Smithers, see how my Confederate Slaveholdings stock is doing!

Why yes, Rocketman, it is....that is what makes this country great.

If you work hard, you actually get the chance to enjoy the spoils.

Unlike the middle eastern countries where the governments get to keep all the loot and feed the regular joes a line of BS about how the USA is keeping them down.

To quote Gordan Gecko, "Greed is good, Greed works."



DaDakota

 

... but not SUPPORT!

 

You do realize he isn't a real person, don't you?

 

What....Gecko is not real....who says.....prove it....come on...I dare you.

You mean Michael Douglass is not really Gecko...ah man..my life is ruined.

Come on Mrs JB, you can not be a resident babe if you are asking silly questions.

Sheesh !!!



DaDakota

 

I'm not passing the buck and I'm not giving any money EITHER!!

Slavery was a shameful worldwide phenomenon. So what?

Which of the great African Universities would Kunta Kinte have attended? These descendents of slaves are better off for having been delivered here (however they got here) than to have stayed behind in Africa. Ask Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams.

If they or their ancestors didn't think this was a better life, any of the previous generations could have headed back to Africa almost anytime in the last same 140 years.

This is a free country. Anyone whose ancestors were posited here against there will are and have been free to return.

I'm NOT sensing a rush to the doors. Am I surprised? NO.

 

DaDorkota: Silly, huh? You're the fool using quotes from fictional characters to back up your greedy beliefs. Get over yourself.

 

NO, it isnt an insult. I am merely commenting how great a poster you are. Its also funny how some posters suck up to admins. O-great-one. (not sarcastic)

 

Mrs JB, come on now, let's not resort to name calling, ok babe?



DaDakota

 

The "they're better off" defense is not only stupid but it does nothing to provide justice for the crimes committed. African-Americans would have been "better off" to immigrate to America like everyone else. How sickening of you to think they're better off to have been kidnapped, enslaved, oppressed, and denied their rights as human beings because they live in this country today when they could have simply come to this country of their own free will and been "better off".

 

Hey DaDickota: Since you keep calling me "babe" I can only come to the conclusion that you're attempting to engage in some pathetic geek courtship ritual with me. But since we're both already spoken for, why don't you keep the love talk to yourself -- alright, big boy?

 

And exactly how many of them are some 140 years old? Certainly the 3rd or 4th generation on was FAR better off. Perhaps even the 2nd generation. The toughest argument to make is for the first generation, of course.

You can't throw everyone in the same pool. The population of the so-called abused grew largely with each succeeding generation.

What were the crimes again? Slavery, though ignominious, was legal.

Hey, idiot, be careful who you call stupid!

 

Hey I didn't call you stupid, just think your defense is stupid. lol Should we take a poll on how many of us would have rather had our ancestors enslaved and brought to the US as opposed to our ancestors having the free will to choose? What would be your choice?

I would think that you as a staunch Republican would be against the intrusion of government upon the rights of free peoples and since you're also for conservative values that you'd be disgusted that a people would have been treated this way by our country. I guess you're not so Republican after all!

 

So, what would you do if the government did decide to give x-amount of dollars to decendants of slaves?

 

Well, anyone knows what the answer to that poll would be but that is no argument to marshall to justify reparations. Either way the same people end up in America. The real poll would be to see who wishes their ancestors had remained in Africa.

Actually, those people have voted with their feet all these years by staying here. Anyone find those African emigration stats yet?

I'm Republican-- don't know about the staunch part. It wasn't the government intruding upon the rights of the free African peoples. Those guys were immoral entrepreneurs with poor ethics. We have them today, they are called pornographers.

You can even go so far as to say it was the law of the people of the land. So blame the American people of the 19th century. They are the ones who allowed or tolerated slavery up to a point.

It IS sad but not disgusting. Slavery was a worldwide phenomenon that was in America as well as just about every other "civilized" country.

<b>RM95</b>: I don't honestly know what I'd do. If it were a pittance, I would probably just pay it because it's not worth the struggle to fight it. It's no life or death matter; it's just opportunism.

 

Fine by me, I won't do any name calling if you won't.

Truce then?

DD

 

Originally posted by giddyup
Well, anyone knows what the answer to that poll would be but that is no argument to marshall to justify reparations. Either way the same people end up in America. The real poll would be to see who wishes their ancestors had remained in Africa.

You are the one justifying slavery with your better off argument. No harm done because they're "better off" so no need to give reparations for this crime because living in "our" country is payment enough.

Actually, those people have voted with their feet all these years by staying here. Anyone find those African emigration stats yet?

Are you seriously claiming that it is reasonable to expect the descendants of generations of slavery to leave their homes and everything they know for Africa? Are they no longer "plain Americans" now?

I'm Republican-- don't know about the staunch part. It wasn't the government intruding upon the rights of the free African peoples. Those guys were immoral entrepreneurs with poor ethics. We have them today, they are called pornographers.

Would you like to me to provide you with legislation passed by the government that intruded on the rights of black peoples? That *really* won't be very hard at all.

You can even go so far as to say it was the law of the people of the land. So blame the American people of the 19th century. They are the ones who allowed or tolerated slavery up to a point.

The elected government of the people create and pass laws. The same government we have today. I don't understand your inability or stubborness to grasp that.

Let me ask you, since the people of the 18th century fought off the British and wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights does that mean none of it applies to you? Are you telling me you're a British citizen because you weren't alive then and had no part in that stuff? You wanna enjoy the freedoms provided by dead people but don't want to accept the crimes committed by dead people? C'mon man...

It IS sad but not disgusting. Slavery was a worldwide phenomenon that was in America as well as just about every other "civilized" country.

Slavery is not disguting? I'm learning stuff every day around here.

 

Agreed. A truce has been called. If we can do this, maybe there's hope for the Middle East yet.

 

<b>timing</b>: I never ever justified slavery. I'm just not anguished about it as you are.

Yes, if they were so horribly wronged and suffered deprivation by remaining in America as the descendants of slaves, I would expect that they would expect life in Africa to be better. Apparently, that's not the case (since they virtually all have remained US citizens) and this is just a lot of hot air about reparations. That and greediness.

What I was getting at is that slavery existed before there were any laws defining or promoting it. US law did not create slavery.

Well, slavery probably IS disgusting but I was just playing off your words that you were using to justify reparations. Disgusting or not, no reparations should be paid.

 

Wow.. We really need those term limitations.

 

Well I think you're blurring the lines of slavery and racism. It's not whether they'd be better off it's about fairness and equally. In America we live by our laws, not the laws of any African nation and as such people in America are protected by our laws. Saying that the American descendant of a slave is better off than a current day African is completely irrelevant to the point which is that a crime was committed and that payment for the use of slave labor is being sought. We don't have a system of comparative law whereby a majority is not held accountable because the minority might have it worse if he lived in another country.

The US created laws to protect the institution of slavery despite having a Constitution that obviously prohibited it, whether we did it first in the world or created it is also irrelevant.