The answer is that it was not the US but the efficient German and Japanese state machines which restored their countries.
As I like to point out communism in eastern Germany saved western Germany from being pillaged. In effect, US backed of and let western Germany rebuild itself.
A swedish kind of death:
History of Germany since 1945 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIndustrial Disarmament in Western Germany The initial proposal for the post-surrender policy of the Western powers, the so-called Morgenthau Plan proposed by Henry Morgenthau, Jr., was one of "pastoralization".[2] The Morgenthau Plan, though subsequently ostensibly shelved due to public opposition, influenced occupation policy; most notably through the U.S. punitive occupation directive JCS 1067[3][4] and The industrial plans for Germany[5][5] [6]. History of Germany since 1945 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe first plan was subsequently followed by a number of new ones, the last signed in 1949. By 1950, after the virtual completion of the by the then much watered-out plans, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants in the west and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6,700,000 tons.[12] Timber exports from the U.S. occupation zone were particularly heavy. Sources in the U.S. government stated that the purpose of this was the "ultimate destruction of the war potential of German forests."[13] As a consequence of the practiced clear-felling extensive deforestation resulted which could "be replaced only by long forestry development over perhaps a century."[13] With the beginning of the Cold war, the U.S. policy gradually changed as it became evident that a return to operation of West German industry was needed not only for the restoration of the whole European economy, but also for the rearmament of West Germany as an ally against the Soviet Union. They feared that the poverty and hunger would drive the West Germans to Communism. General Lucius Clay stated "There is no choice between being a communist on 1,500 calories a day and a believer in democracy on a thousand".
History of Germany since 1945 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Industrial Disarmament in Western Germany The initial proposal for the post-surrender policy of the Western powers, the so-called Morgenthau Plan proposed by Henry Morgenthau, Jr., was one of "pastoralization".[2] The Morgenthau Plan, though subsequently ostensibly shelved due to public opposition, influenced occupation policy; most notably through the U.S. punitive occupation directive JCS 1067[3][4] and The industrial plans for Germany[5][5] [6].
The initial proposal for the post-surrender policy of the Western powers, the so-called Morgenthau Plan proposed by Henry Morgenthau, Jr., was one of "pastoralization".[2] The Morgenthau Plan, though subsequently ostensibly shelved due to public opposition, influenced occupation policy; most notably through the U.S. punitive occupation directive JCS 1067[3][4] and The industrial plans for Germany[5][5] [6].
The first plan was subsequently followed by a number of new ones, the last signed in 1949. By 1950, after the virtual completion of the by the then much watered-out plans, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants in the west and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6,700,000 tons.[12] Timber exports from the U.S. occupation zone were particularly heavy. Sources in the U.S. government stated that the purpose of this was the "ultimate destruction of the war potential of German forests."[13] As a consequence of the practiced clear-felling extensive deforestation resulted which could "be replaced only by long forestry development over perhaps a century."[13] With the beginning of the Cold war, the U.S. policy gradually changed as it became evident that a return to operation of West German industry was needed not only for the restoration of the whole European economy, but also for the rearmament of West Germany as an ally against the Soviet Union. They feared that the poverty and hunger would drive the West Germans to Communism. General Lucius Clay stated "There is no choice between being a communist on 1,500 calories a day and a believer in democracy on a thousand".
The first plan was subsequently followed by a number of new ones, the last signed in 1949. By 1950, after the virtual completion of the by the then much watered-out plans, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants in the west and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6,700,000 tons.[12]
Timber exports from the U.S. occupation zone were particularly heavy. Sources in the U.S. government stated that the purpose of this was the "ultimate destruction of the war potential of German forests."[13] As a consequence of the practiced clear-felling extensive deforestation resulted which could "be replaced only by long forestry development over perhaps a century."[13]
With the beginning of the Cold war, the U.S. policy gradually changed as it became evident that a return to operation of West German industry was needed not only for the restoration of the whole European economy, but also for the rearmament of West Germany as an ally against the Soviet Union. They feared that the poverty and hunger would drive the West Germans to Communism. General Lucius Clay stated "There is no choice between being a communist on 1,500 calories a day and a believer in democracy on a thousand".
Still don't know if there was similar history in Japan.
I would comment more on topic, except it is to depressing. New Orleans, the tsunami-stricken areas, Haiti, the picture is similar - though much difference in degree - disasters strikes, poor are left to die or punished trying to escape or survive, more neoliberal reforms taking what little the poor got. And then you wait for the next disaster. A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
I think the same basic dynamic was in play in Japan post-war, anyway. The pre-war rapid industrialization bureaucracy, now constrained by a democratic constitution, was allowed a free hand to rapidly re-industrialize the country, as a counterweight to leftist unrest in Japan and to make sure Japan didn't go the way of China. fairleft
Yes. The Big Easy is the worst, for me, perhaps because it was so close to my heart and so close to home, then.
"--communism in eastern Germany saved western Germany from being pillaged."
In the longer view, I think the loss of the Soviet Union as a force for world balance, in the sense that you mention above,- as opposition to the capitalist, neo-liberal model of predation will be seen as a great disaster. I've caught a lot of flak for saying this, but time will tell. Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.
