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Originally Posted by shakran
Look, if we're going to adopt the stance that we must repay formerly oppressed groups for what we took from them, then we have to abandon the country and give it back to the Indians.
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/shrug. In Canada, we are keeping or renegotiating our treaties with the Aboriginals, to the best of my knowledge. We just recently signed off half of or arctic lands (rich in good old fashoned natural resources) to the Inuit.
I never said the moral principle was cheap.
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Originally Posted by shakran
If I steal your car I should have to make reparations for it. If your distant relative back in 1780 stole my distant relative's horse, as far as I'm concerned, you don't owe me a horse. It's not your fault, you didnt' do it, you wouldn't have done it, there was nothing you could do to prevent it, so why should you suffer?
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Why should you benefit? Lets say that horse won a derby. Your ancient ancestor ended up with a gold bust done by a famous artist, as the prise for the derby. The bust was just found. Who owns it?
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Originally Posted by shakran
Let's take it another step farther. Let's say my dad was a bank robber. I grew up eating food bought with money my dad stole from the bank. When I grew up, I became an accountant. I never committed a crime. I never helped dad commit a crime. Should I have to pay for dad's crime? Should I go to jail for him? Should I have to pay 3 millon dollars out of my meager accountant's salary because of crimes my father committed? The only sane answer is hell no.
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And what if you have 2 million dollars you inherited from your father, in a bag?
What if you have 2 million dollars of gold you inherited from your father, that he bought using the money he robbed from the bank?
What if he spend the money to buy a business that you inherited?
The issues I'd have would be certainty and limiting the damages to non-guilty to not exceed the benefit gained from the crime.