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Neutrality Almost Always Aids the Aggressive Carnivore

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Pearl Harbor: three stricken U.S. battleships. Left to right: U.S.S. West Virginia, severely damaged; U.S.S. Tennessee, damaged; and U.S.S. Arizona, sunk, December 7, 1941. By Everett Historical @ Shutterstock.com

“The Soviet ambassador to Britain, Ivan Maisky,” writes Victor Davis Hanson in The Second World Wars, “recorded a conversation in November 1939 he had with Lord Beaverbrook, who illustrated British fears just ten weeks into the war: ‘I’m an isolationist. What concerns me is the fate of the British Empire!’”

As Hanson points out, Beaverbrook’s words were not that different from Hitler’s feelings about Britain. Hitler felt Britain should stay out of a European land war and keep its empire. Hitler felt Britain should make a deal with the Third Reich, believing both countries could keep their hegemonies.

But neutrality has its costs. “Being neutral is by design a choice,” explains Hanson, “with results that either harm or hurt the particular belligerents in question—with neutrality almost always aiding the aggressive carnivore, not its victim.”

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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