7 ms·

Then how come WWII happened? Were the great dictators just irrational?

• Xylakant 5y ago
  If you want to summarize it in one sentence: yes, they were. In a nutshell, the argument is that the world wars were so destructive because the economic calculus changed, but people required the horrors of the wars to realize that the change had happened.
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• harpiaharpyja 5y ago
  Not sure if this is sarcasm, but yes, I don't think you need to look too deep to see that.
• OneEyedRobot 5y ago
  >Were the great dictators just irrational? Probably not at all, although it's hard to think/talk in a general fashion about such large systems. The Axis Powers strike me as fighting a more reasonable war than (for instance) their WWI aggressor predecessors if you view it as simply a grab for land and resources. It's a thing that a Khanate or a Roman governor would understand and appreciate. I'd say that the actions of the Germans and Japanese would make perfect sense to the ruling class of most pre-modern states. It's hard work to avoid Historian's Fallacy.