The short begins by describing the "island" of the United States, how self-sufficient it thought it was, and how it felt that the rise of the Axis powers wouldn't affect it. Then the audience is shown footage of the Japanese ambassador negotiating while Pearl Harbor is being bombed, and, in quick succession, the reverses at Wake Island, Manila, Bataan and Dutch Harbor. The American public realizes that it wasn't as self-sufficient as it had thought. A list of raw materials that were needed is given, along with the areas the United States was importing it from, now under Japanese control (including, incidentally, Philippine hemp, as mentioned in "Hemp for Victory").