Interesting perspective on the size of Japan

Today I'm finally reshelving the books on the newly painted bookshelves. I came across a title I'd forgotten--I don't think it is a family book. I may have picked it up at a yard sale. "New World Horizons; geography for the air age," edited by Chester H. Lawrence, Maps by Ray Ramsey. (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1942).

The foreward notes that since the United States entered a global war (in those days everyone knew which war you were discussing) they had struggled a bit with geography."Mandalay, Java, Egypt, Archangel, Hawaii, and countless other names have been stripped of their veils of romance and glamor, and stand revealed as geographical realities possessing vital and strategic importance. Screaming newspaper headlines and verbose radio commentators have made the man in the street aware of the existence of these major centers of world conflict. . . " P. 9

This then was a geography for the millions, not the school child. The map of Japan gives me a much better idea of why life is going on as usual in some parts of Japan, while others suffer terribly. From north to south, it is the distance from Labrador in Canada to the southernmost point of Mexico, and east to west, the distrance from New York to Omaha, a sea area of millions of square miles.

And mine has a very good, in tact dust cover, so I figure it's worth about $25.00. The paper is in very good condition--and just about as old as I am.

"If the belief that the Western Hemisphere is safe from military attack is illusionary, so is the theory that it is economically self-sufficient." p. 28

And then sadly: "The United States got a greater fortune from nature than any other country of the world. It has forty percent of the known supply of coal. It pipes two-thirds of the world's oil. Iron is abundant, and furthermore, much of it is close to the surface where it can be mined easily. It has more zinc and lead than any other country . . ." p. 34. Of course, we don't have much dysprosium, gadolinium, and praseodymium--the rare earth elements for computers, cell phones and green technology--and we've regulated our own industries to death. Now China has what we need, sold for a dear price. Thank you, environmentalists.