John R. Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:
> I wouldn't say he was an idiot, but he was certainly patronising and
> misguided. The United States didn't lock up all Americans of German descent
> in prison camps during WWII, nor did they "bestow" democratic principles and
> a constitution on Germany. Basically, they treated them like adults, and
> they responded accordingly. To treat the Japanese like children was,
> essentially, racist, and if the present generation of Japanese are
> politically naive and ill-informed about their own culture and history
> MacArthur must shoulder his share of the blame.

The Germans, though warlike, were integrated into the world community.
They were more like us than different, in economy and cultural mores.
Thus, once they stopped fighting us, it was easier to get them pulling
with us because they understood where the invisible rope was.

The Japanese had isolated themselves before the war, and had an alien
culture and economic ethos.  They did have to be taught to understand
what the rest of the world was like.

There's also the fact that Germany had been divided by the war, and
Macarthur was giving the West Germans props in order to make them look
strong in the face of the Soviet occupation of East Germany.  People
like him typically overstate the power of their allies, to make
themselves look stronger to their enemies.

The only racism in it was that they were different races.  I'm sure
Macarthur never spared the Germans a nasty epithet.  And would have
said something similar about the difference between the growing West
German and ossifying East German societies.

--Blair