Is America Now Paying Political Reparations for Past Voting Decisions?

There are many forms of reparations that can be transferred or taken by force from one group to another. These repayments can be financial, territorial, social, or, in the case of this post, made by way of power (this is inconclusive and I do not mean to prove it in this post). Perhaps reparations have some merit as a form of payment for collateral damage in war, for example, but as seems true for most other situations when there is a large entity dolling out money; there are endless pairs of hands that begin to claim victim-hood and there is no legitimate precedent to adhere to in order to determine who should be justly compensated. For example, Greece is still claiming that Germany owes it reparations from all the way back in WW1.

I disagree with the many who claim that putting a “tax” on those that initiate war would make the world a more peaceful place. For instance, there are some “just” wars, such as those wars that are fought against oppressive invasions or tyrannical forms of governance. Also, the resentment that forms because of these reparations would only serve to create more worldly chaos by escalating the animosity between the rivals.

The Treaty of Versailles

The most common case of reparations (at least, when I first came to the realization of them) was in the form of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference, the Allied Powers laid a hefty, and some would argue financially (penalty was 96,000 tons of gold and culturally crushing price, that was bestowed on the Germans as a punishment for beginning the war. Many argue that the Treaty and the reparations that it consisted of, were the precursor to WW2. Germany made its last payment of these reparations in 2010, some 90 years later.

Slavery Reparations

The most talked about form of reparations here in America, are slavery reparations. There have been media columnists, politicians, and prominent public figures who have demanded that the descendants of African slaves be recompensed (an economist at the University of Illinois calculated that slaves would be owed $6.4 trillion in 2014). They argue that this will erase, or at least ease, the pain and suffering that was forced upon their ancestors hundreds of years ago.

I don’t mean to argue over the immorality of slavery in this post, but it is a heinous act. There are many forms of oppression, and slavery is the most egregious. There are currently still millions of people worldwide who suffer from a form of slavery, such as slave labor, human trafficking, and the selling of humans in Libya.

Political Reparations

At present, it seems that America is having to pay political reparations for its “democratic” past. Notice, politicians rarely take umbrage towards a rivals policy views; instead they choose to brand them as “male”, or “white” or “privileged”. This attitude and strategy implies that these labels are enough to exclude them from office because they have had their day. It also implies that a person of the opposite gender, or a different race, or from a different background, deserves to have power because for decades, they have been excluded from it. Gone are the days of voting for someone based on merit/views; behold there is a new day in America where we are expected to pay reparations for our past and grant power to someone based on if they belong to a group who was at one time been slighted or oppressed. Reparations are being paid, and power is its currency.

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