Where to even begin? First, I'm surprised that you’d take on this particular shibboleth. Before I get into that though, let me ask, just exactly what business is it of Denis Rancourt's telling Americans how they should conduct their domestic affairs? As a Canadian, I’m sure he’d resent Americans lecturing Canadians on how to run theirs. In addition, what exactly leads him to believe he’s qualified to comment on the subject? Because he can crunch numbers? I can do that. This is a typical case of Expert Syndrome, a corollary of the Dunning-Krueger effect, which points out that people qualified in one area of expertise tend to assume that extends to areas outside their professional competence. A simpler word for it is arrogance, and looking at his history with the U of Ottawa, I’d say he more than meets the definition.
Now on to the heart of the matter, to which Rancourt seems oblivious. The idea that you can extract reparations from the public purse for wrongs committed in the past for which no one living today is responsible, completely violates the prohibition of Collective Responsibility embodied in western (and other) jurisprudence going back as far as the Middle Ages. This is the sort of thing they do in North Korea, for God’s sake - punishing entire families for the purported crime of a single family member. Other countries that have violated the principle include Israel, China, the USSR, Cambodia, Nazi Germany and the USA, with regard to the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII (I’ll get to that later). Do you really want to run with that pack? Seriously?
Assuming you could even get past that legal barrier, let’s put some hard numbers to his idea. If each descendant of an African slave is entitled to $1.5M, and the population of American Blacks is 48M, then that represents a payout of 72 TRILLION dollars!!! Is this guy out of his fucking mind? Now, with a population of 335M, that means every American citizen is on the hook for $215,000!!! It’s even worse than that though, because presumably Black Americans aren’t required to pay, so the divisor then becomes 335M - 48M so $250,000 per every man woman and child (which also includes Native and other minorities). This passes from collective responsibility directly to collective punishment, also clearly prohibited by domestic and international law. I mean, I’m rolling on the floor laughing at the absurdity of it, but let’s keep going…
If you’re going to violate the principle of Collective Responsibility, then it’s only fair to violate it in the opposite direction. What do I mean by that? Well, given that the Civil Rights Act came into effect in 1964, and not even taking into account the benefits that have accrued since then in terms of government programs, foremost of which is Affirmative Action, and recalling that every American has the right to petition the government for redress, which includes peaceful demonstrations, let’s add up the cost since 1964 of the numerous NON-peaceful Black demonstrations, AKA riots since that time, which includes property damage, looting, loss of life and arguably loss of family income due to all that. And for good measure, let’s thrown in administrative costs as well, for all the court cases and extra work generated in repairing the damage caused.
I’m not going to do the math because the whole concept is absurd to begin with, but no doubt it’s a very large number considering that it covers a span of 60 years in which numerous very destructive riots occurred. And to anticipate the objection that not all Blacks were responsible for the damage, well then, you want to suspend the 14th Amendment to extract your reparations from 287M people, none of whom had anything whatsoever to do with slavery, then turnabout is fair play I’d say. I’m guessing the damages when you add it all up, including the incalculable amount of lost trade and income incurred from the destruction of property and degradation of the quality of life in many US cities, not to mention the disproportionate amount of crime committed by Black Americans since 1964, that the amount of damages far exceeds $72 Trillion, but let’s be generous and call it a wash, OK? Nobody owes you a damn thing. Not now. Not ever.
Next specious argument to deconstruct: 'Whitey held us back.' Yeah, no doubt some did, but the same argument applies to Chinese, Indians, Native people, Mexicans, and even some white folks, such as the Irish and Italians. Do you see them demanding reparations? No. They took responsibility for their own situation and advanced themselves, both as individuals and as communities. That the Black community allowed themselves to be infantilized for political reasons, mostly by Democrats aiming to capture their votes, is no fucking excuse at all. We’re all adults here and thus we’re all responsible for our own actions. If you didn’t take advantage of the opportunities presented, and there were many, then that’s on YOU. It’s not like you didn’t have good role models either. Look how many Blacks have succeeded in the professions, in business and politics, the arts, sports and any other occupation you’d care to mention. Nothing more needed than the ambition, talent and perhaps intelligence required to achieve that, and if you happened to lack in some of those, that’s just the unfairness of life in general - not something you can legislate away or blame someone else for.
Now, the Japanese, which IMO is a special case. Most of them were American citizens, so their civil rights were clearly violated. Many of those affected were still living at the time of reparations, which could be calculated based on the amount of property forfeited plus income lost thereby. $20,000 per each living survivor is a paltry sum IMO, but it is what it is. They agreed to it, the case is closed, and it by no means sets a precedent.
