"Well," Hayakawa replied, "your guess is as good as mine. I don't know any more than I read in the papers. But the way I figure it, I don't see how the Japanese, with their lack of coal and steel and oil . . . can ever beat a powerfully industrialized nation like the United States." Hayakawa went on, "My remark was admittedly neither original nor well informed. Hundreds of radio commentators . . . were saying much the same thing during those weeks. But just because they were, the remark sounded familiar and was on the right side so that it was easy to agree with."
