Are you a victim?
America is very racist.
Black people have been consistently oppressed.
I think there's people that think they're victims and they're
not.
So what groups should receive reparations then?
Start with Black people.
My community deserves it because of the things that we've
been through that what they did, they didn't pay that
back.
So I'm out here today and the question I'm asking
is should Americans pay for reparations?
Depends.
Who are we talking about?
In San Francisco, they're looking to increase taxes.
Who pay reparations for Black people as well as universal
basic income for trans people.
Modern day society should be paying operations to the Black
people that you had mentioned just because of everything that
they've faced.
But I do not believe that we should be paying
for trans people to not have to work.
I think it depends totally on the situation because like
in your example, all black people, that's a huge demographic.
Not every black person has been quote, UN quote, oppressed.
I mean, especially with with black and trans people, I
think that they're given a lot of like opportunities.
Like I'm, I'm doing investment banking recruiting right now.
I know for people for diversity, equity, inclusion, there's they
can access the interviewing process a lot, a lot sooner
and a lot earlier than than ICON, for example.
I think Black Americans have an equal opportunity to achieve
like anything that any other race can in the US.
How do you determine if a certain group is oppressed
to be able to get those reparations?
Obviously, if they're Black?
There's a lot of up history in this country and
I think that to take the step to do right,
just to go forward and say that we made this
happen and we're sorry.
And here's a way to, you know, bring you guys
to a level of equality for the black community specifically.
Reparations will go a long way just because I think
a lot of people don't really understand that our community
is set up for failure.
Sometimes.
A lot of people come from homes that are not
only just broken, but are financially illiterate, so they don't
know how to use money.
Giving them reparations would hopefully set them off with AI
guess a bigger platform than what they're generally would have.
That's a really important point that you brought, though, because,
yeah, you can give people money, but if they don't
have the necessary skills to invest it or keep it
or save it, then that will be gone in seconds,
right?
It could definitely do more harm than good if it's
put into the wrong hands.
Because today, cities in California are proposing reparations as high
as $5,000,000 per eligible Black person, as well as universal
basic income for trans people.
The city of San Francisco is considering an idea to
pay reparations for the Black community.
Reparation starts with for transgender and non binary residents.
But with a looming recession in America's continued divide, we
must question if reparations would fix past wrongs or create
unintended consequences.
Because what exactly is a victim if we're all victims
to some degree?
And is money truly the solution or is it more
money more problems?
Guess we don't see.
So what group should receive reparations then start with black
people.
So will this be like any black person?
Like let's say if they have like descendants from slaves?
Or is this just a black person?
Let's say if they just came from Jamaica or Africa,
would they be entitled to reparations?
The difference between like, Black America and me, myself, right,
And someone from Jamaica or Africa's, They have a place
to call home.
For a lot of black Americans, their whole ethnic identity
was erased by slavery.
So you said that you should start with like, black
people.
Then who should be like the next group?
Next, probably the gays.
I don't know how much they needed, though, because like,
you know, they're doing pretty well.
But like, I've never met a poor gay person.
They're doing great for themselves.
I think it should be for everybody.
My community deserves it because of the things that we've
been through.
I would be remiss to say another community doesn't deserve
something because they're a little bit more set up than
my community.
So, but would it be like equal amounts across the
board or would there be like, I hate to say
this like a stack ranking of who was more oppressed
that that?
I don't know.
I think that we should look at who we oppressed
the most for the longest amount of time and then
do right by them.
Everyone has their own rights to identify as a victim,
but at the end of the day, like it's not
going to get you where you want to be.
I think that you can cash checks and spend the
money, but if you're not putting in the work, you're
never going to learn.
And the generations after you were going to learn either.
And well, there's a race for who's the biggest victim.
There will be consequences for paying some groups and others
not.
So I was curious to hear the other side.
What do you say, though, that certain groups in America
are more likely to face, let's say, systemic oppression?
