanted to focus on tall, good-looking heroes, flyboys, and admirals. So I really appreciated the book correcting Hollywood's myth.
It is ironic to be reading about the US's greatest naval victory at a time when a small backward nation like Yemen has the nerve to take on the once mighty US Navy near the strait at the south end of the Red Sea. Will the Houthis of Yemen humiliate the US Navy?
But the book did its purpose. It refreshed me to think about what America used to be. I now have a little more courage to face what it is becoming.
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