Oct
31st
2015
First Draft: DONE. · 4:11am Oct 31st, 2015
I will revise it later on when I'm not wanting to scream my head off about how much research I had to do on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I've seen too much death in one evening.
Report
Harmony Charmer · 437 views
·
#death mention
#ok but seriously i kinda wish i didn't choose that topic
#well it was either that or the one about contraceptive birth control which I ain't gonna argue about with my republican teacher
#and the proposed cuts from the military
#he served in the air force for almost 20 years soooo he's hella biased whenever we discuss anything having to do with military
#gaaaah hiroshima and nagasaki what a dark period in history
Do whatever it takes to make that report as vivid as visceral as possible.
We must never forget what can happen when ideology exceeds morality, no matter how much the powers that be may want us too.
Write for our future, Charmony! Write so that we might strive to do better than we did before!
3509139
I'm trying to tread rather carefully on this one. My teacher served in the Air Force for a long time and has a steadfast belief that Truman did the right thing. I brought up how much damage was done to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the man gave me a harsh glare while he tried to pull a Truman by saying that millions of lives would have been lost had we not dropped the bomb. Many studies say otherwise, and that the state of Japan at the time meant they wouldn't have been able to launch an invasion like the U.S. initially thought. Alas, the effects of the bombings still affect Japan to this very day. It's not something that can be easily forgotten.
Honestly, I don't even think I care about my grade at this point. Seeing all those awful pictures and reading about radiation poisoning made my heart hurt.
3509156
War is an ugly thing. I personally do believe that Truman did what he had to. It was a horrifying experience that all regretted the destruction of. It's why we have museums and limitation treaties and such.
What we did to Japan is always something that the US will regret in terms of human lives wasted. But I can't find the power to condemn their actions either. It is regrettable, but I believe that the US did what they had to do. The conflict would have been long and drawn out and just as bloody had the bomb not been dropped. There was no good solution to the war in the Pacific. That was just the one we chose.
3509156
Oh, there's no doubt it helped end the war, in some way. The issue of the second bomb, though? Well, maybe that's an angle to approach from once you've rested? The actual necessity of the second bomb? Whether it helped end the war faster or whether it was a show of force to the Soviet Union?
If it becomes an issue of whether Truman did the right thing, then shouldn't that be all the more reason to question that decision? To keep fresh in our minds the raw, human cost of deploying such a weapon so that we do not do it carelessly?
Unlike unicorns, our doomsday devices actually work, so until Señor Crepúsculo shows up to tell us all to knock it off, we have to ask tough questions like that.
If not for your grade, do it for Pops.
3509211
Yeah, I addressed how the first bomb had more justification for it than the second bomb did. I mean... You made your point, Truman. And the essay prompt was to question BOTH sides of the argument, which I tried to do. I think I ended up favoring the "Not cool, Truman" side more than I did the, "Nice job, Truman" side.
Also: I'd do anything for Pops.
3509234
If you'd do anything for Pops, start promoting hisaterial more aggressively!
I want my portrayal of him to be so viral that people start to think that's his canon depiction.
The BBC's documentary on that ugly business is quite concise, but I think it got removed from YT
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlk8my_bbc-history-of-world-war-ii-hiroshima_people.
Barefoot Gen is a must-see or read.
For those with an interest in the Japanese language or languages in general, "mokusatsu" is one of the most terrible examples of mistranslation or ambiguous translation and consequences thereof.
http://thisjapaneselife.org/2013/03/06/mokusatsu-hiroshima-japan/
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/01/lederer-one-word-misinterpreted-can-change-world/
s21.postimg.org/xs4slrrfp/vlcsnap_2015_11_09_20h28m35s132.png
I had the misfortune of seeing the banned Lassie episode The Space Traveler as a kid. I had a phobia of radiation well into my 20s.
I've always held Jimmy Carter in high esteem, but his participation in the Three Mile Island cover-up was shameful, and he's now reaping the consequences.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-gives-update-on-his-cancer-treatment/