Letter To The ICBR: Re: Compensation Culture.
03/25/2007
From: Sean Tuohy
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:33:12 +0000
To:
Subject: Compensation Culture.
I'm sending this not expecting a reply. Your targeting of Britain for crimes
it has commited in he past is fairly justified. However this idea of "lets
get paid" simply reeks of greed and is an all too familiar agenda in our
compensation culture across the world. Your theory has far too many flaws
which are reflected in slave reperations and other claims today.
1 You hold the people of Britain today responsible for the past. This is
unnacceptable. The people of Britain today would have pay for the so called
reperations through taxation with a resulting loss in funding for schools,
hospitals etc. This drains from the economy of the country and so takes away
from those that need financial assistance. You would be punishing the
average British worker for something they have not commited. You could argue
that in the long run British people benefited from Imperial exploitation but
this is surely ridiculous. The north of Britain stil has the economic scars
of the Norman purge in which much property was destroyed. Do they deserve
compensation? How far does this claim go back? It can't. If you open up the
possibility of the claims it allows others to claim and then who decides who
has the right to compensation?
2 It is a disgrace to the memory of those who actually suffered. Feel
ashamed for making claims on the back of others suffering. You don't deserve
this money. They did.
3 I was amused at those you listed in your list of victims. Catholics? I'm
a Catholic and I would certainly not see any logic in myself demanding
compensation to the purging of Catholis and ESPECIALLY someone claiming for
me.
4 I am a student of History. I would certainly not pin the problems of the
world on Britain It is true we caused problems just like any other nation.
However this idea that BRitain actually invented the plague is absolutely
laughable. Also you are blaiming the British for creating prisons? That is
ridiculous I'm sure whoever wrote this was having a joke with colleagues. So
Britain should not have invented these prisons and allowed criminals to run
amok. Perhaps you should remove this. It is true we invented guns and
created concentration camps. But isn't American law the law which allows the
carrying of firearms which results in gun crime and gang culture? You cannot
blame the inventor for the uses others put the invention to. Does this mean
you are holding the inventor of fire for the deaths due to arsonists? Or the
inventor of paracetomal for suicides? It is an absolue joke of an argument.
5 The industrial revolution brought the world to greater rates of
production. Yes, it created social and pollution related problems but
without that change we would not live in the globilised economic society we
live in today. Again Industrialization is a key part to a countires
development and Britain, for all its crimes, brought this to many countries.
6 This idea your sending your sons and daughters to die in the middle east
for our mistakes. You are completely deluded. The problems in the middle
east today are caused by both America and Europe (including Britain) on the
basis of oil requisition. Don't even try to argue otherwise. Nobody really
believes that America is there to sort out the mess of the middle east. It's
now in a worst state then it was. That region has always been politically
unstable. Surely this is the fault of the Turkish Empire who even today as
Turkey commit genocide ansd cause problems. Where's your accusations about
them. Ottoman Influence fragmented the region and caused religious friction.
I am amused that Britain is being blamed for the first Iraq war and is made
to pay for it. Maybe America could just return the fuel gained from cowing
Sadam into submission?
7 Your facts are historically wrong and would be laughed at by most
intelletuals. The original crusades consisted mostly of French, German,
Norman and other continental European peoples. This idea Britain caused the
atrocities in the Crusades is completely idiotic. Britain was not involved
until the crusades later and even then did not crusade sufficciently to
award the idea the idea Britain caused religious tension. Please ammend. And
it should the French repay the Germans the war reperations they acquired? I
seem to imagine you haven't thought of this or just ignored it.
8 It will never happen. Britain cannot afford that sum. We live in a welfare
state (unlike america-wasn't some black child on the news because he'd died
of a simple rotting tooth but couldn't afford the cost?) in which Britain
has integrated thos it made suffer. In the 50s any citizn who was a member
of the empire past or present was granted British citizenship and was
allowed to live in Britain. Many of the descendents of these victims benefit
ith thir families living under British welfare which you compensation claims
would destroy. These people are protected by British law and surpasses any
effort the US makes for immigrants.
9 Britain helps the world by interrvening in Bosnia and other U.N. assigned
roles. We accept asylum seekers by the millions. Are these people we protect
unimportant enough to lose even more with the collapse of the British
economy.
I hope you ammend your 'facts' soon. I would also like a reply if possible
with any counter arguments you have or any revised plans.
yours sincerely,
Sean Tuohy University of Liverpool History student, Catholic, descendent of
family deprted from Ireland and one who does not wish to claim for it.