You know, especially like now we have like, affirmative action,
if anything, that levels of playing fields or puts them
at an advantage for a lot of certain opportunities.
But I think there are definitely certain instances of racism.
And, you know, you can't root out all racism.
I think that there are generally equal opportunities.
Besides all the controversies surrounding affirmative action, is this even
a valid form of repayment?
Do you think affirmative action is a form of reparations?
It would depend on who you're talking to, honestly.
To a kid in Compton who has no means of
getting out of that little area, it might not be
the same.
Sometimes your surroundings, especially in an environment where you don't
feel like you can make it out, can seem very
overwhelming.
So it's hard to think outside of that.
So when affirmative action has been deemed legal by law,
does that signal a government's obligation to solve inequality, and
if so, through financial or other means?
To what extent?
The forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations
after World War 2.
In 1952, Germany signed the first set of reparations agreements
to compensate Holocaust survivors, which is to this day has
paid out a total of €80 billion.
We owe that to those who survived and bravely carried
the burden of the painful memories.
And despite obvious frustrations over payments, there's been decent support
from Germans over the years and at least no instances
of anti-Semitic backlash.
And since then reparations have been ongoing, where even this
past year Germany announced the largest ever package of 1.2
billion for remaining survivors.
And with 80% of survivors in Eastern Europe below the
poverty line, financial reparations have definitely made a benefit.
Together with symbolic reparations such as Holocaust museums and memorials,
Germany has made efforts to ensure atrocities are not forgotten
or repeated.
But it raises the question, were the intentions behind the
reparations out of genuine guilt or to buy cooperation because
for initial recipients a whole were in favour?
Some Jews opposed the idea of reparations of blood money
in an insult and commodification to their suffering.
And especially when we look at Germany's history with reparations,
it may reveal answers.
The Treaty of Versailles imposed reparations on Germany after World
War One, which led to economic instability and political unrest
that contributed to the rise of Nazi Germany and ultimately
to World War 2.
And so whether it's fair to view this way or
not are reparations of mere transactions.
That creates more problems than it solves.
And so I wanted to ask a Jewish person whose
family has experienced the Holocaust, do you think, like, governments
have like, a more obligation to pay for certain injustices
When the government's paying for it, it's coming out of
taxpayer money.
I'm a Jewish person, right?
Like a lot of my relatives have been killed off
in the Holocaust.
Now there's even a lot of anti-Semitism towards Jews.
Jews weren't allowed in specific areas and jobs.
Like today.
My I think my family's like overcome that.
So like especially me, someone that wasn't around in the
1800s and slavers going on in the USI don't think
that my like I'm responsible as a taxpayer to pay
to pay for that.
Which brings up a point, because where would the money
come from?
How would we pay for reparations or universal basic income?
Well, taxes, right?
I mean that that's the obvious answer.
It'll probably be incentivized as like some tax or something,
probably going to come out of our money.
So in that sense, then what would be the point
of the reparations then in terms of financial incentives, think
of it like you pay taxes for police officers, firefighters,
stuff like that.
It might not seem the same, but you don't even
think twice about it, right?
So you're saying like raising taxes, but then changing the
reallocation of the funds.
OK, Money's all made-up.
So we're not really paying for anything because we're always
in debt.
So money, money's fake.
Absolutely.
Just make up something and give it to black people
so they're happy, bro.
Like, I mean, you could take the taxes we're already
paying that are going out of the country to pay
for those instead of sending billions of dollars to Ukraine.
Because when we compare the seemingly relative lack of investment
in domestic services, from infrastructure, public education, to the homelessness
crisis, in contrast to the billions of investment in foreign
aid, it does make you question is it about the
lack of funds or is it about the priorities.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24th,
2022, America has directed more than $75 billion in aid,
far more than any other country.
the United States will support the Ukrainian people as they
defend their country.
On one side, 1 can make the argument that foreign
aid takes precedence as it's in the name of national
security and that despite perception, it's actually a small part
of the overall budget.
