Brown is planning to apologies - Page 2

cashman · 19-11-2009, 18:40

i also knew nothing of this when young meself, n i don't think we are therefore held responsible, but what yer saying to my mind margaret is those who are culpable n are now dead , so ferget it, that i think is wrong,to me its apologising fer the wrongs of predessors, whilst it cannot be undone or rectified,i can only assume those wronged by it, can gain a degree of comfort by the "Admission" it happened, that in my view is better than nowt fer those folk.

West Ender · 19-11-2009, 18:48

They call it collective responsibility, don't they? I suppose an apology from present governments might somehow substitute one from the governments of the day. At least it highlights the horrendous abuse. I bought a book about this subject, about 10 years ago, and I had heard something about it, vaguely, in a TV drama (The Leaving of Liverpool) but the book made harrowing reading.

There has been the same sort of apology from Australia to the Aborigine children who were snatched away from their families to be "educated as white". I don't suppose an apology goes far when, inside, you're still that 2 year old who they pulled out of your mother's arms. Still, it's better than nothing at all.

Gordon Brown can't really apologise, not for himself as he wasn't born when all this started, but it's a gesture. What more can one say?

Eric · 19-11-2009, 19:20

While he is at this apology bs, why not apologise to the kids who were sent to Canada at two bucks a head to work as virtual slaves on farms and as house servants ... there was a show on this on CBC Radio a couple of days ago ... there are still some of them alive ... one ninety-three year old interviewed still has bitter memories about what happened.

Eric · 19-11-2009, 19:27

I do think this apology kick is being a little overdone .... in the past little while, our govt. has apologised to the Japanese who were interned in the war, First Nations People, First Nations kids who were abused in Residential Schools (some large payouts on this one). etc. etc.

Margaret Pilkington · 19-11-2009, 20:40

All through history bad things happened to people who didn't deserve it.......apologising achieves no useful purpose...it digs up past events which are painful for those who experienced them.....and brings the event back to the forefront of the memory.

The past is past and we should stop looking back......humanity never seems to learn from past events......and while we deplore the things that these children were subject to, we cannot say that similar things will not happen in the future......and until we can, apologies are just weasel words.

katex · 19-11-2009, 21:01

Again ... it is not the apology that matters to these people .. just through this apology it is an admission that it did happen and they can be believed now. That must be a great relief to them now.

cashman · 19-11-2009, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

Again ... it is not the apology that matters to these people .. just through this apology it is an admission that it did happen and they can be believed now. That must be a great relief to them now.

ya got it bang on Kate.

Eric · 19-11-2009, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

Again ... it is not the apology that matters to these people .. just through this apology it is an admission that it did happen and they can be believed now. That must be a great relief to them now.

I dunno ... I think that everyone is jumping on the "closure" bandwagon ... the new bs buzzword, "closure" ... how this migrated from literary criticism to ... well, just about everywhere, I don't know. (Even heard some dumb trailer park trash bitch from Texas saying that now she has witnessed the execution of someone who offed a family member, she has achieved "closure".)

Maybe I'm being too suspicious, but often getting an apology is only the first step to getting a cash settlement. A big stack of cash is the kind of "great relief" many people are looking for.

I would like to think that you are right, but .....

cashman · 19-11-2009, 21:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

I dunno ... I think that everyone is jumping on the "closure" bandwagon ... the new bs buzzword, "closure" ... how this migrated from literary criticism to ... well, just about everywhere, I don't know. (Even heard some dumb trailer park trash bitch from Texas saying that now she has witnessed the execution of someone who offed a family member, she has achieved "closure".)

Maybe I'm being too suspicious, but often getting an apology is only the first step to getting a cash settlement. A big stack of cash is the kind of "great relief" many people are looking for.

I would like to think that you are right, but .....

n i though i was a cynical sod.

Eric · 19-11-2009, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

n i though i was a cynical sod.

You are ... you just aren't the only one

Eric · 19-11-2009, 21:45

I wonder if the Japanese have apologized for what they did in British military hospitals when they captured them: raping and killing the nurses, and bayonetting the wounded on the operating tables. Maybe we should think about things like this when we take our next mouthful of Sushi ...

By the way, I don't see this as a "wander" ... if apologies are in order, then they should be the order of the day.

cashman · 19-11-2009, 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

I wonder if the Japanese have apologized for what they did in British military hospitals when they captured them: raping and killing the nurses, and bayonetting the wounded on the operating tables. Maybe we should think about things like this when we take our next mouthful of Sushi ...

By the way, I don't see this as a "wander" ... if apologies are in order, then they should be the order of the day.

well if it aint a wander how about the yanks fer Hiroshima, n Nagasaki. the "Enola" may have bin Gay but the japs wern't so happy.

Eric · 19-11-2009, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

well if it aint a wander how about the yanks fer Hiroshima, n Nagasaki. the "Enola" may have bin Gay but the japs wern't so happy.

Unfortunately, the Americans practice "self exclusion" ... that's why they ignore all rulings of the International Court. Unless, of course, they apply to others. We could take it to the extreme that most things that have happened in history probably require an apology. Maybe all world leaders should get together (not the Yanks of course) and yell out at the top of their lungs, in the language of their choice: "Alright already, we are sorry ... now let's go home and do a lot more shlt that we can get together and apologise for next year." Maybe rather than empty protestations, govts. could operate in such a way that they don't have anything to apologise for. Maybe ... but I aint holding my breath.

Mancie · 19-11-2009, 22:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

I wonder if the Japanese have apologized for what they did in British military hospitals when they captured them: raping and killing the nurses, and bayonetting the wounded on the operating tables.

If you think that's bad what about the Chinese? ..cost me £14 last night for a home delivery and I did'nt get any free prawn crackers!

cashman · 19-11-2009, 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mancie

If you think that's bad what about the Chinese? ..cost me £14 last night for a home delivery and I did'nt get any free prawn crackers!

bloody hell mancie, had a good nosh up in China Town Tues night £8-90 a head, yer scranning at wrong places.