Fallacious moralizing

Vincent J. Curtis

23 June 23

RE: There is no ‘market price’ for dead children.  Op-ed by Paul Racher.  The Hamilton Spectator 23 June 23

Paul Racher said perhaps more than he intended.  He observed that Canada went from being a few acres of snow to being one of the world’s leading economies within two centuries, and this miraculous transformation occurred after and perhaps because the Europeans got the aboriginals out of the way.  His issue is the way in which the aboriginals were gotten out of the way.

Riddled with guilt because he believes that aboriginals are not getting sufficient compensation for being gotten out of the way, Racher goes so far as to say that all the wealth developed in this country is insufficient to make appropriate amends to the aboriginals.  Apparently, integrating aboriginals into mainstream Canadian society and sharing the benefits and bounty that way is unacceptable; and Rachel’s expiation of guilt takes the form of more money and heavier compensation, which he has already said can never be enough to make amends.  Otherwise he retains the status quo.  Aboriginals suffered because they didn’t participate in Canada’s development.  This is the status quo Racher thinks should be retained.

Racher’s crack about there being no “market price” for dead children is unacceptable.  Group guilt is unacceptable.  The crack is pathetically unexamined, but if he wants personally to feel guilty for events that occurred a century ago, that’s up to him.  Don’t accuse me.

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