The Necessity of Reparation for Historic Injustices
The world Powers didn't know the word Colonisation .
Not one said lets colonise , somewhere , just for the fun of it .
The problems happened because women were such bad cooks .
Spices around Indo were the big attraction .
ALL of them knew the word Mercantilism !!!!!!!!!!!
ALL of them loved money , power and nice food .
Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
No need. We all know the absolute grubby companies behind the yes23 campaign.
You stick with The Klaxton and their "news without agenda" LMAO
burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
No need. We all know the absolute grubby companies behind the yes23 campaign.
You stick with The Klaxton and their "news without agenda" LMAO
So you have nothing to back up your claims with ? Seems like a regular occurrence with you , oh well .
Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
No need. We all know the absolute grubby companies behind the yes23 campaign.
You stick with The Klaxton and their "news without agenda" LMAO
So you have nothing to back up your claims with ? Seems like a regular occurrence with you , oh well .
Here you go. It's just a start - but it is a list of "Grubs". Don't know if they look any grubbier than the Klaxton article - but anyway.
https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/top-philanthropists...
https://thedailyaus.com.au/stories/who-are-australias-biggest-companies-...'t%20have%20a%20position.
garyg1412 wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
No need. We all know the absolute grubby companies behind the yes23 campaign.
You stick with The Klaxton and their "news without agenda" LMAO
So you have nothing to back up your claims with ? Seems like a regular occurrence with you , oh well .
Here you go. It's just a start - but it is a list of "Grubs". Don't know if they look any grubbier than the Klaxton article - but anyway.
https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/top-philanthropists...
https://thedailyaus.com.au/stories/who-are-australias-biggest-companies-...'t%20have%20a%20position.
Curious as to why the no campaign had fake headquarters and fake residential addresses. Seems they were trying to hide something, for what reason ?
garyg1412 wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
No need. We all know the absolute grubby companies behind the yes23 campaign.
You stick with The Klaxton and their "news without agenda" LMAO
So you have nothing to back up your claims with ? Seems like a regular occurrence with you , oh well .
Here you go. It's just a start - but it is a list of "Grubs". Don't know if they look any grubbier than the Klaxton article - but anyway.
https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/top-philanthropists...
https://thedailyaus.com.au/stories/who-are-australias-biggest-companies-...'t%20have%20a%20position.
It's worse than that pretty much every business or group the most here have ever whinged about, funded or supported the Yes vote from Banks to Mining companies (including Fossil fuel companies) to Church groups (companies like BHP dropped a million)
But yeah let try to make the No camp look bad because they had some money from some fat cats.
Im so proud of every day Australians that they weren't swayed by all this big big business and big corporations and huge advert campaign and other shit pushed on them.
Its the biggest FUCK YOU to all those groups and business and celebrities. (including bands etc)
Its fair to assume many were swayed by this pressure through, or that many weren't keen on the voice but were keen on the recognition aspect so still voted yes.
Its crazy to think how much lower the yes vote would have been for the voice if it was a completely even playing field with money and support and the recognition aspect was a seperate question.
Supafreak wrote:garyg1412 wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:burleigh wrote:Supafreak wrote:Grassroots campaign from ordinary Australian’s ? https://theklaxon.com.au/white-mans-dark-money-meet-the-bankrollers/
The Klaxton - News without agenda....... give me a break.
Now in the interest of fairness Supa, please post a list of companies that donated to the yes23 campaign and while you're there how much the Aus gov spend on the yes23 campaign.
I will leave that up to you burleigh , I’m sure instagram or tiktok will help you with your research .
No need. We all know the absolute grubby companies behind the yes23 campaign.
You stick with The Klaxton and their "news without agenda" LMAO
So you have nothing to back up your claims with ? Seems like a regular occurrence with you , oh well .
Here you go. It's just a start - but it is a list of "Grubs". Don't know if they look any grubbier than the Klaxton article - but anyway.
https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/top-philanthropists...
https://thedailyaus.com.au/stories/who-are-australias-biggest-companies-...'t%20have%20a%20position.
Curious as to why the no campaign had fake headquarters and fake residential addresses. Seems they were trying to hide something, for what reason ?
If true, a smart move, because obviously the left is full of complete nut job activist that like to cause all types of issues for business or organisation they dont agree with.
Wow Indo. Did the angry little man in you come out today?? You talk about having a civil two sided discussion on these forums, yet here you are commenting on one that is probably the most emotionally charged to say:
It's a big FUCK YOU
Had other shit pushed on them
I'm so proud
It's crazy to think
Complete nut job activists
Etc, etc, etc
You really are an island in your own sea of shit.
