I wouldn’t even call them “former” white settler colonies. The genocide of indigenous people in most of these countries is well within living memory. There are plenty of indigenous rights groups self-organizing and making demands. In general, they do include reparations in those demands, yes.
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2022
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Asklemmy
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Yes.
Does Britain owe reparations as well? Their society benefited from exploiting the people and land in these places.
You could liquidate the entirety of what remains of the British Empire and distributing proportionately according to the populations of former colonies and it would amount to very little per country. That said, liquidating the monarchy and returning all of the stolen artifacts from their museums would be a good start
Fuck yes.
Not just material reparations, they need to return sovereignty to the Native peoples.
Yes.
The original people should never have had their land stolen.
However..
- Do reparations go to someone else, because they're the distant offspring of someone wronged?
- Are reparations a one-time thing?
- In the case of Canada, some tribes wiped out other tribes. Who gets reparations there?
- Should we offer reparations even if they don't help?
In the case of Canada, I do strongly believe our reparations have overstayed their welcome and it's time to stop. Not because we've equalized the wrongdoing, but because the reparations are not addressing those wronged.
For example - In Canada, we heavily subsidize lots of native American areas which were only relevant back when the fur trade was a thing, and would have naturally collapsed after the global economy moved on. The areas are not self sustainable, and quite frankly never were.
In my opinion, a better solution for long past injustices is mandatory curriculum on the subject. It still won't help those harmed, but it can prevent us from making the same mistakes again.
In the case of Canada, I do strongly believe our reparations have overstayed their welcome and it’s time to stop. Not because we’ve equalized the wrongdoing, but because the reparations are not addressing those wronged.
Yeah, Canadian reparations have been really ineffective at undoing colonialism. Good point.
In my opinion, a better solution for long past injustices is mandatory curriculum on the subject. It still won’t help those harmed, but it can prevent us from making the same mistakes again.
But then how is the solution just to stop trying? These were not mistakes. They were done on purpose. And the ideologies which motivated them are still dominant. And the people marginalized by them are still marginalized. That’s the whole point. Learning about the atrocities is necessary, but nowhere near sufficient.
For example - In Canada, we heavily subsidize lots of native American areas which were only relevant back when the fur trade was a thing, and would have naturally collapsed after the global economy moved on. The areas are not self sustainable, and quite frankly never were.
Wow! New hot take just dropped! They were only self sufficient for a thousand years before colonizers came, and only became not self sufficient when we started forcibly and without consent, or regard for them changing the place they live in! The fur trade totally wasn't unequal and exploitative and that's totally how they always lived! Those natives are so dumb amirite?
Do reparations go to someone else, because they're the distant offspring of someone wronged?
What distant offspring?! There are plenty of Indigenous people alive today in Canada that suffered through residential schools. And the cycle of poverty, addiction, crime, etc in native communities are the direct cause of colonialism and affect the youngest generations!
In my opinion, a better solution for long past injustices is mandatory curriculum on the subject. It still won’t help those harmed, but it can prevent us from making the same mistakes again.
I agree with this. Money is not going to fix anything. The damadge has been done so now we have to stop it to prevent more harm and educate. Tell what happend, why and why it was terrible.
In my country we neglect this and due to that a lot of people still think that a dictator was good.
Yes