🚀 go-pugleaf

Christopher E. Cherrone Sr. wrote:
> Ok! No problem.... just pay us what you owe us in rent for the land and
> return all the animals that were killed off they we use for food and
> clean up all the polution that has been put on our land and water... and
> we will be GLAD, no OVERJOYED!, to pay tax like everyone else...
> course... if you do all that then we will be running the government of
> our land and there will be no tax...... hmmmm.......

Your constant use of the word "our" seems to imply one of two things,
neither of which appear to be good in my opinion:

(a) You are of the belief that property rights are nonexistant and that
we are somehow all occupying native lands.  Like it or not, property
rights exist.  This country is not native land, anymore than French
territories taken by the Germans before 1918 were considered French land
after the occupation took place.  In the same way, territories taken
from the Germans after 1918 were no longer German land, belonging
instead to the Russians, British, etc.  Likewise, after the American
civil war New York, Maine, etc. were no longer British land.

(b) You beleive in property rights and consider "our" to be more
general.  Your phrasing of "our" makes it clear you mean natives, thus
implying that natives are somehow the only ones that matter if they are
affected by pollution.  This reeks strongly of ethnocentrism.  Remember
that term?  It means belief that your race is somehow elevated in status
above other races (for example beleiving natives to be "above" taxation
while European, Asian, African, and East Indian peoples of Canada are
not worthy of the high status of natives).  If you do hold this belief,
it ascends you to the highest form of racism.

Finally, I don't see how cleaning up the environment somehow raises
natives to self-government.  I do find it interesting that you believe
this too will remove taxes.  In self-governed native land who would pay
for schools and hospitals and roads if not the residents by taxes...or
Canadians through the same idiotic system of handouts we already provide
at the cost of the Canadian taxpayer (which includes non-status
Indians).

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