For someone that is tired of this thread you sure do visit a lot @indo
#pathological
indo-dreaming wrote:Its the biggest FUCK YOU to all those groups and business and celebrities. (including bands etc)
No it was directed at the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups in Australia backed by well off and wealthy Aboriginal elitists.
Keatings words did give me some comfort.
Keating made a good point "why would Aboriginals want recognition in a country that's theirs"
Supafreak wrote:For someone that is tired of this thread you sure do visit a lot @indo
Just flat out doing gods work supa.
Mysterious "No" backers with $$$s or crap campaign - which was it?
https://theconversation.com/the-yes-voice-campaign-is-far-outspending-no...
A measure of spend on two major online platforms in September - 10 x more by Yes:
"The main online advertising spend is on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms. We have real-time visibility of this spending thanks to the ad libraries of Meta and Google.
The Yes23 campaign has far outspent any other Voice campaigner on these platforms. In the last three months, its advertising expenditure exceeds $1.1 million, compared to just under $100,000 for Fair Australia, the leading “no” campaign organisation."
Messaging: who was clear cut and who seemed all over the place?
"The advertising spending data shows how drastically different the strategies of the two main campaigns are. Yes23’s approach is an ad blitz, blanketing the nation with hundreds of ads and experimenting with scores of different messages.
In contrast, the “no” side has released far fewer ads with no experimentation."
Yes23 has also released a far greater number of new ads in September (in excess of 3,200) on both platforms, compared to Fair Australia’s 52 new ads."
3,200 new ads in a month???!!! ..... how to confuse the public and suggest you have no idea what benefit you are selling. Imagine churning out 100 new ads a day and thinking that was good stuff and going to work!
Who was overseeing this spraygun strategy? I think we know - a pretty tight group were in control.
Imagine them with billions of dollars to assist FNP on the ground. Would they get the focus and consistency to create positive change or do a spraygun of good ideas?
The campaign put the Yes campaign leader's skills in the spotlight in a real world project with every advantage and a scorecard that can't be hidden.
The result is a legacy they and the people they represent need to ponder over if they want positive change.
Elon Musk in a recent conference told staff that everyone thinks the idea (protype in Tesla's case) is what is important. But he has found getting it working in production is 10,000 times harder. Implementation is what is tough out in the real world. Ideas are easy.
Yes im tired of this thread, and the voice is over, its done and dusted, id rather just let this thread die for a while until i guess Lidia does her next stunt.
But fuck me dead the bullshit that is being brought up, needs to be called out.
First its still dissing Warren or Jacinta then its the same old bullshit of people voted No because they are racist and and then today its more bullshit on where the money came from. (you know that small amount of money the NO camp had compared to the Yes camp)
And of course i noticed the other Andy (the sane one) dropped some classic its all Murdochs fault BS article, you can never leave that one out always Murdochs fault
Its just all complete bullshit, its time to move on and let it go.
;)
… flat out burning a hole in z dance floor
- lowinfo got all the answers, explanations and facts to boot ;)
https://m.
indo-dreaming wrote:Yes im tired of this thread, and the voice is over, its done and dusted, id rather just let this thread die for a while until i guess Lidia does her next stunt.
But fuck me dead the bullshit that is being brought up, needs to be called out.
First its still dissing Warren or Jacinta then its the same old bullshit of people voted No because they are racist and and then today its more bullshit on where the money came from.
And of course i noticed the other Andy (the sane one) dropped some classic its all Murdochs fault BS article, you can never leave that one out always Murdochs fault
Its just all complete bullshit, its time to move on and let it go.
According to +1.
That’s the attitude that continues the problem.
frog wrote:Mysterious "No" backers with $$$s or crap campaign - which was it?
https://theconversation.com/the-yes-voice-campaign-is-far-outspending-no...
A measure of spend on two major online platforms in September - 10 x more by Yes:
"The main online advertising spend is on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms. We have real-time visibility of this spending thanks to the ad libraries of Meta and Google.
The Yes23 campaign has far outspent any other Voice campaigner on these platforms. In the last three months, its advertising expenditure exceeds $1.1 million, compared to just under $100,000 for Fair Australia, the leading “no” campaign organisation."
Messaging: who was clear cut and who seemed all over the place?
"The advertising spending data shows how drastically different the strategies of the two main campaigns are. Yes23’s approach is an ad blitz, blanketing the nation with hundreds of ads and experimenting with scores of different messages.
