Although everyone wishes that those who pollute and damage the Earth could be held responsible, Simon Caney shows just how difficult this actually is. There are several factors that need to be taken into account, such as who was responsible, who benefited, and whether or not the polluters are even still alive. Climate change is a global crises, yet many companies and nations have paid almost nothing for their harmful actions. The biggest factor for this is that the pollution caused from say 50-100 years ago was done by people who are no longer living. The question of who should pay for their actions is complicated and arguments usually show that there is not a way to hold anyone accountable.
Unfortunately, this reasoning can be used for other past wrongdoings, such as slavery. If polluters from 50 years ago cannot be held accountable for their crimes, then slave owners from over 100 years ago cannot either. The first reason is that these slave owners are no longer living, so the next in line to be held accountable would be their families. According to Caney's reasoning, these families are no better off than if their ancestors had not owned slaves. This is due to the fact that they would have never been born unless the exact conditions that lead to their life occurred. Also, these families did not 'ask' to be born, nor did they directly benefit from their ancestors' actions. So, there is not much weight to an argument asking for these families to pay reparations.
Hi Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you opened your post with a little bit of background on the article. Also, by picking out the point that you were going to focus on in the first paragraph pulled me in, and gave me a brief understanding of the direction that you were going to head in, so I was able to better understand your reasoning for your connection to slavery.
Would you say that you agree with the explanation of Caney's reparation, and who should be responsible?