Again, I have to ask… why go down this road? I’m speaking as someone with a long history of supporting human rights, starting in the mid 70’s when my then Spanish wife was a social worker fighting for the rights of refugees from Chile, Nicaragua and El Salvador (some real horror there) and at present, for the human rights of Palestinians, Afghanis, Syrians, etc. etc. ALL of whom are dealing with far worse circumstances than any contemporary Black American. To even compare the two is an insult to one’s intelligence. We’re up to 30,000 dead in Gaza alone, most of them women and children, so with all due respect, fuck Black History month.
If you want to make a difference here’s how. It's where my money goes, all that I can spare in fact, which is why I don’t subscribe to any substacks, and why mine is free and carries an appeal to do what I do myself. If you like my content, which includes music from that part of the world - my puny attempt to show that these are real people just like you and me - then donate here:
And while you’re there, how about signing the petition for a Canadian arms embargo on Israel?
Sorry if this offends you but it’s how I feel. I’ve heard enough already about the oppression of Blacks in America. Most of their problems are of their own making IMO, while the people I support are innocent victims of US and British imperialism, the most murderous bunch of rat bastards ever to walk the earth. We’re talking millions of victims. Millions! And it’s happening as we speak. Where’s the concern for that in the Black community? Where’s the solidarity? The only Black organization I see doing anything, and that I have any respect for, is the Nation of Islam. The rest are just grifters as far as I’m concerned. You want to help them out, fine, but I guarantee you they’ll do nothing to help you when the chips are down. They’ll just go on doing what they’ve always done, blaming you and me for their problems.
Priorities. If you want to effect real change, you have to set priorities.
Wow, so well composed and thoughtful presentation. I just don’t have time so I used a scene from The Temple of Doom, I think that was the movie. I just cannot suffer the brilliant fool. Cheers! I ove you a beer!
Well, its a complex issue, as are all these issues that involve hundreds of years, billions of peoples emotions, the human body, the climate etc etc. Its so frustrating when people think the answer is simple. Not that I'm accusing Nevermore of that in particular, but the whole mention of reparations based on skin colour is pure critical race theory racism front and centre, and completely shrouds the fact that we have all been robbed out whole fucking lives by slave masters. Though I will certainly admit that some slaves have had it more comfortable than others.
"Its so frustrating when people think the answer is simple."
That's the legacy (or perhaps curse) of Hegelian dialectics - the impulse to frame everything as a choice between two opposing forces, as if there weren't a multiplicity of variables and view points between those extremes. It's the main reason I don't identify with any particular camp, since they're all infected by it to one degree or another.
My approach is to try and present alternative analytical methods that avoid that trap - such things as General Semantics, Information Theory, Media Ecology, Cultural Materialism and so forth. Right now I'm studying Islamic exegesis, trying to sort out the various positions within that culture and see things through their eyes, as opposed to the constant barrage of disinformation being spread about Islam in general, but particularly about groups opposed to the globalist agenda, which as it turns out play a major role in supporting Islamic extremists, which I've discovered the vast majority of Muslims of all sects oppose.
In the interest of human rights and human dignity I'll take a Muslim, Christian, or Secular position on that behalf, depending on which approach seems most likely to yield results. It's far more rewarding than taking a single position and attempting to defend it, particularly when elements with your own camp often disagree on basic principles.
I have nothing against reparations in principle, but the devil is in the details. Take me, for instance.
I can prove that I am descended from an African slave, probably from Angola, who came over in the 1600s to Virginia or North Carolina. Either he, she, or their immediate descendants somehow gained their freedom by the early 1700s.
I can also prove that my great x2 grandfather owned 40 slaves in Alabama in 1860, and a great x5 or 6 grandpappy once sold a black slave named Pedro in New Orleans in 1800. Do I get reparations for my one slave ancestor over three centuries ago?
How much African DNA must one have to get reparations? Does Kamala Harris get them because she had a slave ancestor in Jamaica? Is there means-testing? Do we just sorta tell by looking, like we used to do for other things? Do we have a sliding scale for reparations based on skin-tone or DNA?
Finally, how in the HELL do you think anything like this would EVER come to be when most Americans can't even afford a $400 emergency? All it is now is a tool of the oligarchy to divide and rule, and that's just wrong.
I think reparations are much more doable if most Americans are relatively prosperous and won't perceive that they are being discriminated against or passed over themselves by their black neighbors getting them when they need help as well and are seriously struggling.
If only we learned the values of skin pigmentation and regionality and how dark skin was an adaptation of melatonin to protect from uv rays... instead of develop racism... another story that was created in eugenics of humanity and developing the 'us and them' story...
