Yes, but then they made peace with Japan and brought it into full trade relationship with the world, and Japan became one of the top economies in the world. Germany the same via the Marshall Plan. All of this could have been accomplished without nuking Japan, but as I said, they have to do every wrong thing before the do the right thing.

Unfortunately, I’m kind of cynical now given the last 50 years. I really am not sure that the American’s are capable of doing the right thing anymore, despite countless examples of countries around them that manage to treat it’s citizens like people for the most part. The oligarchic structure has gotten it’s talons too far into the meat at this point, and it’s rotting from inside. The citizens have been whittled away from power so extensively that it might take a pretty bloody fight to change it. And given the level of technology dedicated to suppression of citizen power, and even outright rejection of the constitution boundaries that have worked back when they could do the right thing, I’m not sure it’s going to work.

So yah, I agree with you, today. I wouldn’t have agreed back when they were nuking Japan, because they did eventually do the right thing. And to be fair, Japan visited untold suffering on other countries. It’s hard to say if they would have capitulated without that display of overwhelming force. They sure didn’t seem open to it beforehand. But I guess we won’t know in this fucked up timeline.