I number myself among those who rank World War II as one of
the most important events of
human history--or at least of more recent human
history.
Put crudely but sharply, the events of the few years
comprising WWII changed America from a land of “small” thinking and modest
scale undertakings to a world of “mega” thinking and hyper-scale endeavors.
This was and is a transformation so huge that it is hard to
believe and therefore to grasp.
One way we can try to get hold of the vast cognitive and
social chasm between Small America and Mega America is closely to examine documents that portray the
former at its fullest development just before its eclipse.