But, it wasn't enough for private capitalists and military leaders wanting more. Pearl Harbor met its fate in 1941 (a conspiracy I won't address here in any further detail). Now, Roosevelt's declaration of what we 'needed' a year earlier, would come to pass. Our economy would be 'transformed' into the "Arsenal of Democracy." So, now, using the fear of the people, even though we had been building a huge arsenal, that arsenal had been sent to slaughter, and the Government, the instigators of that attack, knew how the people would react. They would want us to be more prepared. They would want us to retaliate. And Capitalism and Democracy, sitting in their big, bureaucratic chairs, were rolling in the dough. And, for what? The cost of a few hundred.. even a few thousand American lives? Of course, the government's spending did NOT go to the general public as Roosevelt had intended - he was not the arbitrator of this downfall in our history. His administration was taken advantage of, and military spending budgets, government budgets and the private capitalists they were in bed with went primarily uncontrolled. Taxation even began to be taken out of the American worker's paycheck - no longer as a lump sum. Not only were the good contracts NOT going to the people - but now they were going to make less money, without their vote, without their consent, but also - without their willingness to retaliate due to the fear that had occurred with the attack on American soil. See - American vessels had been attacked already, as it had been in WWI - but that wasn't enough. People blamed WWI for the great depression (mistakingly, as I've pointed out), and had a bad taste in their mouths. So, the government had to 'step up' the whole matter and have an 'attack' on American soil.
Prosperity was at hand. The benefit from murdering people was MORE money in the pocket. Thanks to labor unions, capitalist control in legislature and a larger, world-wide economic base, our economy grew. Everyone was being offered jobs, even those of non-white heritage during a time in which segregation was still an issue. The people graciously accepted governmental control - it was their savior. This is a VERY dark period in our history. What's that you say? How can I see an economic boost as a downpoint? Simple - greed. Greed causes blindness. We turned a blind eye to the fact we had been developing the atomic bomb, or missles with nuclear capacity. We turned a blind eye to the development of stealth bombers with the capcity to carry large, nuclear payloads. The government was building weapons of mass death, and our wallets were growing. We had gone from broke to rich overnight!! Had the depression NOT been there - this wouldn't have happened. While I won't theorize that the ENTIRETY of the depression and WWII was a scheme intended on having this effect, I will say this: the government had learned well from WWI - and in this turning point in American history, had injected into society a blinding GREED. The same greed that gave way to investors BLINDLY giving to Bernie Madoff (ie.. should we blame madoff, or should we allow those who blindly gave to him, so desperate to get rich quick, that they never checked on their own funds?).
But, this was not all. The control of the radio airwaves, newspapers, and even hollywood was rampant. Government had learned their lesson well - propoganda, propoganda, propoganda. And, the new technologies coming out were 'exciting' to people. While they were developing stealth bombers in 1945 and installing partical accelerators using technology eons in advance of what the people had seen in their homes, the idea of a 'radio wave' and now, a 'television,' had sparked everyone's minds! By 1960 - the U.S. GPS satellite system would be in place. By 1950 - televisions would be considered a 'standard' in households. Media was injected at all levels of life, using hollywood and movie theaters to define the 'wealth' status of individuals by what they owned: bigger and better cars, bigger and better gadgets, and men who 'loved' their women, made sure to have all these things. Meanwhile, work on inventions such as the 'electric car', had been quietly subdued by the controlling Capitalists (which, by the mid to end of the war included many members of Legislature), to ensure their investments in oil and other such markets would go unchallenged. We were SO blinded by victory (which truly, was NOT ours to celebrate), greed and what appeared to be a promise of a great tomorrow, that we just ignored everything going on in the background.
Nobody noticed that America, determined to be the center of the world's economy, had set up the new, international center of peace, in Japan, right where we had dropped an atomic bomb. Nobody noticed that we had spent hundreds and hundreds of millions (equivalent to almost a trillion today), to turn our so-called, 'communist adversaries,' into the center of the world's peace meetings. Nobody noticed that the history books incorrectly recorded multiple concentration camps with gas chambers, or falsely recorded the number of camps raided by American troops. Hollywood, feeding on the greed, the unions, the wealth (and, noteably - being fed larger sums of money than ANYONE else... also going unnoticed by the people), and whatnot, began to prepare themselves to be interjected into daily television where they would continue to burn the WWII torch LONG after it ended. The stories of soldiers who died in the war would go hidden for many years (until even more recently, when we could look upon it with the apathy we have today), and in the wake of segregation's end, the government, wanting to profit from that, too, would develop a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (a scholarly gentleman and amazing individual who I admire greatly), while all the time slowly pulling back his message of "equality," and developing a 'new' type of segregation, pitting colors and races against one another.
What was the result of this turning point:
1. No longer would gvt. need to rely on the people for support, since capitalism cleared the road ahead. Laws could be passed FOR the "people", all the while containing special interest inclusions, never informing the people of the consequences.
2. Military could develop whatever they wanted - their budgets were unrestricted and they could create weapons of death... and as we shared that technology - the need to create MORE of them to maintain a 'balance of power', would necessitate a greater lack of restrictions on the military/government spending.
3. Bailouts of corporate companies, such as American Motors, proved the FDIC's control of the banks, the economy, and peoples' lives. What appeared to be good for the people in the way of unions and private capital had been usurped by privatized, government agencies, and people were not prospering as well as they thought... the capitalists... the banks... (in bed with gvt), had to step in and take control - they were now the 'heroes'
4. People like hugh hefner found that morality in the country had reached an all-time low, the irrational actions of the 'troops' and their 'women' helped encourage an industry that would soon expand into dangerous territory. Mind you - there were other magazines before - but as the government went from full control of the media to partial control after the war, many restrictions had been lifted, and the FCC had not taken full control yet - not with capitalists still in control. (this is further exemplified by the birth rate increase in new york due to the 1965 blackout...)
5. Controlling the media when people were scared may have been easy before, but controlling it when you're filling their pockets was easier still! Subliminal advertising quickly took the place of propoganda (Which was, in and of itself, a blatant abuse of 'subliminal' advertising'), and both the government and media quickly understood their power. Even the 'FCC', wouldn't be exposed as an agency that had been accepting private monies to look the other way until the last several years.
Generally, so much happened during this period of time in the way of revolution and change, that it's hard to narrow it all down. However, what is clear is that:
War no longer meant something. We didn't fight for "our" freedom, or to support "our" allies, we fought when it benefitted us.....
People were not eager to go out and kill, but like sheep, could be easily led to the other side of the hill if the grass is "greener"....
Government could openly commit acts in contrast to the people, but now learned that it was just easier to keep the people blind and do what it wanted in the background, such as hiding their budgets through 'creative' finance.
A larger, domestic police force was needed to help the people feel 'safe,' - or supposedly so since the government had been instrumental in helping them 'not feel safe'.
The political administration, the office of the President, was not a position subservient to the people - and neither was Congress. Their power and their control had become absolute. The country's gold had been consolidated, its communications put under an umbrella of watchfulness, and as long as the people were kept 'appeased,' the gvt could pretty much do what they wanted...
But folks, capitalism is not a governmental agency that is destined to survive....