Show's how long indoctrinations have been playing havoc on being human has adapted our psyche towards protective statures... developing a war like nature rather than a supportive loving creative nature...
Can we repair now and carry forward, by example of what never has worked in history?
Peace be with you and your history...
I'm not proud to be of the lineage of French who arrived in Rimouski in the Jacques Cartier days... mid 1500's and that I have a Metis grandmother, and how if you read 'Barkskins' by Annie Proulx, it will give you a feeling of the times of First Nations peoples displacements and eugenics then...
What I do for today, to heal with heal all the past in its presence within my cellular memory... it's possible, it needs to be at any rate. For if we continue to choose to hang onto the wrongs of the past, we will stay stuck there, can we heal this now and move forward in our highest sacred spirit?
Anarchists talking about collective social engineering based on race? Hilarious. I don't know how I managed to get subscribed to this nonsense, but you can be sure I'm unsubscribing now. Ciao
Let’s just start reparations for everyone oppressed in history. Africans that sold their families. Muslims for the Christians. Egyptians for the Hebrews. Romans for the English. Africans for the Europeans. Natives for the Natives. Aztecs for their Natives.
In fact, let’s go all the way back and sue the Anunnaki that enslaved the Sumerians and proto-humans.
No one has any greater claim than anyone else. The only reason slavery in the US is being used is that it’s recent-ish history.
As anarchists I thought you would be more for the elites and banksters paying reparations to the people for the debt slavery, not falling into the racism/anti-racism schtick.
The brilliant Rancourr… My best short form response to all his intellectual calculations on my, or any US citizens responsibility for some seventh generation welfare recipients “reparations” would be to compare him to the giant Arab with the scimitar in Indiana Jones. After fighting off the assaults of socialism and unjust taxation my entire life, tired from hand to hand combat, when the Rancourr raises his reparations weapon, I’m tired of the tomfoolery. I unholster my 44 and hole his Syphlitic head. There, fixed it for ya’.
Reparations are state theft trying to correct state theft.
Are you sure you're an anarchist?
Where to even begin? First, I'm surprised that you’d take on this particular shibboleth. Before I get into that though, let me ask, just exactly what business is it of Denis Rancourt's telling Americans how they should conduct their domestic affairs? As a Canadian, I’m sure he’d resent Americans lecturing Canadians on how to run theirs. In addition, what exactly leads him to believe he’s qualified to comment on the subject? Because he can crunch numbers? I can do that. This is a typical case of Expert Syndrome, a corollary of the Dunning-Krueger effect, which points out that people qualified in one area of expertise tend to assume that extends to areas outside their professional competence. A simpler word for it is arrogance, and looking at his history with the U of Ottawa, I’d say he more than meets the definition.
Now on to the heart of the matter, to which Rancourt seems oblivious. The idea that you can extract reparations from the public purse for wrongs committed in the past for which no one living today is responsible, completely violates the prohibition of Collective Responsibility embodied in western (and other) jurisprudence going back as far as the Middle Ages. This is the sort of thing they do in North Korea, for God’s sake - punishing entire families for the purported crime of a single family member. Other countries that have violated the principle include Israel, China, the USSR, Cambodia, Nazi Germany and the USA, with regard to the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII (I’ll get to that later). Do you really want to run with that pack? Seriously?
Assuming you could even get past that legal barrier, let’s put some hard numbers to his idea. If each descendant of an African slave is entitled to $1.5M, and the population of American Blacks is 48M, then that represents a payout of 72 TRILLION dollars!!! Is this guy out of his fucking mind? Now, with a population of 335M, that means every American citizen is on the hook for $215,000!!! It’s even worse than that though, because presumably Black Americans aren’t required to pay, so the divisor then becomes 335M - 48M so $250,000 per every man woman and child (which also includes Native and other minorities). This passes from collective responsibility directly to collective punishment, also clearly prohibited by domestic and international law. I mean, I’m rolling on the floor laughing at the absurdity of it, but let’s keep going…
If you’re going to violate the principle of Collective Responsibility, then it’s only fair to violate it in the opposite direction. What do I mean by that? Well, given that the Civil Rights Act came into effect in 1964, and not even taking into account the benefits that have accrued since then in terms of government programs, foremost of which is Affirmative Action, and recalling that every American has the right to petition the government for redress, which includes peaceful demonstrations, let’s add up the cost since 1964 of the numerous NON-peaceful Black demonstrations, AKA riots since that time, which includes property damage, looting, loss of life and arguably loss of family income due to all that. And for good measure, let’s thrown in administrative costs as well, for all the court cases and extra work generated in repairing the damage caused.