In contrast, the “no” side has released far fewer ads with no experimentation."
Yes23 has also released a far greater number of new ads in September (in excess of 3,200) on both platforms, compared to Fair Australia’s 52 new ads."
3,200 new ads in a month???!!! ..... how to confuse the public and suggest you have no idea what benefit you are selling. Imagine churning out 100 new ads a day and thinking that was good stuff and going to work!
Who was overseeing this spraygun strategy? I think we know - a pretty tight group were in control.
Imagine them with billions of dollars to assist FNP on the ground. Would they get the focus and consistency to create positive change or do a spraygun of good ideas?
The campaign put the Yes campaign leader's skills in the spotlight in a real world project with every advantage and a scorecard that can't be hidden.
The result is a legacy they and the people they represent need to ponder over if they want positive change.
Elon Musk in a recent conference told staff that everyone thinks the idea (protype in Tesla's case) is what is important. But he has found getting it working in production is 10,000 times harder. Implementation is what is tough out in the real world. Ideas are easy.
The TV ad campaign must have been similar ratio, in the last few weeks i was seeing about half a dozen adverts a night for the YES camp and often different ones but in the last few weeks I didnt see one NO ad. (I only saw a couple months earlier)
I can only assume the No camp must have spent any budget they had in what they thought were the swing states on SA and TAS.
Does it matter? Vested interests everywhere. The end of the day majority blackfella community voted yes. Majority whitefella community voted no.
There’s your answer as to why. KISS
“ … its time to move on and let it go.“
Never
Those grifters will be reminded everywhere they go how they sold out the FNP to fill their own pockets.
It’s only the beginning @info
@Seeds
It doesnt matter because it didnt affect the vote, but it really would have sucked if it went the other way and it was a Yes, and then we didnt know how much influence money and huge difference in advertising budget or big business, other organisations, celebs support etc had on the result.
IMHO the real winner here is democracy because everything was thrown at things to influence peoples vote but it clearly didn't affect how most voted.
(Same deal with Clive Palmer last election, another case where he spent big money trying to buy a result for no return, another win for democracy)
BTW. Not many groups of people would vote against an offer of more power or say no matter if based on race, religion or whatever, its human nature.
@ Guy
You dont even seem to know the meaning of Grifter, people like Noel or even Marcia are the real grifters, they have been making money off the Aboriginal industry for decades they drive the gravy train, people like Thomas mayo are clearly eager for a chunk of it.
But yeah anyone you dont like is a grifter we get that, its gotten pretty old pretty fast though especially when you miss use the word.
On the night of the referendum, after voting closed, there were extraordinary scenes: the “No” campaign event, at the salubrious Hyatt Regency in Brisbane, was held in secret.
Media weren’t allowed in — media handlers wouldn’t even say who was in attendance.
It was unprecedented. https://b2877917.smushcdn.com/2877917/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/PK-TWEE...
Chicken man said,
“The end of the day majority blackfella community voted yes. Majority whitefella community voted no.
There’s your answer as to why. KISS”
Comment please +1.
You liked and commented on the “it doesn’t matter bit” to further your relentless self affirmation but neglected the point of my comment.
seeds wrote:Chicken man said,
“The end of the day majority blackfella community voted yes. Majority whitefella community voted no.
There’s your answer as to why. KISS”
Comment please +1.
You liked and commented on the “it doesn’t matter bit” to further your relentless self affirmation but neglected the point of my comment.
Im guessing this is for me.
Yeah i commented on that aspect I said
indo-dreaming wrote:BTW. Not many groups of people would vote against an offer of more power or say no matter if based on race, religion or whatever, its human nature.
I dont really know what your point is?
Democracy is about everyone having a say especially in regards to the constitution, and like i said not many groups as a majority would vote against an offer of more power or say, for instance if Chinese Australian's were offered an extra say in Aust-Chinese relations or Chinese immigration or Christian's were offered more of a say in issues that they feel affect them, if only those groups got to vote on it, both would pass, but if all of Australia was to vote on those things, im sure both would fail.
The exact same reasons we would vote against these things is exactly the same reason's most No voters voted against the Voice.
Oh yeah, that more power bit.
Retarded logic by Indo.
Are you the good Andy or the bad andy? I don’t come here enough to know. You both seem alright to me. Is there another andy? It must be that evil bastard. If he exists.
seeds wrote:Are you the good Andy or the bad andy? I don’t come here enough to know. You both seem alright to me. Is there another andy? It must be that evil bastard. If he exists.
