12218: Reparations; Simidor responds to Wilson (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: karioka9@cs.com

I'm glad to see that Richard Wilson believes at least in some form of reparation.  "Use the money you spend on smoking, drinking, eating out and partying to pay your bills" he quotes a judge as saying. But say that somebody robbed your family years ago, and that after all those years the thief's family is still holding on to that property.  Does Mr. Wilson, the former probation officer, believe that in that case some form of restitution is also in order? Are the children and grandchildren of Jewish victims from the Nazi era wrong to seek restitution from Swiss banks of the money stolen from their parents?  Is Mr. Wilson opposed to German payments to Israel as compensation for the Holocaust, or to the Jews' return to the "Holy Land" after 2000 years of dispossession and exile?  Why is it that the descendants of slave owners can still enjoy the wealth accumulated during slavery, but that the descendants of the slaves cannot reclaim some of the unpaid labor of their fore parents?  I wonder if Mr. Wilson believe in inheritance as an entitlement across generations, or if he is simply guilty of a double standard? When shall the meek inherit the earth?

Mr. Wilson's description of "reparations for past sins" as inexcusable greed is adding insult to injury. I may not be a Christian, I'm certainly not a missionary, but I believe in an ethic of reparation, based on common sense and the acceptance of justice as a universal principle.  I defy anybody on this list to explain why restitution of the "independence debt" paid to France by Haiti is not a moral imperative for the French nation.  As one from the wronged party, I'll put it more bluntly: I know how the West got all this wealth.  For every dollar lent or given to a country like Haiti, it easily gets four in return.  On the subject of responsibility or morality, I say it time for the West to practice what it preaches: pay back some of the loot you stole from us.

Daniel Simidor