On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The aerial bombings together killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
Eye-witness accounts of the bombing's aftermath depicted a kind of apocalyptic horror: Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German Jesuit priest, encountered a group of soldiers whose "faces were wholly burned, their eye-sockets were hollow, the fluid from their melted eyes had run down their cheeks... Their mouths were mere swollen, pus-covered wounds, which they could not bear to stretch enough to admit the spout of the teapot."
Dr. Michihiko Hachiya, a survivor, spoke of "streetcars were standing and inside were dozens of bodies, blackened beyond recognition. I saw fire reservoirs filled to the brim with dead bodies who looked as they had been boiled alive".
President Harry Truman made the case to the public that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a necessary and humanitarian means of forcing Japan's surrender. This view was not held, however, by military commanders or leftist American dissidents.
Once American forces had Japan under military control, they imposed censorship on many images related to the U.S. bombing campaign. Among the images banned was a picture of a partially incinerated Nagasaki child, taken by Japanese photographer Yōsuke Yamahata. These restrictions were not lifted until 1952.
Among the first Americans to denounce the bombing were socialists such as the Trotskyist James P. Cannon, who publicly denounced the use of nuclear weapons as "an unspeakable atrocity".
The dissent of military commanders was not public, however. In 1950, Admiral William Leahy, Truman's chief of staff, wrote: "The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan". In his memoirs, President Eisenhower, then General of the Army, confessed that "dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary".
Dropping the Bomb: Hiroshima & Nagasaki - Shaun 💀
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I prefer the recent "Socialist Batman" (as he's sometimes dubbed by fans) in the recent movie The Batman and sometimes elsewhere.
Seriously, I would prefer more "socialist" (read: leftist) interpretations of superheroes or superhero characters, like in 2019 movie Joker.
(And yes, I know that some people disagree with Joker's ending, but in my opinion, the rich got what they deserved, and the movie couldn't go beyond typical Hollywood tropes at times, which is why it may seem like they're sayinig "revolution = chaos" at the end there, but in my opinion, that was just to make sure the movie went through and saw the light of day.)
Wait, people think the new Batman is "socialist"? It does the whole "villain is totally correct but now he's going to do war crimes" bullshit, so I dunno, not sure if I buy that. Obviously it's better than cartoonishly evil socialism but also feels like a "well it's always going to fail because of bad people in the movement" slander.
I suggest listening to this Batman podcast by a Marxist which I really enjoy.
And if you don't have Spotify, you can listen to it elsewhere.
I highly recommend it.
He does do that apparently. Since this should in theory end his story immediately, it "mysteriously" doesn't really do anything so he can continue to beat people up in a batsuit.
Despite his immense wealth Bruce Wayne's philanthropy cannot undo the ravages of every other billionaire. His philanthropy is done in a way that maximises how many people he helps and how much their lives are bettered while limiting the ability of other Billionaires to profit.