EP 29 The absurdity of reparations. Tying together development, third worldism, and western history.

We discuss reparations and why outside of an extremely narrow area of interest they are an absurd idea (in particular state mandated or state funded reparations). We interviewed on one of our earlier shows one of the prominent libertarian intellectuals Walter Block on the topic of reparations who advocates a narrow view of reparations for property which can be clearly demonstrated. Even within this narrow view, as we pointed out previously in our episode with Block, that plenty of typically considered “masters” or “whites” or westerns could in theory be owed wealth/land too. Plenty of land wasn’t stolen or was merely taken by what is basically is hunter gatherers and plenty of the genocide was merely an environmental inevitability which even Jared Diamond would point out in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel (ie germs).

As far as the British Empire is concerned it created plenty of positive externalities which if you take the expansive view of reparations it should be included too. Some examples of this are railroads, the abolishment of the slave trade, spread of literacy and Christianity, and modern institutions such as parliaments (for better or worse) are left behind thanks largely to the British Empire which was funded mainly by home British taxpayers who in some cases were not that much better off then subject peoples (read Road to Wigan pier by Orwell). This is the other absurd half to the reparation absurdity that reparations' will mainly fall upon working class citizens of the developed societies which is THE least libertarian or even left libertarian thing one could think of. It’s also worth pointing out that immigrants to the US didn't exactly come in the nicest of conditions and many came over in what is known as Coffin ships, weren't considered white at the time (almost black by the scientific racists at the time), and were drafted to fight in a war between states. Are these people owed money?

As far as ADOS persons or former subject persons living in Britain are concerned, we point out that functionally many of them not only have integrated they are full members of the dominant society and now in positions of power. The richest black in terms of per capita income (they would either be 44th or 15th richest nations depending on what metric one uses and year) and about ¾ of the black billionaires live in the US. So if you really want to take certain Chomskyite and Carsonite arguments about the West (or for that matter being wealthy while everyone else is much poorer) seriously these persons are functionally just as “Western” (i.e. exploiter class or imperialist using the Third Worldist terms) and owe money or reparations to the developed world supposedly. We don’t of course think the West created its wealth through exploitation which we tried to lay out in last week’s episode but nonetheless why would this group want this money if it’s so tainted according to the left and considering that many of them have integrated ? If ex slaves like descendants like Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King Jr want to integrate into a "common America" they have to in theory own up to America’s “greatness” or “genocide” depending on one's view. The back to Africa program never happened to any large scale for better or worse and the ones that did emigrate there ended up being a minor “colonial” elite themselves in Monrovia Liberia still to this day. Do these colonial elite in Monrovia owe reparations' to Liberians?

Reparations will only occur in developed/wealthy societies (like the UK, Germany, and US) that are even remotely capable and willing to do it. Poor societies will never pay reparations. The Soviet Union (now Russia) is never going to pay Ukraine in any fashion close to what the Ukraine famine cost it. Western intellectuals barely talk about it without couching it within hundreds of qualifiers and the USSR denied it for years. Germany; even after getting its scientists stolen, cities bombed, many of its ex-soldiers used as crop pickers for years by France and Russia, patents looted by the Americans, and half of it turned into a jail by the Soviets. The German taxpayers still pay Israel and the victims of holocaust a payment and arguably German taxpayers themselves should might be owed reparations too! Finally the West to a large extent has withdrawn from Africa but who is moving in and building new bases and buying up ports? China. We highly doubt they will ever pay any reparations or that Noam Chomsky or Carson will critique them as hard as they do the British or the Americans. The Chinese have no trouble treating blacks poorly in China itself or Muslims in certain provinces and most intellectuals and for that matter the NBA don’t seem to care. The UK and the US (as well as much of the other west including Spain and Germany) is the cleanest dirtiest shirt. Reparations are absurd.