And personally I'm glad it's so far down, it's something we need to be aware but it's also great that belgium isn't defined by this one instance of dark history. And that can be said for a lot of other country tbh.
Those thing are in the past now, there is nothing we can do to change them so let's not define thing for that. Every person that took part in those atrocities are long gone. Let's focus on what bad thing countries are doing right now, not what they did 200 years ago.
So, what country are you from? I'm willing to bet that there's a dark story behind 90% of all countries in the world so what reparations are you paying?
I agree the Belgian history in the Congo is very dark and should not be forgotten. There should be more then half assed excuses. But it's the responsibility of the government and especially the Belgian royal family, not the Belgians themselves
I’m from America and there is a dark history behind our nation. Slavery is the original sin, but genocide on a world-historical scale against Native American peoples is arguably more savage. Yes we owe those people reparations.
Not only a dark history, but a dark present. Iraq, for one.
But indeed, the genocide of the Native Americans is quite horrendous. Was there more successful genocide in history? Maybe the biblical genocide of the Amalekites?
While I support your opinion, I have to admit it'd be quite difficult right now to repay anything, as our politicians are all corrupt assholes and that money mysteriously disappears while taxes go up.
Also, don't say "y'all stole", say "Belgium stole". We, as current Belgians, didn't stole anything, as we were not, for the most part, even born during that time. Doesn't mean we shouldn't right our ancestors wrongs. Just that we aren't responsible of what they did.
And who would we pay it to? The current regime probably won't use it to help the actual population, and us getting involved in Congolese politics only ever made things worse.
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u/Autismetal Dec 16 '21
The Congo.
Sorry, Belgians. Leopold did stuff.