It is January 1, 1942.
A little book has been published, entitled “You Can’t Do Business With Hitler.”
In simple terms, the book explains the folly of Charles Lindbergh and other “America First” isolationists who argue that America could survive and ‘do business’ in a Nazi-dominated world.
The book’s author is Douglas Miller.
He served as the commercial attaché in the US Embassy in Berlin for fourteen years, promoting American businesses in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power.
At the time, American isolationists were asserting that Nazi Germany, with its robust economy, could serve as a good economic partner for the US as it emerged from the Great Depression.
Some within the US isolationist camp also argued that ‘white’ Germany was ‘one of the family’ who should not be seen as an adversary.
Instead, with its military might, they argued, Nazi Germany could be trusted to hold back Asian invaders seeking to replace the white race in Europe.
President Roosevelt adamantly opposed these views.
And to counter them, the Roosevelt administration established the Office of War Information to provide Americans and others with accurate war information.
The OWI produced a variety of radio programs, including a radio series loosely based on Miller’s book.
Using dramatized scenes, the program presented stories covering topics such as Nazi forced labor, medical pseudoscience and religious persecution.
One episode, entitled “Hitler is My Conscience,” demonstrated the ways in which fanatical devotion to Nazi ideology undermines a person’s basic moral conscience.
Another portrayed the powerlessness of the people of Nazi-occupied Europe, with harsh scenes of starvation and forced labor.
The OWI created The Voice of America as part of its operations.
It began broadcasting into Germany in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda, providing the German people with accurate and unbiased news and information.
The VOA currently distributes digital, TV and radio content in forty-eight languages to a global audience of 354 million people, countering the distortions of state-run media.
This is ‘soft power.’
It’s a cheap way to win friends and allies.
The VOA’s budget in 2023 was $267.5 million.
A single F-22 fighter jet costs $150 million.
Yesterday, Elon Musk called for Voice of America to be shut down.
But its demise was already in the cards.
Trump had appointed Arizona politician Kari Lake to lead the organization last December.
The failure of Trump and Musk to appreciate the role of soft power in international affairs is manifest in their destruction of USAID and now, in targeting the VOA.
Being ‘great’ is so much more than saber-rattling and off-the-wall bluster.
When America feeds people and gives them news and cultural programming, America is seen as a benevolent super-power.
This is a good thing.
And it’s so much cheaper than bullets.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
— Brenda
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