4 ms·
I sometimes ask questions that broach social norms. If my questions do so below, I apologize in advance. Right now, it appears that the US default on reparatio
by tomrod 5y ago
I sometimes ask questions that broach social norms. If my questions do so below, I apologize in advance.
Right now, it appears that the US default on reparations is $0. I have wondered what amount would be considered just that the median person receiving reparations would be satisfied with.
Also, what is a justifiable time horizon for inclusion? Should reparations begin for all slaves and conquered groups ever by the nation in power? (In the US, looking @ blacks, Native Americans, the govt of Mexico, Chinese immigrants in the mid-1800s, and so on).
There are so many edge cases and competing philosophical justifications that the practical implementation seems very hard!
- jacquesm 5y agoI don't think it is possible to put any hard figures on this. I'm from NL, and the wealth here is absolutely off the scale for a country which barely exists to begin with and which has, other than a bit of natural gas, no resources. Of course the Dutch mantra is that we got here by hard work and trade, but the reality is that we got our headstart with piracy, slavery and colonies that we robbed blind and then when things didn't go our way tried to rule by genocide. Needless to say that isn't a popular opinion and it isn't exactly part of the Dutch history curriculum in grade school, but it is the unvarnished truth. Does that motivate me to give what I've earned to others? No. Do I believe that we collectively should do everything we can to right this wrong? Yes, absolutely. So there is a substantial chunk of hypocrisy involved, I can't personally associate myself with any of this but I can easily see how collectively we've all benefited.