Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
And as blankall pointed out, taking responsibility doesn't mean you should give up your home. It means you're consciously aware of your existence in the world in relation to everyone else's, how you've benefitted, and how you haven't.
Only good can come from everyone feeling responsible in even the smallest way. Nothing good comes from not. It doesn't mean you have to feel personally guilty or bad about yourself, it means you're fully aware.
There are people out there that resist, complain, or mock when we recognize the traditional territory we're on, literally the smallest thing we could possibly do as individuals, just recognizing the existence of something.
There are people who privately say to themselves "sure, I recognize this, I think it's terrible, I support these people, others should do more to make it right" but never do anything at all themselves, from what they say and do, when they speak up, to even who they vote for.
People are in the Canadian politics thread saying "I dunno, going to the moon seems nice!" when people are without clean drinking water. That shows that these thoughts of support are in isolation. They end when the mouth opens. They still want nice to haves while the problem persists. Clean drinking water for indigenous people doesn't have to be the highest priority item on your list of all things, but you would think that if you cared in the slightest it would be higher than something like going to the moon.
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Thank you.
To clarify my position, I do feel a personal level of guilt. As stated, the colonization of indigenous people is ongoing, not historical. So every time I further myself, it's at the expense of another. That being said, you can't undo or remove Canadian society without creating another huge set of injustices.
For example, stripping individual Canadians of their property, would be an injustice in itself.
Until we've reached a fair deal with indigenous groups, that they accept, colonization continues on a massive scale. I also don't consider myself fully aware of all the suffering. I just try to be receptive to learning about it.