No bad Andy's!
I guess I'm the bad one :)
The one who ridicules indo for comparing Indigenous people's desire to be brought up to a standard of living roughly comparable to the rest of us (a desire for "power" haha) with Chinese Australians.
The fella's a parsnip.
A fair-dinkum spud.
haha
Haha yes Tubeshooter
Maybe more profound than you think. What was the theme of the last show? And that court scene?
AndyM & Andy-Mac have very similar names and i disagree with both on pretty much everything.
But they are chalk and cheese in how they conduct themselves.
AndyM is often intentionally mischievious and misleading, just trying to stir up shit even twisting or misquoting previous post, rareky post anything with any thought behind things or substance, pretty much just a good for nothing scumbag.
While sure Andy-Mac can also drive me crazy in his views, but he clearly does his best to play the ball and not the man and he is up for a proper conversation or civil debate pretty much a straight shooter, and from various things ive seen IMHO is no doubt a quality person in real life.
So yeah thats why good and bad Andy.
“AndyM is often intentionally mischief and misleading, just trying to stir up shit even twisting or misquoting previous post,”
Haha, nah I quote you accurately mate :)
Who can forget that classic, “ the closer they are to their culture the more violent they are”.
Good for nothing scumbag?
Who?
this indo-dreaming dude is right. Seeds, andy-mac, andyM, basesix, guysmiley, some others, are just fucking toxic trolling cunts.
AndyM wrote:“AndyM is often intentionally mischief and misleading, just trying to stir up shit even twisting or misquoting previous post,”
Haha, nah I quote you accurately mate :)
Who can forget that classic, “ the closer they are to their culture the more violent they are”.
You are taking the piss right or just down right trolling?
Go dig up the post where i say those words? (provide the page and time)
You will find a view/discussion around a similar discussion but thats not what i said, see this is the shit im talking about.
You also have a habit of picking a line out of a post to quote without the context of the rest of the post.
You have also tried to paint me in just some bizarre ways like a number of times labeled me eugenics dreaming, which was just weird seeing im very proud to have mixed race kids. (and i called yout out on this, and even Southern raw at the time backed me)
I dont have this issue with others doing this because even those that completely disagree with me or even troll me have some type of decency in not sinking so low.
green room wrote:this indo-dreaming dude is right. Seeds, andy-mac, andyM, basesix, guysmiley, some others, are just fucking toxic trolling cunts.
Ha ha yep (bar Andy-Mac for reasons i state above)
That said there is also people here that can have decent discussions or debates and do play the ball and not the man or do their best to.
Hey guys .
I am going surfing tomorrow and "it feels good" .
How many of U are also experiencing that wonderful feeling ?
Anyone who has surfed , is blessed imho .
Anyone who lives in Australia , is blessed imho .
Make sure to encourage your kids ( I got one out of two ) to surf .
Please play ( as nice as you can and ) by the Old Rules .
Try and work out who is who ( I am not sure if I was nice or grumpy with which fn Andy now , but don't really give a fuck :) before hanging shit on someone u might like or not like , like I might have done or not done .
So chow , and sorry for all the drop ins , this pop , really won't try to do .
Poor eyesight , usually works , if I need an excuse , for bumping into , intentionally or unintentionally , people .
One of the many benefits of experience ( I try not to complain about getting , a bit , older :)
Not everyone has the privilege .
I feel quite lucky !
Sweet, Indo’s got a friend. Who may be himself or not himself. Don’t want to engage in long winded pointless statements( not discussions) you’re a troll? Might be you don’t have to say much to get your point across. Might be less is more. It’s impressive your posts have become so long and you can use spellcheck now. Can still see the odd one you rush through though eh matey.
Sadly, it always seems to be a competition with Indo. Who are you trying to keep up with?
indo-dreaming wrote:AndyM wrote:“AndyM is often intentionally mischief and misleading, just trying to stir up shit even twisting or misquoting previous post,”
Haha, nah I quote you accurately mate :)
Who can forget that classic, “ the closer they are to their culture the more violent they are”.
You are taking the piss right or just down right trolling?
Go dig up the post where i say those words? (provide the page and time)
You will find a view/discussion around a similar discussion but thats not what i said, see this is the shit im talking about.
You also have a habit of picking a line out of a post to quote without the context of the rest of the post.