But on the other side, with a looming recession and
rising inflation, are Americans starting to feel as if priorities
need a shift to domestic initiative like reparations?
But at the same time, is giving money always the
viable solution?
A study on stimulus checks to poor Americans from amounts
ranging from half a month's worth of income to even
two months income so that it didn't have any positive
impacts on financial, physical or psychological well-being.
And not only did it not increase incentive to save
more money, it caused the stress in the subjects as
they were made more aware of the gap between what
they had and what they wanted but didn't have.
And so I to apply these findings in the context
of reparations, do you think reparations or universal basic income
will de incentivize hard work and personal responsibility?
I think in general, it definitely can't have that effect
on people.
If they just know they're going to be getting, you
know, a $2000 settlement check a month, then they can
sit on their app and do nothing.
I do think our image necessarily isn't always the best.
I think that sometimes the media takes the worst of
us and they use that as examples.
I know a lot of hard working black men and
women who are financially literate, who know what to do
with money.
If those people were highlighted in our community more than
we'd be looked at in a different light.
We're going to eventually get to a point where we
can't sustainably house and pay everybody if they don't have
a job.
We should be figuring out how we can get this
person to be a contributor to our society.
Do you trust the government?
I don't trust anybody, bro.
So in that sense, would you want the government to
be controlling a system like that?
Absolutely not.
So then who would control it?
That's a big question.
So the question is, is there a precedence of reparations
in America?
Our West Coast became a potential combat zone during the
same time as the Holocaust.
In 1942, the US government forced around 120,000 Japanese Americans
in internment camps for national security reasons.
All of them, citizens and aliens alike, would have to
move in the camps.
Japanese Americans faced poor conditions and racial discrimination and were
forced to leave their homes, businesses and belongings behind.
And although they were released after the war, many had
lost their pre war belongings and property to vandalism and
theft.
But in 1988, a significant step was taken in U.S.
history to acknowledge the wrongs.
There's sustained efforts by political groups and campaigns.
Japanese Americans achieve reparations from the US government of $20,000
each.
For here we admit a wrong.
Here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal
justice under the law.
And so then why haven't reparations been achieved after centuries
of slavery in America?
And there seems to be several factors behind this uncomfortable
truth.
The number of Japanese American victims were relatively small and
more importantly, easily identifiable, as many were still alive when
reparations were approved.
And along with it came strong unity, rallying around symbolic
victim.
Both Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga eventually became US senators
and served as strong advocates for demand.
Whereas for slavery, it's difficult to identify the perpetrators in
which people of African descent today are descendants of those
enslaved.
This is no direct victims are alive today.
There are also no symbolic victims that can rally efforts.
Stewart E Eisenstadt, who was an American diplomat that helped
negotiate Holocaust reparations with Germany, argue that reparations are complicated,
contentious and messy and work best when the crime was
recent and the direct victims are still alive.
But as echoed by Thomas Kramer, a professor of public
policy, using distance and time as an argument against reparations
is also damaging.
And that it signals that just because you commit a
historical injustice and that you waited long enough doesn't count
anymore.
And so it's obvious that reparations of all multiple factors,
which tracks both supporters and opponents.
And so it makes you wonder, if reparations are approved,
how will people react?
What impact would reparations have on racial relations in America?
Everyone's going to start becoming more resentful towards everyone instead
of creating this equal playing field.
If everyone's always thinking like you owe me, there's never
going to be that sense of we're equal.
I don't think it's necessarily just going to offset everything
we've done.
Would it do anything?
I mean, it might create short monetary gain for a
selective amount of people, but there's so many different people
that have been oppressed in the US.
Is the $2,000,000 or the $10 million or whatever blanket
amount of money even going to fix the level of
injustice?
I don't really have a great perspective because I am
not a victim.
But if you just gave me a set amount of
money to fix oppression or injustice I've been through, to
me, I don't really think it would be enough.