I’m not going to do the math because the whole concept is absurd to begin with, but no doubt it’s a very large number considering that it covers a span of 60 years in which numerous very destructive riots occurred. And to anticipate the objection that not all Blacks were responsible for the damage, well then, you want to suspend the 14th Amendment to extract your reparations from 287M people, none of whom had anything whatsoever to do with slavery, then turnabout is fair play I’d say. I’m guessing the damages when you add it all up, including the incalculable amount of lost trade and income incurred from the destruction of property and degradation of the quality of life in many US cities, not to mention the disproportionate amount of crime committed by Black Americans since 1964, that the amount of damages far exceeds $72 Trillion, but let’s be generous and call it a wash, OK? Nobody owes you a damn thing. Not now. Not ever.
Next specious argument to deconstruct: 'Whitey held us back.' Yeah, no doubt some did, but the same argument applies to Chinese, Indians, Native people, Mexicans, and even some white folks, such as the Irish and Italians. Do you see them demanding reparations? No. They took responsibility for their own situation and advanced themselves, both as individuals and as communities. That the Black community allowed themselves to be infantilized for political reasons, mostly by Democrats aiming to capture their votes, is no fucking excuse at all. We’re all adults here and thus we’re all responsible for our own actions. If you didn’t take advantage of the opportunities presented, and there were many, then that’s on YOU. It’s not like you didn’t have good role models either. Look how many Blacks have succeeded in the professions, in business and politics, the arts, sports and any other occupation you’d care to mention. Nothing more needed than the ambition, talent and perhaps intelligence required to achieve that, and if you happened to lack in some of those, that’s just the unfairness of life in general - not something you can legislate away or blame someone else for.
Now, the Japanese, which IMO is a special case. Most of them were American citizens, so their civil rights were clearly violated. Many of those affected were still living at the time of reparations, which could be calculated based on the amount of property forfeited plus income lost thereby. $20,000 per each living survivor is a paltry sum IMO, but it is what it is. They agreed to it, the case is closed, and it by no means sets a precedent.
https://theconversation.com/why-japanese-americans-received-reparations-and-african-americans-are-still-waiting-119580
Again, I have to ask… why go down this road? I’m speaking as someone with a long history of supporting human rights, starting in the mid 70’s when my then Spanish wife was a social worker fighting for the rights of refugees from Chile, Nicaragua and El Salvador (some real horror there) and at present, for the human rights of Palestinians, Afghanis, Syrians, etc. etc. ALL of whom are dealing with far worse circumstances than any contemporary Black American. To even compare the two is an insult to one’s intelligence. We’re up to 30,000 dead in Gaza alone, most of them women and children, so with all due respect, fuck Black History month.
If you want to make a difference here’s how. It's where my money goes, all that I can spare in fact, which is why I don’t subscribe to any substacks, and why mine is free and carries an appeal to do what I do myself. If you like my content, which includes music from that part of the world - my puny attempt to show that these are real people just like you and me - then donate here:
https://www.islamicreliefcanada.org/
And while you’re there, how about signing the petition for a Canadian arms embargo on Israel?
Sorry if this offends you but it’s how I feel. I’ve heard enough already about the oppression of Blacks in America. Most of their problems are of their own making IMO, while the people I support are innocent victims of US and British imperialism, the most murderous bunch of rat bastards ever to walk the earth. We’re talking millions of victims. Millions! And it’s happening as we speak. Where’s the concern for that in the Black community? Where’s the solidarity? The only Black organization I see doing anything, and that I have any respect for, is the Nation of Islam. The rest are just grifters as far as I’m concerned. You want to help them out, fine, but I guarantee you they’ll do nothing to help you when the chips are down. They’ll just go on doing what they’ve always done, blaming you and me for their problems.
Priorities. If you want to effect real change, you have to set priorities.
Wow, so well composed and thoughtful presentation. I just don’t have time so I used a scene from The Temple of Doom, I think that was the movie. I just cannot suffer the brilliant fool. Cheers! I ove you a beer!
I dont have to get specific, but I'll say that I do agree with this comment on vertually all counts. Very well argued.
Thanks. I was about to cut it back a bit actually. Too wordy and a bit over the top. I'll leave it as is though, since there's already comments.
Well, its a complex issue, as are all these issues that involve hundreds of years, billions of peoples emotions, the human body, the climate etc etc. Its so frustrating when people think the answer is simple. Not that I'm accusing Nevermore of that in particular, but the whole mention of reparations based on skin colour is pure critical race theory racism front and centre, and completely shrouds the fact that we have all been robbed out whole fucking lives by slave masters. Though I will certainly admit that some slaves have had it more comfortable than others.