You have also tried to paint me in just some bizarre ways like a number of times labeled me eugenics dreaming, which was just weird seeing im very proud to have mixed race kids. (and i called yout out on this, and even Southern raw at the time backed me)
I dont have this issue with others doing this because even those that completely disagree with me or even troll me have some type of decency in not sinking so low.
Then you doubled down and said it was the same with PNG except they haven't been colonised so they haven't got an excuse, it just comes naturally.
Remember?
We all know you're a big proponent of assimilation - ship em off to the city and breed it out of them. Like a cup of coffee that you keep adding milk to.
Until it just becomes coffee flavoured milk.
Remember?
WTF ? A resounding victory for Dutton ? You gotta be kidding me . …….. “ Peter Dutton’s visit signifies his commitment to strengthening the relationship between Australia and India. As the leader of the Liberal Party, his inaugural visit to India follows a resounding victory in a recent referendum. “ https://telanganatoday.com/australian-opposition-leader-peter-dutton-to-... …..apparently he’s been dubbed “ duty free dutton . “ …. Has he done a scomo and appointed himself as the minister for trade ?
Supafreak wrote:
Is that what criminal still alive?
green room wrote:this indo-dreaming dude is right. Seeds, andy-mac, andyM, basesix, guysmiley, some others, are just fucking toxic trolling cunts.
Isn't he though?
Thanks, champ.
Its funny when trolls get accused of trolling, and then reply with a another troll.
As for Andy M, thanks for proving my point.
indo-dreaming wrote:Its funny when trolls get accused of trolling, and then reply with a another troll.
As for Andy M, thanks for proving my point.
Isn't it though?
Thanks, champ.
Come on Indo, we all know what you’re about.
You’ve been making it clear for years.
Right wing, authoritarian, immoral ugliness.
AndyM always trying to find easy targets but still ends up missing every shot.
Uni assignment i did a few years ago. This is my take on things. I'm sure this will ruffle many feathers. I hope so.
Love Blue Diamond x
The Necessity of Reparation for Historic Injustices
Introduction – Compensatory Justice
Disparities between the standards of living of humans on this planet have long been a part of our history on this planet. From the wealthy nations of the West to the developing and undeveloped nations on this globe, the diversity in the quality of life when viewed from a moral standpoint are without a doubt grossly unfair.
In this paper I will look at why historic injustices do require some form of reparation. I take a strong stance that we are more obliged to solve current injustices than to provide reparation for every act of injustice in the past. In doing this I will first investigate the historic injustice of the Aboriginal people of Australia and I will look at the argument that they are entitled to some form of reparation and why.
I will incoroporate some interesting views from Jeremy Waldron, Robert Nozick and others which will help me slowly build to my conclusion that reparation should be in the form of Non Indigenous Australians surrendering some of our priveleges as a form of reparation.
Historic Injustices to Indigenous Australians:
Australia the continent was well inhabited for many years long before white settlement. It is commonly known that in 1788 Australia was colonised as a country under the rule of the British Empire, with total contempt for the fact that it was already inhabited by a native indigenous race of people.
The way the original inhabitants have been treated, including forced assimilation, execution, stolen families and not even allowed to be recognised as citizens for a large part of white Australia’s history are also well known facts. (Poole, 1999,pp114-142)
There exists now a situation where there is a large divide between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal Australian’s that can be traced back to the moment Australia was invaded by English settlers and the brutal and unfair treatment that has followed.
So at this point now, in 2013 what is the just and fair way to make amends for past actions?
I would argue that a moderate to large amount of reparation is overdue for this nation of people, the Aboriginal people. But there are many challenges to this view point especially that of how much reparation, and what sort of compensation.
Past injustices or present suffering?
One of the questions raised in an issue like this is whether it is better to provide compensation or reparation for past deeds, which have already been done in a previous generation and cannot be changed, or whether it is better to now provide assistance to those who are suffering in their current situations and consider that as a form of moral duty.
To understand this we need to delve a little deeper into this issue and hear some differing viewpoints.
Firstly we need to understand what the best way to provide reparation. How do we judge what is the best way of giving back and how much? Jeremy Waldron states “The historic record has a fragility that consists, …in the sheer contingency of what happened in the past” (Waldron,1992,p5 )
This is saying that we can’t trace every single injustice back to the original act therefore reparation for every act would be almost impossible because it would ultimately be guess work.
In this statement he has an objection from Robert Nozick who believes it is in fact possible to address this problem by “changing the present so that it resembles how the past would have looked had the injustice not taken place” (McKenzie, 2013)
This would be a way to ultimately provide maximum reparation, but is it the correct approach? I believe this is a fairly radical approach, although it does have some merits in the fact it would be working in a positive way for indigenous people, I don’t think it is entirely the right way to deal with these issues but it is on the right track.
