Today Barbados, tomorrow..?

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Pale Rider

Veteran
Seems I'm not alone in wondering if this will make a great deal of difference.

https://www.reuters.com/world/ameri...public-some-wonder-why-it-matters-2021-11-28/
 

Pale Rider

Veteran
It removes the lingering odour of colonialism. Whether a socialist nirvana follows is a moot point.

Knowing which side their bread is buttered, they are remaining in the Commonwealth.

The Queen is head of that, so Barbados is far from severing ties with the former colonial power.
 

Unkraut

Master of the Inane Comment
Location
Germany
I’m sure members of all political persuasions will be as delighted as I am to congratulate a proud island nation on their newly gained sovereignty and escape from under the yoke of foreign control.
Very good! ^_^

Not so good:

and renewing demands for the UK government to make reparations for its historical crimes

Perhaps I lack the 'spiritual energy' to see things, but if slavery is in mind here that ended nearly 200 years ago, and you wonder just how far 'visiting the sins of fathers on the children' (or misuse thereof) can actually go. Mind you I can't really blame them for having a go at getting money out of what are to my mind gullible guilt-ridden westerners worrying about what their great great great grandparents might have been party to.
 

theclaud

Reading around the chip
Very good! ^_^

Not so good:

and renewing demands for the UK government to make reparations for its historical crimes

Perhaps I lack the 'spiritual energy' to see things, but if slavery is in mind here that ended nearly 200 years ago, and you wonder just how far 'visiting the sins of fathers on the children' (or misuse thereof) can actually go. Mind you I can't really blame them for having a go at getting money out of what are to my mind gullible guilt-ridden westerners worrying about what their great great great grandparents might have been party to.

Who did the gullible guilt-ridden Westerners get their money out of in the first place?

Reparations are about justice, not guilt.
 

spen666

Active Member
Very good! ^_^

Not so good:

and renewing demands for the UK government to make reparations for its historical crimes

Perhaps I lack the 'spiritual energy' to see things, but if slavery is in mind here that ended nearly 200 years ago, and you wonder just how far 'visiting the sins of fathers on the children' (or misuse thereof) can actually go. Mind you I can't really blame them for having a go at getting money out of what are to my mind gullible guilt-ridden westerners worrying about what their great great great grandparents might have been party to.
The Italians should be paying us reparations for what the Romans did to us, and perhaps Germany paying for the Saxon invasion🤡🤡🤡
 

mudsticks

Squire
It removes the lingering odour of colonialism. Whether a socialist nirvana follows is a moot point.

Well i think it would be hard to say it removes the odour - or erases the effects or memories of the terrible events, and cruel exploitation that took place there under colonial rule.

- but yes its a significant psychological step which may help towards some kind of reconciliation and healing.

Telling and knowing the truth about our past is part of being able to reckon with and move forward from it.

Which is not always a comfortable exercise of course, as evidenced by some peoples reaction to bringing up our own less than edifying part in the whole inglorious episode.

What follows for Barbados is, i guess, largely down to the people of Barbados, but relying on long distanced travelled tourists, for income might not be the wisest move though ?
 

Ian H

Guru
Knowing which side their bread is buttered, they are remaining in the Commonwealth.
The Queen is head of that, so Barbados is far from severing ties with the former colonial power.
The Commonwealth is pretty democratic now, since India and others decided to dump the rule that any member had to retain the UK monarch as titular head of state. The members voted to retain Charlie as head when Liz dies.
 

Beebo

Veteran
I find it staggering that any country other than GB would still want the queen as head of state. And I’m a supporter of the Queen a our head of state.
Australia, Canada and NZ don’t need the Queen on their bank notes.
Some smaller ones may feel safer but frankly the average Brit couldn’t give a toss.
 

Unkraut

Master of the Inane Comment
Location
Germany
Who did the gullible guilt-ridden Westerners get their money out of in the first place?

Reparations are about justice, not guilt.
You cannot put right injustices of the past. You cannot hold children responsible for what their parents have done, let alone more distant ancestors. 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge'.

The Namibians want reparations from Germany for a massacre that occurred before WW1. The perpetrators of this are long since dead - their grandchildren will soon all be pensioners. It cannot be undone.

I've read of Democrats in the States wanting reparations to be paid for the inheritance of slavery. I have an idea - if they really believe this is just, why not set up a fund and pay 5% of their salary into it? Why wait for the state to do something?

If, in the case of slavery, you want compensation to be paid, are you also going to include Muslims who traded in slaves, and are you going to include black Africans from west Africa who sold their fellow countrymen to slave traders for transportation to America or the Caribbean? If there is such a thing as guilt for the deeds of ancestors, then it at least remedies need to be applied consistently.

Can you offset the wicked deeds of ancestors by righteous deeds that may have been done a couple of hundred years ago?

It would be interesting to know just how much of Britain's current wealth actually stems from the empire. Even if you could quantify this, shouldn't the amount invested in developing colonies and the amount spent defending freedom especially in WW2 be taken into account? Britain was for all practical purposes bankrupt in 1945.
 
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