Like Hawkeye said: "Greed, lust, and greed. The three basic human emotions."
As we have touched on previously I feel a need to mention Pershing in that list, Marshall's immediate predecessor. Understanding the lack of capability of the US Army and it's supply/logistics systems during the Spanish American War and what Pershing was able to accomplish in building a modern fighting force in Europe is a significant accomplishment. Marshall built upon that and also had the advantage of the experience of WWI and its aftermath as a guide as Chief of Staff and Secretary of State.
And the most laughable assumption amongst libertarian fanboys is that corporations will (and should) police themselves. Corporations are beholden to stockholders.
Exactly. that was the managed/moderated free enterprise thing I was getting at. I think a lot of corporations would like to externalize the costs of being in business, if allowed to do so. DuPont used to dump industrial waste into the Shenandoah River near my house. The state forced them to stop doing that. I think Somalia is probably the most libertarian country in the world, but I sure wouldn't want to live here, and not just because of the weather.
My impression is that greed among large publicly owned corporations has risen to practically obscene levels. I have attributed at least some of that to the fact that Microsoft was granted a "get out of jail free card" to continue to operate as a monopoly. The kind of margins they have been allowed to take over decades, without competition, essentially changed the playing field. Now major corporations seek to throw off their wealth creating manufacturing assets and invest in high margin annuity type enterprises such as insurance and services then strive to lock in customers for life. We only have to watch any sports program commercials on TV to see the lineup of insurance, cellular, brokerage and internet companies looking to garner a lifetime annuity from us.
Pershing was another one. He did quite well getting the Americans ready to fight in the Great War. He also had the backing of the president in refusing to break up American units and parcel them out to the British and French sectors like the French wanted.
What surprised me was that the USAF was flying coal in sacks. I would have thought that something with a better seal would have been used.
Agreed on the coal. I always assumed that those who stayed did not want to leave.
Although I was small, I remember it well. It was all that was in the news (which meant papers and radio). I don't remember any accounts of any number of departures to speak of. For one thing, the Berliners were/are a very stubborn people, strongly attached to their city. In the second place, I'm not sure logistics permitted it, unless they dead-headed back on the cargo planes, which weren't exactly set up like airliners. We used C-47s and the Brits Dakotas, basically the same plane. The planes were convoyed almost propeller to tail...
The videos show a lot of C-54 Skymasters. They seem to have more cargo capacity than C-47, as venerable an airframe as that was.
Fair point.
I've only had a few Berliners for friends, but one close one. As I said above, I doubt seriously there was much demand, at that time, to get out. In fact, the last I looked, Berlin and Brandenburg was the fastest growing section of Germany, while the rest of old East Germany has hemorrhaged population to the west...