Waldron argues that it is based on too many unknowns. “The status of counterfactual reasoning about the exercising of human reasoning of human freedom is unclear”(Waldron 1993,p10)
Which leaves the question somewhat open about the sort of reparation that is required, but provides one clear answer to the key question. Both agree that yes, reparation to some extent is required. But how much and in what form?
Another philosopher who leans more towards Waldron’s views is Kymlicka. He is somewhat more straightforward in his assessment that property rights in particular for Aboriginals would create “massive unfairness” and also he maintains the argument “Aboriginal rights must be grounded in concerns about equality and contemporary disadvantage. (McKenzie, 2013) I agree with both these views but I don’t think they provide any active solutions.
The Solution?
So if its not handing back all of Australia’s land to the original inhabitants that is the most appropriate way to deal with past injustices, then what is?
I look at the current country I grew up in, as a white Australian. I ask myself why I never had Aboriginal friends growing up, no understanding of Aboriginal culture and why my basic understanding of Indigenous Australians is mostly 200 years old. I look at our flag, a symbol of a nation that stole a country from its original inhabitants, with no recognition of the Indigenous people at all on it. I see that Australia considered Indigenous people as less than people until only 40 years ago and I see the way that Indigenous Australians live a completely separate life to the way of life I know as an Australian. I see that the only indigenous politician I am aware of is a former Olympian and it is because of this fact of her sporting status that I know this. I see no collective power or representation of Indigenous Australians and I see non Indigenous Australians,( a culture built on a history of stealing a land and mistreating its people) still taking, taking as much out of this land as they can, with little to no regard of sharing or giving to the original inhabitants. I see a government that says lots of words about ‘closing the gap’ and bringing the living standards of non- indigenous and indigenous Australians closer together, but apart from nice words, there is no conviction, no follow through, just assimilation , and all that still remains are injustices.
As stated by Sparrow, “Continuity gives rise to responsibility on part of present generations of Australians for our history”.(McKenzie,2013). Although deeds happened in the past beyond our control, what we do now to either ignore, or rectify these issues will reflect on us in history. So if we choose to do nothing, we are contributing to the history of the mistreatment of non- indigenous Australians. And this is simply unacceptable in my opinion.
Conclusion
So what is fair? I believe that the way forward is a surrendering of some of our privileges as non- indigenous Australians. The simple fact is it was morally wrong without a doubt what has happened in the past. And it is also morally wrong without a doubt to ignore these facts and not offer some form of reparation in the present. But how much?
I think that going back to Robert Nozick’s argument is a start. I think Nozick is wrong to make the present resemble the past in every aspect. But I do think that it would be reasonable to restore some aspects of the way things should be. The things that happened in the past were out of our control and we can’t go back to changing the way things were. But we could change the way things are.
For some examples. Why not give at least 50% of political power to indigenous people? It surely would be a fair thing to do considering this is their country. Media control. 50 percent. Industry. Realestate. The list goes on. Why do we not acknowledge the indigenous people on our flag, or better still use their flag? Why is Australia still a part of the Commonwealth when it serves little purpose to any of us and serves as a constant reminder to Indigenous Australians that they are still controlled by the original invaders. These to me are fairly simple reparations that would have minimal impact on Australia as a whole. Perhaps, it would alter the way we live but I think it is our responsibility, morally to forfeit some of our privileges for the greater good. Basically a little bit goes a long way.
In closing, it is a fact that a huge injustice occurred to the Indigenous population and suffering continues to this day. There is no easy solution to such a burden of pain. I believe the only solutions are for the non- Indigenous population to take responsibility and sacrifice our own way of life to bring about an overall equality. Sacrifice is not an easy word. But it all comes down to right and wrong. We are in a position to give, in this current generation. What are we so scared to lose, that was never ours in the first place??
Bibliography
McKenzie,C.”Prof” (2013), Lecture, Historic Injustices and Indigenous Rights, Macquarie University
Poole, R. (1999). Nation and Identity.Routledge, London, pp.114-142
Waldron,J. (1992). ‘Superseding Historic Injustice’. Ethics, 103 (1), 4-28
References
Poole, R. (1999). Nation and Identity.Routledge, London, pp.114-142
Waldron,J. (1992). ‘Superseding Historic Injustice’. Ethics, 103 (1), 4-28