Overzealous Roosevelt-esque Socialist
Things have been said by overzealous prosecutors attacking my views on respecting Franklin Roosevelt (despite his ineptitude) and not respecting Douglas MacArthur. Some believe that Roosevelt established a socialized society in the United States, some believe that MacArthur was a brave, conservative war hero. Without supporting Roosevelt, I will set those OPs straight, citing certain interesting truths.
After the Allied powers celebrated V-J day, General Douglas MacArthur became the head of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) Occupation Force. This occupation sought to rebuild the urban areas (each of Japan's three biggest cities lost over 60% of residential housing, then there was Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and to demystify the emperor in an attempt to stregthen the government. One of the most positive things accomplished by SCAP Occupation was the formation of a constitution.
After MacArthur completed some successful political work (meaning he westernized their culture, whether or not you think that is successful), the next question was the economy. Japanese zaibatsu controlled the urban-industrial sector. These were large manufacturing monopolies. MacArthur made it a goal to eliminate these industries, or in some cases reduce their economic power. He purged management and ownership from their managerial positions, then purged zaibatsu families from their positions of economic leadership. His next goal was establishment of labor unions. A vigorous union movement was encouraged and developed. These unions provided economic demands from the new economic leaders, and, much like all unions, became political groups. They were not like American labor unions, who simply contribute money to political campaigns, they developed the Socialist and Communist parties and brought them to prominence with strong labor arms. As the unions gained power, they used the clause written by MacArthur in SCAP's constitution: the right of workers to bargain and act collectively. This was stretched to mean the right to strike. None of the unions favored American-style competition, and fought against it (as well as for land reform) in a massive planned strike in February 1947. The power of the unions and the left wing did not have any restitution until 1952, when "communists were purged" by the Japanese government. (Those who were in government or economic leadership roles were mostly sent to jail, house arrest, or exiled)
MacArthur really pulled a Roosevelt on that one.
After the Allied powers celebrated V-J day, General Douglas MacArthur became the head of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) Occupation Force. This occupation sought to rebuild the urban areas (each of Japan's three biggest cities lost over 60% of residential housing, then there was Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and to demystify the emperor in an attempt to stregthen the government. One of the most positive things accomplished by SCAP Occupation was the formation of a constitution.
After MacArthur completed some successful political work (meaning he westernized their culture, whether or not you think that is successful), the next question was the economy. Japanese zaibatsu controlled the urban-industrial sector. These were large manufacturing monopolies. MacArthur made it a goal to eliminate these industries, or in some cases reduce their economic power. He purged management and ownership from their managerial positions, then purged zaibatsu families from their positions of economic leadership. His next goal was establishment of labor unions. A vigorous union movement was encouraged and developed. These unions provided economic demands from the new economic leaders, and, much like all unions, became political groups. They were not like American labor unions, who simply contribute money to political campaigns, they developed the Socialist and Communist parties and brought them to prominence with strong labor arms. As the unions gained power, they used the clause written by MacArthur in SCAP's constitution: the right of workers to bargain and act collectively. This was stretched to mean the right to strike. None of the unions favored American-style competition, and fought against it (as well as for land reform) in a massive planned strike in February 1947. The power of the unions and the left wing did not have any restitution until 1952, when "communists were purged" by the Japanese government. (Those who were in government or economic leadership roles were mostly sent to jail, house arrest, or exiled)
MacArthur really pulled a Roosevelt on that one.
posted by DesertFox at
11:17 PM
1 Comments:
Getting rid of the zaibatsu isn't anti-capitalism or anti-free markets or anything bad at all. They were a powerful force behind Japanese imperialism and also ruthlessly kept the poor impoverished. Redistribution combined with property rights assisted the Japanese immensely. Also, we would expect in a free society, unfortunately, to have Communist and Socialist parties. It's a diversity of views that I would welcome and I know that MacArthur safeguarded the Communists against many purgings while, of course, doing his part to keep them down. MacArthur always described himself as a moderate Republican and his policies during the Occupation, as well as his willing and enthusiastic implementation of some policies from Washington, show this to be a fact. It was his foreign policy that could have shaken the world on to a course of righteousness and that we must remember for our posterity.
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Admiral, at 12:21 AM
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