The Bomb (City Lights Open Media)

One effect of the complex organizational structures that characterize modern life is the diffusion of responsibility. Great crimes are rarely authored by individuals. Instead, they are planned and executed by large associations of individuals, each of whom may feel as though he or she is simply responding to external pressures. Such crimes are facilitated by people's willingness, in the face of powerful incentives, to relinquish their moral autonomy and replace the good with the "good for us". Such tendencies can only be reversed if we have the moral courage and independence of mind to imagine the cost -- in human terms -- our collective undertakings exact from those on the other side: the other side of our crosshairs, of our borders, and of our communities.Zinn illustrates these basic truths by reviewing the indiscriminate bombing of civilians by Americans in the Second World War. This example is especially poignant for Zinn because he himself was a participant in these campaigns. Rather than sanctimonious finger-pointing, Zinn is interested in finding out how ordinary people like himself can become accessories to great crimes. His purpose is not to assign blame, but to remind us what moral and intellectual commitments we need to have if we would like our complex, interconnected world to be a decent one.

When pilot Paul Tibbetts dropped the first atomic bomb he called it "Just something that had to be done." To the end of his life he basked in the admiration of those veterans who believed he saved their lives.When bombardier Howard Zinn was bombing Europe, he too didn't see the blood or hear the screams at 30,000 feet. Then he learned how the Hiroshima victims had suffered, and he began to question his own missions over Europe which seemed to have no clear purpose.Zinn says, "The bombardiers of today are in the same position I was in, following orders without question, oblivious of the human consequences of our bombing." He deplores what he calls, "The mass production of massive evil" for which no one is positively responsible, and no one dares to question. He urges us to act on "what we feel and think, here and now, for human flesh and sense, against the abstractions of duty and obedience."

Do not know the right word or words to describe the feeling of shame I feel after knowing the reasons behind the bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Royan, Vietnam, Iraq, and so many others. War is so pointless for everyone but the delusional and the bullies.

When I first saw the announcement of this book, I convinced this as the must book for everybody. So I started to translate it into my own language, and I accomplished publishing the Japanese version at the same day with the original English version. See the imprint of the book.

I like the way Zinn writes.

I really enjoyed Zinn's other works but this was revisionist history. If you talk to vets who fought in the Pacific almost to a man they still believe it was the best way to end the war.Its a rehash of all theories of what could have been done. He never explores the question of what the world would have been like if the terrible destruction of atomic weapons had never been demonstrate in Japan.

I bought this book out of respect for the Professor. His "Peoples History of the United States" was a seminal work in my life. A small book, one that can be purchased as a tribute to Zinn's output. RIP, Professor

Great read!

Howard Zinn's personal experience as a soldier lends considerable weight to this very personal essay on the waging of war and the need to work for peace. He highlights the apparent randomness and lack of purpose (military and otherwise) of the destruction wrought during the so-called "Good War" and continues to be wrought in present wars. He presents a picture of war as "humanity gone mad" that is as relevant today as it was 70 years ago.Obviously, this book presents its ideas from the perspective of the political left, but its human story transcends political affiliation. I recommend "The Bomb" to anyone who wants a personal perspective on the personal politics of war and how to stop it...or better yet, avoid it all together!

Perfect

Very good

A lire absolument mais plus généralement, Howard Zinn, c'est un must surtout son : A People's History of the United States. Lecture indispensable.