Yes.
But for how much longer is the real question. (Probably not much longer would be my hunch, depending on if I can be arsed to log in to the Admin panel tonight - or if I do it in the morning).
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[News] Reparations
- Thread starter Randy McNob
- Start date
But for how much longer is the real question. (Probably not much longer would be my hunch, depending on if I can be arsed to log in to the Admin panel tonight - or if I do it in the morning).
cjd
Well-known member
And while we are at it....what did the Romans ever do for us...?
( Should we be paying them now ? )
( Should we be paying them now ? )
Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
My wife, and therefore my kids, have Guyanan ancestry. Are they owed compensation?
The answer is no, because they can't prove their lives would have been better without there being a slave trade two hundred years ago.
The answer is no, because they can't prove their lives would have been better without there being a slave trade two hundred years ago.
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nail-Z
Well-known member
Myreparationclaim.com is the next cab off the rank, once all the diesel claimants have rinsed the motor industry of their ill gotten gains.
We did that for WW1. It didn't end well.
Knocky's Nose
Mon nez est retiré.
How the f*ck have the Egyptians come out of this untarnished?!! Nobody seems to mention their absolutely stellar slave trade. They need to be dipping their hands deep in their pockets, apologising from the top of their pyramids and paying out some serious Egyptian Paaahhnds.. 
clapham_gull
Legacy Fan
- Aug 20, 2003
- 25,969
Yes, but we have all been somewhat happy for our "taxes" to pay off the slave owners.
Extraordinary amounts of money, the Government eventually stopped paying the loan of in 2015 !!
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- Jan 18, 2009
- 4,905
Slavery is as old as “money” on the basis that the more slaves you had the wealthier you were.
Slavery therefore has always been big business, and it continues to be so. If you need care for an elderly parent you know the drill.
As for its historical context, the Arabs were taking slaves from Africa before England existed.
Zanj Rebellion - Wikipedia
If you want to “repair” the consequences of the transatlantic slave trade it’s not the current incumbents of prime real estate it’s those that lived in the Caribbean prior to the arrival of African
slaves.
They are of course, we’re “Indians”, and they are all dead.
Give it to whom, exactly? There are no slaves to recompense now - not ones enslaved by the British, anyway. Pay it to the leaders of African countries whose ancestors were like as not the African chieftains and their henchmen who benefitted from selling the slave in the first place? Bollocks to that!
Meanwhile I'm off to consider the Spanish claim for the destruction of their navy in 1588, and all the slaughter of their innocent sailors and the distress and terrible hardships forced on their families. Now you go and do something useful - you can wear the hair-shirt, wring your hands and do the grovelling for the rest of us, eh.
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President Biden has had an excellent Loan Forgiveness Plan.
That of course is baldly correct, and on that basis reparations should be paid - and I'm not opposed to the idea in principle. However there are some counter-arguments. Firstly one could argue that for Britain as a whole any benefit is historic and had long dissipated before the 2nd quarter of the 21st century, i.e the ship has sailed. We, the modern British are not responsible for the actions of our ancestors, It's a bit like the English asking the Scandinavians to pay back the Danegeld.
However assuming one rejects that argument then for me there are three conditions that have to be met:
1 - Assuming the money will be a sizeable sum and will come from the government it must be consensual, i.e the British people have got to agree to pay it. We will have to agree to modern-day cuts and tax rises to pay for the sins of our fathers. It needs to be a manifesto pledge. (However if it's just going to be a symbolic gesture, or they're just going to come after rich individuals then obviously fine).
2 - Assuming it IS going to be a sizeable sum we MUST make sure that it is spent to the benefit of the people of the African nations responsible. Just handing over a cheque to an African government to spend as they see fit is a complete non-starter. All nations (including Britain) have levels of corruption and we don't want all our sacrifice just to go and line the pockets of (another) foreign ruling class.
3 - Assuming point 2 is met, that has to be the end of it. We benefited from slavery, we felt guilty, paid reparations and the world moves on.
If we can match all three points then fine, and once again Britain can bask in the warm glow of positive global approval that we did the right thing.
EDIT: Changed my mind slightly, post #67.
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Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
Why should we be handing over any money to the descendants of the slave traders..?
GloryDays
Well-known member
How much should be paid? I don’t think any money is a realistic resolution.
One corrupt nation paying off another? The people on either side won’t see the benefit, and of the figures being mooted would effectively bankrupt the country. If we thought the riots were bad in the summer, wait and see what our racist isle will do if we pay a few TN in reparations. I don’t think any reparations are actually feasible.
In moments like this I often wonder what it is that the government don’t want us talking about. I find things like this hugely incendiary and make ppl bicker with each other while policy makers slide thru some disgraceful changes in laws that make us all worse off.
When’s the budget?
nicko31
Well-known member
Surely the Brexiters dream, the chance to get closer to the beloved Commonwealth
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,063
why would we pay money to an African nation that didn't exist at the time and where some of it's people were responsible for enslavement? their decendents should be on the hook for paying reparations along with the UK, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands. the suggestion is money going to people in the Carribean and the Americas, and their decendants where ever they end up over 200 years. it wouldn't be the end of it either, there'd be decades of arguing over who is eligiable and for how much.
really it's daft and just to stirs up racial tensions. why not focus on modern day slavery and underpaid workers especially across the Middle East and Asia.
cheshunt seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 5, 2003
- 2,601
Absolutely, the biggest compensation scheme in our history. Except it excluded the real victims.
We wouldn't have become the world's leading industrial nation without the slave trade. The structure of it ensured that countries like Jamaica would never have an opportunity to develop as we did. In my view the morale case for reparations is incontestible and no amount of whataboutery will my change my opinion.
However, the detail of how it is done is much more difficult. I can't really see anything happening except for some token projects as the financial implications would be too unpalatable.
The way that you hear some people talk you would think that we only established the slave trade so we would be able to feel good about abolishing it and to give teachers a sound patriotic lesson to teach in schools.
All good points but wouldn't any cheque be handed to Caribbean nations?
The economy in parts of Africa also benefited from slavery, so should they give back? And what about the lives of British people lost in stopping other countries trading in slaves? Who's going to pay for their loss?
Perhaps i should sue the Italians for plastic surgery for my nose
At last an answer for 'what have the Romans ever given us?'