I too am sick of the outright lies told about my country by certain American interests. I think the main reason is to do with just how skewed to the right America is as a whole. Even their Democrats are petty conservative and as for the Republicans... It's got to the point that nobody can do anything even slightly social without being accused of being outright Communists.
From that position everywhere else is way over to the left and it's hard to make out any distinction.
I don't think Japan is socialist, they are extremely right-wing actually. Europe is not free market at all, it is a form of socialism that is closer to fascism, if you take a real look at the Eurozone, it's economy relies on private banks that are merging with the state, and then they also adopt socialist policies. Just because a country says it is a free market, doesn't mean it is so.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.