Slavery Reparations.
Discussion
bloomen said:
Some of my ancestors were extremely enthusiastic slavers but eventually grew out of it. I remember reading one of their letters describing with delight that freeing them meant they no longer had to feed or house them. All they had to do was pay them.
Some other ancestors were slaves. I can't say I feel the pain in my bones.
It's not as if Glasgow are dropping bags of cash off at every door in Africa, but why not spend that money trying to combat modern slavery rather than 'raising awareness?' There's still plenty of it going on in places like Mali. That would be truly meaningful.
Because it's a bit anti-immigration to question why and how people come here.Some other ancestors were slaves. I can't say I feel the pain in my bones.
It's not as if Glasgow are dropping bags of cash off at every door in Africa, but why not spend that money trying to combat modern slavery rather than 'raising awareness?' There's still plenty of it going on in places like Mali. That would be truly meaningful.
R Mutt said:
Technically they're raising £20 million to spend on building themselves a research centre in Glasgow and another in the Caribbean, which will be a terrible burden for whoever is in charge of it.Octoposse said:
And then that Brunhilde Pomsel, Goebbels' personal secretary from 1942 until 1945, was re-employed after the war by the German state broadcaster. Interesting CV she would have brought in . . . .
Wills2 said:
Octoposse said:
And then that Brunhilde Pomsel, Goebbels' personal secretary from 1942 until 1945, was re-employed after the war by the German state broadcaster. Interesting CV she would have brought in . . . .
The purge of Saddam loyalists in civil & republican guard post-invasion is sometimes quoted as a reason why Iraq was ill-equipped to fight Isis. Such a murky world we live in.The Nazi's had a list of Brits to be arrested on sight upon invading us, I wonder if they had a list of people to keep sweet/tollerate?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Book
EDLT said:
R Mutt said:
Technically they're raising £20 million to spend on building themselves a research centre in Glasgow and another in the Caribbean, which will be a terrible burden for whoever is in charge of it.£20M is twice what May pledged to a new modern slavery centre in the UK and could pay for a ton of research by starving postgrads.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-l...
I find this western self flagellation guilt mindset strange and it's actually very divisive, anti- equality and respect. It also bars people from aspiring to do better by giving them someone to blame rather giving them agency to do better.
People are, and certainly have been, b
ds, whether we're talking slavery, genocides, the horrors of wars, and so on. We should be celebrating that progressive social enlightenment has brought us to the point that 1,000's of years of slavery is ended and loathed, rather than seeking to punish people who've done nothing. (Collectivised punishment for ancestral crimes was basically the justification used by a certain infamous German chap for some bad things he did in the 30s, and my understanding is that the concept is recognised as a war crime - so why do many amounst us revile our society so much?)
But guilt is a great tool to control people. The victims mire in victimisation, the "guilty" feel terrible for sins they can't possibly make good. Everyone loses, there are no "winners", Everyone is controlled, which is of course why religions used guilt so happily.
This whole power structures philosophy/mindset/whatever is a religion for people who generally like think they're too clever for religion, but still crave an authority to control them.
Most worryingly is it's a political concept - those who follow it are basically looking to re-join the division of religion and politics, and if they win will turn social evolution back 1000 years.
People are, and certainly have been, b
ds, whether we're talking slavery, genocides, the horrors of wars, and so on. We should be celebrating that progressive social enlightenment has brought us to the point that 1,000's of years of slavery is ended and loathed, rather than seeking to punish people who've done nothing. (Collectivised punishment for ancestral crimes was basically the justification used by a certain infamous German chap for some bad things he did in the 30s, and my understanding is that the concept is recognised as a war crime - so why do many amounst us revile our society so much?)But guilt is a great tool to control people. The victims mire in victimisation, the "guilty" feel terrible for sins they can't possibly make good. Everyone loses, there are no "winners", Everyone is controlled, which is of course why religions used guilt so happily.
This whole power structures philosophy/mindset/whatever is a religion for people who generally like think they're too clever for religion, but still crave an authority to control them.
Most worryingly is it's a political concept - those who follow it are basically looking to re-join the division of religion and politics, and if they win will turn social evolution back 1000 years.
I generally agree.
The history of Scottish gains from slavery is certainly a worthy area of study, and an important thing to remember when we congratulate ourselves for our more liberal achievements and contributions to egalitarianism.
But history should be used to give us a context of where we are, how we got here and why we got here, not as a means of digging up old grievences for political gain.
Germany & France murdered each other by the million but seem to have acknowledged (for a few generations at least) that the lesson of their history is not to repeat it.
The history of Scottish gains from slavery is certainly a worthy area of study, and an important thing to remember when we congratulate ourselves for our more liberal achievements and contributions to egalitarianism.
But history should be used to give us a context of where we are, how we got here and why we got here, not as a means of digging up old grievences for political gain.
Germany & France murdered each other by the million but seem to have acknowledged (for a few generations at least) that the lesson of their history is not to repeat it.
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