About Me

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Los Angeles, California, United States
The blog 'Breaking Bread' is for a civil general discussion, like you might have at the dinner table with guests. The posts 'Economics Without the B.S.' are intended for a general audience that wouldn't have to know the difference between a Phillips Curve, a Laffer Curve, or a Cole Hamels Curve. Vic Volpe was formally educated at Penn State and the University of Scranton, with major studies in History, Economics and Finance, and Business; and, is self-educated since by way of books and on-line university courses. His practical education came from sixty years of work experience in the blue-collar trades as well as a white-collar professional career -- a white-collar professional career in production and R&D. In his professional career and as a long-haul trucker, he has traveled throughout the lower forty-eight. From his professional career alone he has visited many manufacturing plants in the United States, Europe and China. He has lived in major metropolitan areas and very small towns in various parts of the United States. He served three years with the U.S. Army as an enlisted man, much of that time in Germany.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Lessons Learned

 

Economics Without The B.S.**: 


[**  Double entendre intended.]


In my opinion, the reason we had such a successful clandestine nighttime strike on Iran, which we learned this morning involved a multitude of resources, stems from the lessons learned from an unsuccessful clandestine nighttime strike on Iran in 1980 to free American hostages.

The 1980 strike was a bold move; but, it failed.  It failed for a variety of reasons.  Our military went back and studied the failure.  And over the years practiced and prepared themselves for special operations that would be successful.  Many of these operations were small in scale, but our military learned as they went along.  The initial attacks in Afghanistan after 9-11 and even in Iraq in 2003 demonstrated coordinated action among some of the small units.  The Desert Storm attack on Iraq in 1990-1991 demonstrated the coordination of much larger forces.

The real success of our special forces operation in a small strike was probably demonstrated with the capture of Osama bin Laden.  It is a demonstration of the resilience and adaptability of our military establishment and the professional leadership and people who are part of that.  It shows a willingness to change, that you have to be open to change to meet new contingencies.

Well, the same is true of the American people.  Like our military, we are innovative and have shown through the years our ability to adapt to  change to meet new opportunities.  Afterall, in our democratic governance, our military personnel come from “The People”.  For quite some time we have been mired in a status quo that has resisted the change that is needed.  We have become deeply divided politically which has hampered our governing ability to function effectively.  We can overcome this.  If our military can change, so can we.  And when we change, new leadership will come out of that.

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