A little chuckle

[ciroccoj]

Today's class is on truth and reconciliation commissions in places like the former Yugoslavia, Latin American countries, etc. There's a quote from one of the South African Commission’s critics:

There were two friends, Peter and John. One day Peter steals John’s bicycle. Then, after a period of some months, he goes up to John with outstretched hands and says, “Let’s talk about reconciliation”. John says, “No, let’s talk about my bicycle”. “Forget about the bicycle for now”, says Peter, “let’s talk about reconciliation”. “No,” says John, “we cannot talk about reconciliation until you return my bicycle”.

Comments

[a-dawn.livejournal.com]

That's pretty straightforward...and spot on.

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

While I appreciate the sentiment - how can you return the bicycle when the bicycle is peoples lives? Or when it is time with your own parents and siblings and people, like the Stolen Generations in Australia?

Sometimes you *can't* return the bicycle.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, a lot of the time you can't return the bicycle. And for those times, truth and reconciliation commissions may be the only way you can move forward, and try to put the past behind you. Learn from it, accept it, and make damn sure you never repeat it.

But for those times when you can return the bicycle... how can reconciliation really begin, if you won't even start with reparation? When instead of lives being lost, you're talking about property, ties to land, opportunity, culture, etc... and one side just expects the other to swallow their losses, and forgive and forget?