2 ms·

> Taking 5M for each, you get $234T USD. Yep, it sure sounds like a lot. Maybe a bit too high, but I'll note your argument was that its too much, not that it i

by tomrod 4y ago

> Taking 5M for each, you get $234T USD. Yep, it sure sounds like a lot. Maybe a bit too high, but I'll note your argument was that its too much, not that it is an injustice to others. I wonder how much of the $145T total wealth[0] in the US, or $463T in the world, would be owned by the 46.8 million people in event that their ancestors hadn't been enslaved, had their culture and homes forcibly removed or destroyed, or lost generations of social configuration through slavery, disenfranchisement, and Jim Crow. Pretty large moral quandary, knowing most Americans (and, to be fair, most people in the world) have their wealth and security built not by their personal ingenuity but by the exploitation of the labor of others. Maybe not quite as distressful as confronting the Absurd, but still pretty big. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wea...

crop_rotation 4y ago
My argument was that it is mathematically infeasible, so it is irrelevant to argue about whether it is fair or not. As I noted a feasible policy might or might not make sense depending on many other factors. I would be very interested to know why did you find the 5M number reasonable. Did you think it was feasible? Since you include the World wealth in your argument above, do you think some kind of wealth transfer from the whole world to the 46.8 million people is a sensible option? Why?
- tomrod 4y ago
  If you read my prior comments, you'll note I don't argue for the 5M. I have no idea what proper reparations would be because I have no counterfactual baseline for comparison nor specific moral model that provides a clear estimate. Indeed, this is why I wonder how much of the cumulative wealth would be a just transfer. My comments on US and total wealth were generally noting that wealth is typically built by exploitation, either of someone's labor or of resources they or their progenitors took by force.

by tomrod 4y ago

crop_rotation 4y ago

My argument was that it is mathematically infeasible, so it is irrelevant to argue about whether it is fair or not. As I noted a feasible policy might or might not make sense depending on many other factors. I would be very interested to know why did you find the 5M number reasonable. Did you think it was feasible? Since you include the World wealth in your argument above, do you think some kind of wealth transfer from the whole world to the 46.8 million people is a sensible option? Why?

tomrod 4y ago
If you read my prior comments, you'll note I don't argue for the 5M. I have no idea what proper reparations would be because I have no counterfactual baseline for comparison nor specific moral model that provides a clear estimate. Indeed, this is why I wonder how much of the cumulative wealth would be a just transfer. My comments on US and total wealth were generally noting that wealth is typically built by exploitation, either of someone's labor or of resources they or their progenitors took by force.