I am excited by the prospects of this vision and I am curious as I learn more how different cultures internalize these values in reference to their ancestral wisdom and indigenous beliefs. There are countless human philosophies around the earth that live in harmony with their land and sustainably and abundantly provide for their communities. It appears that cultures and nations who recently dominated and decimated similar sustainable ways of living, in search for profit, expansion of power, etc. are the cultures trying to provide support and charity toward the people and lands whom they actively extract value from. I am uncertain if this power dynamic is effectively captured in the concepts of “privilege and seriousness of these issues”. I am seeking to find the truth and looking forward to conversations with those who disagree and those who recognize the seriousness of unconditional reparations as a form of decolonization.
Thank you, Anthony, for your very thoughtful comment. I live in a white community in the western US where there was a forced march of Indigenous people from their ancestral homeland to the reservation. Recently the local government has been renaming landmarks, including a bridge over which they were forced, with names in that language. This strikes me as something to assuage white guilt and excuse us from taking real action, like the unconditional reparations you mention. I wonder if this is in the same vein as the question you raise here.
I am excited by the prospects of this vision and I am curious as I learn more how different cultures internalize these values in reference to their ancestral wisdom and indigenous beliefs. There are countless human philosophies around the earth that live in harmony with their land and sustainably and abundantly provide for their communities. It appears that cultures and nations who recently dominated and decimated similar sustainable ways of living, in search for profit, expansion of power, etc. are the cultures trying to provide support and charity toward the people and lands whom they actively extract value from. I am uncertain if this power dynamic is effectively captured in the concepts of “privilege and seriousness of these issues”. I am seeking to find the truth and looking forward to conversations with those who disagree and those who recognize the seriousness of unconditional reparations as a form of decolonization.
Thank you, Anthony, for your very thoughtful comment. I live in a white community in the western US where there was a forced march of Indigenous people from their ancestral homeland to the reservation. Recently the local government has been renaming landmarks, including a bridge over which they were forced, with names in that language. This strikes me as something to assuage white guilt and excuse us from taking real action, like the unconditional reparations you mention. I wonder if this is in the same vein as the question you raise here.