T1B

Two years ago, I was invited to lunch in Washington with Gilman Louie, a tech venture capitalist. He was in town to discuss the passage of the CHIPS Act, a $53 billion reinvestment in America’s semiconductor supply chain. Gilman believed that the offshoring of tech manufacturing was a dire national security issue. His concerns were many—from the vulnerability of Taiwan’s chip industry to China’s navy having surpassed the size of our own. If we ever had to fight World War III, the U.S. wouldn’t be ready.

. . .

“In the Second World War, which nation produced the most exquisite technology? Because it wasn’t the United States.”

It was Germany, as Gilman reminded me.

Back then, American Sherman tanks—nicknamed “flaming coffins” by GIs—proved no match in a one-on-one contest with their German counterpart, the Tiger tank. Both the fighter jet and the long-range ballistic missile, innovations that came late in the war, weren’t creations of the Allies, but of Germany. With the notable exception of the atom bomb, the Germans were consistently the first to field what was then considered exquisite technology. The problem for the Germans was that they lacked industrial capacity. The Allies defeated the Axis with inferior technology that could be mass produced.

Today, the United States finds itself in the position of the Germans. We have divested ourselves of much of our industrial capacity. China, meanwhile, with 35 percent of the world’s global manufacturing output, finds itself in the position that allowed the United States to win the Second World War. With wars being fought in Europe and the Middle East, and continued Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, it’s hard to understate our vulnerability.

. . . cont'd

Remarkable as it may seem today, there once was a time when the president of the United States could pick up the phone and ask the president of General Motors to resign his position and take the reins of a great national enterprise. And the CEO would oblige, no questions asked, because it was his patriotic duty.

In Freedom’s Forge, bestselling author Arthur Herman takes us back to that time, revealing how two extraordinary American businessmen—automobile magnate William Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser—helped corral, cajole, and inspire business leaders across the country to mobilize the “arsenal of democracy” that propelled the Allies to victory in World War II.

“Knudsen? I want to see you in Washington. I want you to work on some production matters.” With those words, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enlisted “Big Bill” Knudsen, a Danish immigrant who had risen through the ranks of the auto industry to become president of General Motors, to drop his plans for market domination and join the U.S. Army. Commissioned a lieutenant general, Knudsen assembled a crack team of industrial innovators, persuading them one by one to leave their lucrative private sector positions and join him in Washington, D.C. Dubbed the “dollar-a-year men,” these dedicated patriots quickly took charge of America’s moribund war production effort.

Henry J. Kaiser was a maverick California industrialist famed for his innovative business techniques and his can-do management style. He, too, joined the cause. His Liberty ships became World War II icons—and the Kaiser name became so admired that FDR briefly considered making him his vice president in 1944. Together, Knudsen and Kaiser created a wartime production behemoth. Drafting top talent from companies like Chrysler, Republic Steel, Boeing, Lockheed, GE, and Frigidaire, they turned auto plants into aircraft factories and civilian assembly lines into fountains of munitions, giving Americans fighting in Europe and Asia the tools they needed to defeat the Axis. In four short years they transformed America’s army from a hollow shell into a truly global force, laying the foundations for a new industrial America—and for the country’s rise as an economic as well as military superpower.

Featuring behind-the-scenes portraits of FDR, George Marshall, Henry Stimson, Harry Hopkins, Jimmy Doolittle, and Curtis LeMay, as well as scores of largely forgotten heroes and heroines of the wartime industrial effort, Freedom’s Forge is the American story writ large. It vividly re-creates American industry’s finest hour, when the nation’s business elites put aside their pursuit of profits and set about saving the world.

Mikey wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 4:02 pm Do you seriously think that any of today’s American businesses “leaders” like Ellen Musk, Peter Thiel…aren’t even American, BTW, and probably just sell out to the highest bidder.

Sudden Sam wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:12 pm
Their not being Americans doesn’t enhance the likelihood of them selling out.

Mikey wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:47 pm

Sudden Sam wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:12 pm
Their not being Americans doesn’t enhance the likelihood of them selling out.

You may be right. But I know for a fact that they’re eating our dogs and cats. And geese.

StrawMan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 1:18 pm

The problem for the Germans was that they lacked industrial capacity. The Allies defeated the Axis with inferior technology that could be mass produced.
Today, the United States finds itself in the position of the Germans. We have divested ourselves of much of our industrial capacity.

Dr_Phibes wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 8:35 pm

StrawMan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 1:18 pm

The problem for the Germans was that they lacked industrial capacity. The Allies defeated the Axis with inferior technology that could be mass produced.
Today, the United States finds itself in the position of the Germans. We have divested ourselves of much of our industrial capacity.

Nothing could be further from the truth, the Germans had nothing but industrial capacity, their production numbers were astounding. Germany didn't divest itself of anything, the only thing that stopped it was the crippling of a few key industries through bombing and access to fuel.

If the author is trying to make the point of 'lack of production' through population size comparisons, he's badly muddled the job. He's comparing apples to oranges.

Wolfman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 9:53 pm True when it comes to defenses. Our offense still packs the 3 pronged forces: land based ICBMs, SAC Bombers although aged have modern gear, and ICBM bearing Trident subs. We can hope that sane minds exist in Russia, China, and Iran.

The Seer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2024 5:52 pm Maybe Trump can be given the reins on Nov 6th to prevent vaporization....

88BuckeyeGrad wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 12:52 am I personally think the U.S. should not engage in any warfare that does not involve defense of the sovereign territory of the 50 states that form the union from foreign incursion. Otherwise, no fucking way.

FiatLux wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 12:56 am

88BuckeyeGrad wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 12:52 am I personally think the U.S. should not engage in any warfare that does not involve defense of the sovereign territory of the 50 states that form the union from foreign incursion. Otherwise, no fucking way.

Of course not. That's why the Nazis lost.

Better luck next time.

88BuckeyeGrad wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 5:49 pm HPG: Thank God people are finally waking up to Roosevelt's warning about the Military Industrial Complex.

88: Roosevelt?

Seer: Forget it. He's rolling.

The Whistle Is Screaming wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 6:55 pm TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!!!



Sin,
HPGrimley

HighPlainsGrifter wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:46 pm Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

88BuckeyeGrad wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:31 pm

HighPlainsGrifter wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:46 pm Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

That is what I was channeling. Not sure where TWIS went.