America Now, Then, and Now

This year has been one of extreme turbulence in the American political scene. Any pensions for moderation have been long lost. With fair cause, allegations of left-wing socialism and right-wing libertarianism are commonly, derisively exchanged in the American forum, and a preoccupation with the purported evil of the opposition often detours any political machinations from an active pursuit of good. So seldom now are political discussions about the means to an agreeable end; so often are they diatribes to further cement diametrical ideologies. Defining, categorizing, and simplifying, most often along political, racial, and religious guidelines are the methods of the day. With the ill-will between political factions and identities at an amazing high (and again, not necessarily without good reason), it is helpful to remember those moments of excellent inter-political cooperation, when Americans were still able to form that more perfect union in active resistance of great evil.
Such was the case with the 1948-1949 Airlift, perhaps the most brusque ebullition of American initiative and ingenuity in the entire 20th century. Though divided amongst the Allied forces after WWII, Berlin was entirely enclosed and isolated in the greater Soviet portion of Germany. To gain control of the city, Soviet forces blockaded all railways and roads into Berlin, hoping through this threat of starvation to stimulate enough discontent that an uprising would occur in Berlin and allow the communization of Germany proper. A Democrat president, Harry Truman, and a majority Republican legislature signed/voted the Marshall Plan into effect, and from June 24th, 1948, until May 12th, 1949, the Allied airlift kept the badly damaged German capital, which was meeting only 2% of its vital production needs, supplied with adequate food and coal until the blockade was lifted by the much-shamed Soviets. A total of 278, 228 flights, flying a total 92 million miles, provided 13,000 tons of food and 26, 000 tons of coal per day to Berlin, and at its height the airlift actually brought more supplies into the city, per day, than had been previously been brought by ground. The Airlift was sustained through the exceptionally harsh winter of 1949, and was run so efficiently that one plane departed for Berlin from an Allied base every 30 seconds. The United States dropped 1,783,573 of the Allied contribution 2,326,406 tons food and coal, at a total cost of $224 million, which if adjusted to modern inflated standards equals $2 billion. For less than half the cost of what the U.S. pays Israel and Pakistan annually to not fight each other, the United States kept Berlin fed, heated, out of communist control, and did it all by plane.
There was a time when objective, eminent goods were easily recognized, if for no other reason than Americans then had a lot more in common. Admittedly, few issues are as black and white as the Berlin Blockade, but the loss of an enemy like the USSR should not mean a loss in moralistic temperance. Now the accused socialists seem to be pursuing a crippling spending policy, while the accused ultra-conservatives advance their “don’t spend to help anybody anywhere” policy. This can all be seen within the context of any one issue—say health-care reform, foreign aid, or troop presence abroad. Perhaps the contrast between need and want is not as obvious as it once was, but the necessary moralistic perspective seems largely lost amidst the current political segregation. The American political dialogue may have broken down, but America’s enemies, the enemies of life, liberty and happiness, have not. The same pride and perseverance that shocked the world in the Berlin airlift, appears to be fretfully dwindling.