What would be the success measures for reparations for Black
people?
The most important thing is like buying a place in
this country to say like, hey, this is home.
So I'm not saying like, give people money as reparations.
I'm saying giving them property as reparations.
I wouldn't necessarily tie it to like, you get a
check.
But if you were to say like, hey, we'll give
you reparations in the form of giving you your first
property, then that's real reparations because you're setting yourself up
for at least generations.
If reparations go through, do you think it creates a
more equal society or do you think it'll create more
division and resentment?
Resentment is all about mentality.
If you're worried about the next person, then of course
you would resent them.
And so if the focus as a society is always
on passing justices, is it making it easier to have
a negative mentality towards one another?
From 1948 to 1994, the apartheid in South Africa was
a system designed to establish and maintain white minority rule
over the black majority population.
Apartheid the policy of good neighbourlings.
What sense of justice will they ever have if they
treated this way and once the apartheid was abolished, the
truth and reconciliation committee was established as a forum for
victims to share their stories and for perpetrators to confess
to their crimes.
I assaulted you, what kind of men are you?
And with over 22,000 statements broadcasted on national TV, the
aim was to expose the atrocities, provide reparations in most
importantly to promote national unity.
And so was it successful in doing so.
On the one hand, establishing a hearing to encourage honest
and open dialogue hope to establish reparation payments along with
the framework for accountability.
But at the same time, the same dialogue that involves
opening of wounds of the past didn't come without a
cost.
South Africa is still seeking cohesion as the most unequal
country in the world, where the divide between rich white
minority and poor black majority is still greater than ever.
Poverty in South Africa is still largely defined by the
skin colour.
And when it's revealed that the government did not fulfill
the reparations program fully, such as land reparations, it becomes
clear why a majority of the land is still owned
by whites.
The narrative that the land was stolen must stop because
it's false, like a wound left untreated that worsens over
time.
Empty promises lead to further distrust and inequality.
And if paying reparations can lead to further division, is
reparations a viable solution or will it create more problems
for the future?
And are we too attached to our own stories that
were unable to seek a solution?
Let me ask you this, what do you say?
You're a victim?
You know I've definitely experienced anti-Semitism but I don't carry
that with me every day.
I don't blame anyone personally.
I blame the systems that were put in place before
all of us were here.
I don't think about like how hard I had it.
I think about moving forward.
If I just take it for what it is and
realize that I'm in control of my life and I
can push it forward, I'll be OK.
I mean, anyone can be a victim.
It's really what what's on the other side.
What happens then?
Do you think victimhood is a mentality?
It can be an influence for sure.
I think there's people that think they're victims and they're
not.
There are true victims out there.
I'm not a victim of anything.
I've been very blessed and grateful.
I don't take that for granted.
Being a victim, while it can sometimes be a choice,
it's also something that happens to you.
And if anyone can claim victimhood, it's Victor Frankel.
In his book Man's Search for Meaning, Frankel describes his
first hand experience of the suffering in the concentration camp.
And even though he was a victim in every sense
of the word, Frankel realized that victimhood was a choice.
Frankel argued that those who started seeing themselves of victims
became passive and helpless, while those who chose to take
ownership have the power and agency to survive.
And so Frankel suffering in the most hopeless of situations,
what he realized was that the last thing they can
take from you is your ability to choose your response.
If we cannot change the situation, we have always the
last freedom to change our attitude to that situation.
Because just like many of you that luckily have never
been in concentration camps, you and I can both relate
to times that we felt like victims.
Whether it be being bullied, feeling inferior and out of
place at the new school, or thinking that girls will
never like me because of my race.
Because no matter how valid your claim to victimhood, it's
the classic case of play stupid games and win stupid
prizes.
And the prize usually being more division.
Because true empowerment is the realization that no one's here
to save you in that you're completely OK with it.
And that's exactly the mission of exploring the unfamiliar.
And with that said, thanks for watching and like, comment
and subscribe if you want to see more content where
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