Should reparations be made to compensate for events that happened in the past?
The idea of reparations is the act of making amends by arranging some sort of payment as a form of compensation from wrongdoers to victims, usually as a result of colonialism, war and slavery. There has been debate towards whether or not reparations should be paid, considering reparations will be paid by those who are not directly guilty of the harm and those receiving reparations in most cases were not directly involved during the time of the event.
It is evident that reparations would be a step towards closing colonial scars of victims, as well as demonstrating a true concern for the developing world. They are an act of compensation to acknowledge past injustice and the suffering of victims. They can be considered as a moral debt that is needed to be paid or at least recognised. Some may even argue that reparations would effectively help to right the economic imbalance caused by historical events. Though reparations come with various benefits and positive intentions, it is very hard to place a value on tragic events that happened in the past.
On the contrary, even if reparations are being paid, victims will not just forgive and forget the tragic events of the past. Some say that they unfairly target taxpayers of former colonial powers who had nothing to do with the deeds committed under colonisation. The very payment of reparations also exerts a neocolonial power over former colonies. Furthermore, there are many other factors to consider such as how much money should be paid and when it will be enough.
Over the years, reparations have already been made in many different cases and therefore are not something new to any of us. For instance, Germany to Israel and holocaust survivors after World War II. Another example would be the reparations made from Japan to South Korea to compensate for the Koreans who suffered under the colonial rule of Japan, which also ended after World War II when Japan was defeated.
Although time has removed the opportunity to truly make amends with those who may have deserved it, the principle of reparations can be very important in terms of being able to recognise and admit that wrong was done in the past. Apologies can sometimes also go much further than trying to quantify an amount to the harm, suffering and loss caused by a past event. What are your opinions on this matter? Should reparations be paid or should another path be taken?
References:
Criss, D. (2019, April 15). Slavery reparations. Retrieved April 18, 2019, from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/14/politics/slavery-reparations-explainer-trnd/index.html
War reparations. (2019, April 13). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_reparations
