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It’s a conundrum. If we start returning things that were stolen in the past, well that includes a lot of stuff. If you are on the losing side you might sometim

It’s a conundrum. If we start returning things that were stolen in the past, well that includes a lot of stuff. If you are on the losing side you might sometimes have to return things (see looted nazi stuff), but if you are on the winning side you probably won’t (see pretty much all of the Americas).

serf 2y ago
You're just re-stating what happens, not why it can't happen. 'Museum attendance might drop a bit so the British Museum of History regrets to inform you and your country that the exhibit is just too popular to return to Tuva. Sorry.' "Better luck next conquest!" -- is it okay to be that petty with regards to stuff that doesn't necessarily even have 'a winning side', aside from the vultures that profited from the museum work?
krapp 2y ago
>It’s a conundrum. If we start returning things that were stolen in the past, well that includes a lot of stuff. That isn't a conundrum, it's a hassle. Britain did the work to plunder the world, they can do the work to return the plunder, or pay rent to the countries they stole from if those countries choose to have their property remain in British custody. >If you are on the losing side you might sometimes have to return things (see looted nazi stuff), but if you are on the winning side you probably won’t (see pretty much all of the Americas). The sun set on the British empire ages ago, and it's starting to set on the American empire. In the long term, both will end up on the losing side of history, as all empires do.
- p51-remorse 2y ago
  > it's starting to set on the American empire. [citation-needed] The US is the only first world country with demographic numbers that look not-apocalyptic.
  - BobaFloutist 2y ago
    Which is another way of saying that the US is the first world country with the least restrictive immigration policies.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
BobaFloutist 2y ago
We're not talking about landback, that's a different issue. The United States actually has a much better record on repatriation than the British Museum.
pavel_lishin 2y ago
> It’s a conundrum. If we start returning things that were stolen in the past, well that includes a lot of stuff. I'm imagining a local yokel telling that to the police, as they go through his garage cataloguing the stolen copper wire & stolen porch packages.

serf 2y ago

You're just re-stating what happens, not why it can't happen. 'Museum attendance might drop a bit so the British Museum of History regrets to inform you and your country that the exhibit is just too popular to return to Tuva. Sorry.' "Better luck next conquest!" -- is it okay to be that petty with regards to stuff that doesn't necessarily even have 'a winning side', aside from the vultures that profited from the museum work?

krapp 2y ago

>It’s a conundrum. If we start returning things that were stolen in the past, well that includes a lot of stuff. That isn't a conundrum, it's a hassle. Britain did the work to plunder the world, they can do the work to return the plunder, or pay rent to the countries they stole from if those countries choose to have their property remain in British custody. >If you are on the losing side you might sometimes have to return things (see looted nazi stuff), but if you are on the winning side you probably won’t (see pretty much all of the Americas). The sun set on the British empire ages ago, and it's starting to set on the American empire. In the long term, both will end up on the losing side of history, as all empires do.

p51-remorse 2y ago
> it's starting to set on the American empire. [citation-needed] The US is the only first world country with demographic numbers that look not-apocalyptic.
- BobaFloutist 2y ago
  Which is another way of saying that the US is the first world country with the least restrictive immigration policies.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

BobaFloutist 2y ago

We're not talking about landback, that's a different issue. The United States actually has a much better record on repatriation than the British Museum.

pavel_lishin 2y ago

> It’s a conundrum. If we start returning things that were stolen in the past, well that includes a lot of stuff. I'm imagining a local yokel telling that to the police, as they go through his garage cataloguing the stolen copper wire & stolen porch packages.