Slavery reparations hearing ignites fiery debate in Congress

[Dr. Who]

That's great.

I wasn't part of that, nor was pretty much any living black person in this nation.

So why do I owe that black person money?

Explain the equality of that to me.

I guess the explanation would be that the states that imposed Jim Crow laws benefited financially from laws that ensured that blacks were paid less than whites and that may well be quantifiable and could be translated into unearned income which from a simplistic point of view could have been invested in real estate. Using a real estate value multiplier you could determine the amount of money lost to families which would have otherwise been passed down to subsequent generations.

As someone who does not hail from the south and doesn't have any southern history, it should not be your debt to repay as your family did not enjoy that benefit.

[Safety]

Well, frankly, when you look at proportions of groups who receive government aid and race/ethnic based quotas.... we kind of already have some level of reparations....

If people received that money that never had an ancestor that was a slave, then no it wasn’t. But I appreciate the effort you put into the tired welfare/reparation trope...not really.

[Captain Obvious]

I guess the explanation would be that the states that imposed Jim Crow laws benefited financially from laws that ensured that blacks were paid less than whites and that may well be quantifiable and could be translated into unearned income which from a simplistic point of view could have been invested in real estate. Using a real estate value multiplier you could determine the amount of money lost to families which would have otherwise been passed down to subsequent generations.

As someone who does not hail from the south and doesn't have any southern history, it should not be your debt to repay as your family did not enjoy that benefit.

The north had slaves too.

That anyone "benefited"... so to counter that what I think is a weak argument would be with another weak argument in that, had these slaves not been enslaved and their issue, is living in the US better or worse than living in Africa, being eaten by rabid hippos and/or enslaved by other countries or Islamic terrorists?

Weak argument but valid, but better yet still a better challenge to your point.

[Ethereal]

"“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury...." --Alexander Fraser Tytler

He makes the classic mistake of conflating the existence of voting with the practice of democracy.

While voting may often be a characteristic of democracy, its mere existence does not necessarily denote democracy.

On a small scale, among a tightly knit community of people, democracy is not only feasible but desirable, and fully consonant with human nature.

The biggest problem with "democracy" throughout history has been attempts to scale it up past its natural limits.

[Dr. Who]

Well, frankly, when you look at proportions of groups who receive government aid and race/ethnic based quotas.... we kind of already have some level of reparations....

I beg to differ. The money that was withheld from past generations created an underemployed/undereducated class of citizens and undermined the family unit which has translated to a counter culture among those who have never escaped the damage that was done. Paying government aid today for the cultural destruction of families in some communities does not compensate for what they lost in inheritance. There are many studies that have concluded that poverty and lack of success in these communities is directly connected to lack of inheritance which has been identified as a major source of success in whites as a demographic. It's analogous to suggesting that welfare or disability income is really compensation for losing your ability to work.

[Dr. Who]

The north had slaves too.

That anyone "benefited"... so to counter that what I think is a weak argument would be with another weak argument in that, had these slaves not been enslaved and their issue, is living in the US better or worse than living in Africa, being eaten by rabid hippos and/or enslaved by other countries or Islamic terrorists?

Weak argument but valid, but better yet still a better challenge to your point.

However, I am not talking about reparations for slavery, but for discriminatory laws post slavery that have created a legacy of poverty. I don't think that reparations for slavery are really possible at this juncture.

[Captain Obvious]

However, I am not talking about reparations for slavery, but for discriminatory laws post slavery that have created a legacy of poverty. I don't think that reparations for slavery are really possible at this juncture.

Where's my reparations for bad laws forcing me to pay for other people's $#@! I had nothing to do with?

Like the real estate bubble when I bought a modest house and every other flake on the planet over-extended and I had to bail them out? Or when I paid for my undergrad and MBA out of my pocket but suddenly I have to pay for loans that derps obtained on useless educations?

Can of worms. Good luck with that, I have a pitchfork handy if any of this goes anywhere but I don't think it will.

[Dr. Who]

Where's my reparations for bad laws forcing me to pay for other people's $#@! I had nothing to do with?

Like the real estate bubble when I bought a modest house and every other flake on the planet over-extended and I had to bail them out? Or when I paid for my undergrad and MBA out of my pocket but suddenly I have to pay for loans that derps obtained on useless educations?

Can of worms. Good luck with that, I have a pitchfork handy if any of this goes anywhere but I don't think it will.

I guess the difference is that you were not singled out for special treatment.

[Captain Obvious]

I guess the difference is that you were not singled out for special treatment.

Nor did I single out anyone else for that matter.

So what "debt" do I owe?

[Sergeant Gleed]

Reparations should be paid by the DNC to any black person who can prove they personally were enslaved by the Rodents before 1865.