"Its so frustrating when people think the answer is simple."
That's the legacy (or perhaps curse) of Hegelian dialectics - the impulse to frame everything as a choice between two opposing forces, as if there weren't a multiplicity of variables and view points between those extremes. It's the main reason I don't identify with any particular camp, since they're all infected by it to one degree or another.
My approach is to try and present alternative analytical methods that avoid that trap - such things as General Semantics, Information Theory, Media Ecology, Cultural Materialism and so forth. Right now I'm studying Islamic exegesis, trying to sort out the various positions within that culture and see things through their eyes, as opposed to the constant barrage of disinformation being spread about Islam in general, but particularly about groups opposed to the globalist agenda, which as it turns out play a major role in supporting Islamic extremists, which I've discovered the vast majority of Muslims of all sects oppose.
In the interest of human rights and human dignity I'll take a Muslim, Christian, or Secular position on that behalf, depending on which approach seems most likely to yield results. It's far more rewarding than taking a single position and attempting to defend it, particularly when elements with your own camp often disagree on basic principles.
Meant to add this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafsir
I have nothing against reparations in principle, but the devil is in the details. Take me, for instance.
I can prove that I am descended from an African slave, probably from Angola, who came over in the 1600s to Virginia or North Carolina. Either he, she, or their immediate descendants somehow gained their freedom by the early 1700s.
I can also prove that my great x2 grandfather owned 40 slaves in Alabama in 1860, and a great x5 or 6 grandpappy once sold a black slave named Pedro in New Orleans in 1800. Do I get reparations for my one slave ancestor over three centuries ago?
How much African DNA must one have to get reparations? Does Kamala Harris get them because she had a slave ancestor in Jamaica? Is there means-testing? Do we just sorta tell by looking, like we used to do for other things? Do we have a sliding scale for reparations based on skin-tone or DNA?
Finally, how in the HELL do you think anything like this would EVER come to be when most Americans can't even afford a $400 emergency? All it is now is a tool of the oligarchy to divide and rule, and that's just wrong.
I think reparations are much more doable if most Americans are relatively prosperous and won't perceive that they are being discriminated against or passed over themselves by their black neighbors getting them when they need help as well and are seriously struggling.
If only we learned the values of skin pigmentation and regionality and how dark skin was an adaptation of melatonin to protect from uv rays... instead of develop racism... another story that was created in eugenics of humanity and developing the 'us and them' story...
Show's how long indoctrinations have been playing havoc on being human has adapted our psyche towards protective statures... developing a war like nature rather than a supportive loving creative nature...
Can we repair now and carry forward, by example of what never has worked in history?
Peace be with you and your history...
I'm not proud to be of the lineage of French who arrived in Rimouski in the Jacques Cartier days... mid 1500's and that I have a Metis grandmother, and how if you read 'Barkskins' by Annie Proulx, it will give you a feeling of the times of First Nations peoples displacements and eugenics then...
What I do for today, to heal with heal all the past in its presence within my cellular memory... it's possible, it needs to be at any rate. For if we continue to choose to hang onto the wrongs of the past, we will stay stuck there, can we heal this now and move forward in our highest sacred spirit?
Wow, this is cool! Really like this article. Just getting into it.
Also nice and to the point. I like that.
Anarchists talking about collective social engineering based on race? Hilarious. I don't know how I managed to get subscribed to this nonsense, but you can be sure I'm unsubscribing now. Ciao
Right on Dog. At first glance, I figured it was some kind of parody and couldn't possibly be serious. I too am outta here.
Let’s just start reparations for everyone oppressed in history. Africans that sold their families. Muslims for the Christians. Egyptians for the Hebrews. Romans for the English. Africans for the Europeans. Natives for the Natives. Aztecs for their Natives.
In fact, let’s go all the way back and sue the Anunnaki that enslaved the Sumerians and proto-humans.
No one has any greater claim than anyone else. The only reason slavery in the US is being used is that it’s recent-ish history.
As anarchists I thought you would be more for the elites and banksters paying reparations to the people for the debt slavery, not falling into the racism/anti-racism schtick.
The brilliant Rancourr… My best short form response to all his intellectual calculations on my, or any US citizens responsibility for some seventh generation welfare recipients “reparations” would be to compare him to the giant Arab with the scimitar in Indiana Jones. After fighting off the assaults of socialism and unjust taxation my entire life, tired from hand to hand combat, when the Rancourr raises his reparations weapon, I’m tired of the tomfoolery. I unholster my 44 and hole his Syphlitic head. There, fixed it for ya’.
Great article! Glad I subscribed! :)