Is it bad to be patriotic?

[GhostWriter16]

How can you avoid involvement if the other side declared war on Murrica?

That may not have happened if we had done different policies from 39-41. Of course, once we were attacked we had to defend ourselves.

Concentration Camps for the Japanese. Enough said.

Was awful but not nearly as brutal as the concentration camps in Germany. It does, however, destroy any moral superiority we had. Even still, I'd rather be a Japanese person in 1943 USA than a Jew in 1943 Germany.

Yes I agree those and the camps for the Germans and Italians in the UK were bad but it doesn't answer my question

How could FDR avoid war if the Germans and the Japanese drove it through the front door?

Couldn't have been done at that point. MAY have been possible a year or two prior.

 

[WindFish]

That may not have happened if we had done different policies from 39-41. Of course, once we were attacked we had to defend ourselves.

The US was jolly isolationist in 1939, and only supplied the UK supplies after the fall of France

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

Was awful but not nearly as brutal as the concentration camps in Germany. It does, however, destroy any moral superiority we had. Even still, I'd rather be a Japanese person in 1943 USA than a Jew in 1943 Germany.

You will notice though that I still implied we were better than the Nazis. Just not by much.

 

[GhostWriter16]

The US was jolly isolationist in 1939, and only supplied the UK supplies after the fall of France

It wasn't Germany that originally attacked us either, it was that other Axis power.

We had been actively helping China for quite awhile there.

You will notice though that I still implied we were better than the Nazis. Just not by much.

True, and you do have a point, what FDR did was quite repulsive. I find it downright amazing that some people still consider him any better than the ultimate scumbag. That said, I struggle with 100,000 people being arrested, and none of them being killed, being in any way anywhere near ("Not by much") 10 million people being tortured and most of whom being murdered. Don't get me wrong, Franklin is a mass kidnapper and he deserved the hangman's noose, but he wasn't Hitler or really even close. 100,000 =/= ten million. Arbitrary arrest =/= torturous murder.

 

[WindFish]

It wasn't Germany that originally attacked us either, it was that other Axis power.

What do you mean?

We had been actively helping China for quite awhile there.

Not really

 

[GhostWriter16]

Japan were the ones who actually attacked us. We declared war, than Germany declared war on us. Germany would have never declared war on us if we had avoided war with Japan.

 

[Phrossack]

Japan were the ones who actually attacked us. We declared war, than Germany declared war on us. Germany would have never declared war on us if we had avoided war with Japan.

As you said, Japan started the war, and then Germany followed suit. The US did not start either war. The only way to avoid war with Japan would have been to allow it to conquer all of East Asia, the Dutch East Indies, SE Asia, the Pacific islands, and so on, by maintaining trade with them. Which would have been stupid to say the least.

 

[Gen.Mannerheim]

Japan were the ones who actually attacked us. We declared war, than Germany declared war on us. Germany would have never declared war on us if we had avoided war with Japan.

Actually both Germany and the U.S. declared war on each other on Dec. 11th 1941. Hitler described the declaration to the Reichstag that Germany was obliged with Italy by the Tripartite Agreement to support Japan. Even if we never declared war on Germany, they still would have.

And btw, if you take timezones into account, we officially declared war on Germany around 3, and since Germany also declared war on the 11th that means they did first.

But that's not the point. How could we have avoided war with the militaristic Japan of the 1930's? Do you think we would have struck the blow if the Japanese didn't in 41? We had legitimate reasons to be involved in the Pacific region at that time. And BTW Germany was supporting China at the start of the war too.