it's past

  Apologizing for the past. It has become quite the thing from the woke crowd. That's the way I feel about all of that. I fail to see what the purpose of apologizing to what the ancestors of someone that was wronged accomplishes. I'm not guilty of doing anything to any indigenous person on the planet. I'm not responsible for what my parents, grandparents or any other ancestors of mine may or may not have done. I will not apologize for any of that. I can certainly feel sorry that it happened, acknowledge that whatever actions taken were wrong, but nothing I can do or say will change any of it. So, what's the point? 

  The best we can hope for is to learn from the mistakes of the past. It does need to be remembered that all morality, all ethical standards, customs, traditions and attitudes are conditional things. We call all of that cultural. Hear a lot about culture today don't we. Yeah, and culture is always portrayed as a good thing, a right, an entitlement to whatever cultural group that claims that culture. Thing is culture is what formulates the societal reactions and interactions we all practice and experience daily. You know, the things being apologized for. The truth is the vast majority of those "wrongs" were the accepted social practice or customs of the times. Some of them are right now! Just because it's cultural doesn't make it right.

  It isn't the acknowledgement that things were done in the past that we are sorry for that bugs me. What bugs me is this expectation that you should receive some special compensation/consideration or benefit from that past. There is no one group in this world that hasn't been subjected to some injustice, some wrongdoing, some malady or calamity over their history. Anyone that was wronged was wronged equally! And that makes some folks bristle when I point that out. Oh no, I was treated far worse will be the reply. Those folks always feel like they should get more. Ask me how much money I should get for working, for retirement, for anything. It's going to be a bit more than you think I deserve I can guarantee you that. 

  This concept that we can somehow forgive the past is just ridiculous. In the city of Baltimore, they are pushing to release criminals from jail and compensate them for that time because the law was changed! Think about that. Those people broke the law, had their day in court and were found guilty. They were given a sentence. Justice was served. But, now the law changed, and we should apologize for that, release them from their sentences, expunge the record and give them compensation. Apologizing and compensating for the past? Well, that's exactly what they are going to vote on during the next session. 

  It appears to me the mindset is becoming if we simply allow everything, we will have nothing to apologize for. Now no one is giving anything back, no one is that apologetic, that sorry that those things took place. The past is like words spoken in that you can't take them back. That should be more obvious today than at any time in history. Ask that Harvard president if she would like to take her words back. She would love that, but she can't. Every one of us have said things we wish we could take back. The best any of us can hope for is forgiveness. It shouldn't, but generally forgiveness comes with a price. As long as you are willing to pay that price there are those that will demand it. That's the long and short of all this "apologizing" for the past. 

  I'm responsible for what I say and what I do. That's all I'm responsible for. Whether it is a direct action or an action I support that remains the truth. We are all what the professionals call enablers. Enablers are usually seen in a bad light. They are the ones, whether knowingly or unknowingly, enabling others to do something they shouldn't be doing. If we help others do good things, we are empowering them. That's what I keep hearing anyway. Ten years from now or a hundred years from now those empowering others will be seen as enablers! Opps, my bad. And that's how it goes in the world. I'm not apologizing for any of that.