GREAT MOMENTS IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZING: Iwo Jima

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, which we won after Franklin Roosevelt wisely observed… “We cannot kill our way out of this war… we must concentrate on improving the Japanese economy and providing them viable job opportunities.”

Then we held a giant job fair at which we hired over 20,000 Japanese soldiers to create cheap transistor radios and cars that get better gas mileage than ours.

US Marines lure pensive Japanese fighters from cave with job apps and promise of a $15 minimum wage.
US Marines lure pensive Japanese fighters from cave with job apps and promise of a $15 minimum wage.

Think about it. Replace any one of several prominent figures in history with Barack Obama… George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston, Abraham Lincoln, US Grant, John J Pershing, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, George Patton, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower…

  • Would the flag over your courthouse look the same?
  • What language would you be speaking?

There’s a very good chance it would not be the same one as now.

I'm Rob Jones... and I approve this message.
I’m Rob Jones… and I approve this message.

 

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