this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2024
493 points (98.2% liked)

World News

39338 readers
2927 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] r_deckard 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

What do you mean by "The British should be held accountable"?

Who, exactly? And how, exactly?

The monarch, the government, the entire population?

Reparations? If you sell everything - crown estates, crown jewels, all the art, everything - are you going to deliver $7.28 to every single person in a former colony?

How about we look forwards, instead? There's little to be gained in trying to make current-day nations pay reparations for things that their ancestors did.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Interesting take. Let's not hold anybody to account by that logic. So what if the car I drive is stolen, I didn't steal it. So what if the lady that I paid to have sex with was coerced, I didn't force her. So what if the wealth that I stole from others is used to persecute the rest of the world...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

So in your two hypothetical situation, what benefit does punishing you provide to any of the victims?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There’s little to be gained in trying to make current-day nations pay reparations for things that their ancestors did.

"We will not blame [King George] for the crimes of his ancestors if he relinquishes the royal rights of his ancestors; but as long as he claims their rights, by virtue of descent, then, by virtue of descent, he must shoulder the responsibility for their crimes.".
-James Connolly

How about we look forwards, instead?

How about we look at the present? Because colonialism isn't over. People are still suffering from it right now. The global south is still actively being colonized and exploited right now.

You can't drive a knife into someone's ribs then say "what's in the past is in the past, we need to look forward instead" when your hand is still holding the blade. How can you hope to start the process of healing if you haven't even taken the knife out all the way?

Now, I don't have all the answers for how that healing process is going to work for the world, but I'm pretty sure a billionaire dancing around in a golden hat and velvet robes with a title that says "God made my bloodline special so I can stab whoever I want" isn't a part of it.