On Saturday, March 18, 2000 11:17 PM Zero Powers zero_powers@hotmail.com
wrote:
> Sure, a lot of folks could gripe about "somebody done done me wrong." And
I
> suppose many people would argue that they are just as entitled to some
> handouts as Indians and blacks. I'm sure there are a million and one
points
> to be made on each side of the issue and admittedly I haven't thought them
> all through.
The problem is not that "a lot of folks could gripe" or that "many people
would argue that they are just as entitled to some handouts" based on some
unfair treatment of their ancestors. I bet almost every last person on the
planet can! I could argue that my ancestors in Europe were poorly treated,
which is why they left for America. Am I now owed something by those
descendants of the then rulers? (Likewise, I'm sure if I look hard enough,
I could find ancestors of mine who did some ill to someone whose descendants
are still around. Do I now owe them for it? Do the sins of the parents get
visited on the offspring? (The gender neutral way of putting this lacks
flair!:))
> But to me it would just feel right giving poor Indian and
> black kids an educational leg up. But, then again, I suppose that with
the
> new tuition free Cyber-University we'll soon have...tuition?!? We don't
> need no stinkin' tuition!
If it feels right for you, then no one is going to stop you from donating
money to a college fund or something else. You might persuade others to do
so. Heck, I'd like to see more Native Americans and Blacks moving into
science and technology research -- rather than welfare rolls or jail. But I
am vehemently against forcing people to pay for this, especially on the
shakey grounds that their ancestors were done wrong and, therefore, everyone
else owes them a living.
The one difference, however, with Native Americans, is that their nations
are still recognized. The right thing to do in their case, would be to give
as much land as is possible back to them and allow them to find their way in
the world. We can't undo the last 500 years, but we can give all that
Federal land in the US back to them -- where it can be proven that it is
their land. Then recreation (skiing, boating, etc.), mining, and logging
concerns would have to pay a more equitable price for its usage and be less
likely to damage it in the process.
Daniel Ust
http://mars.superlink.net/neptune/
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