Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
And that's different from your stance where you're shit out of luck because you're not your ancestor in what way?
When we're talking state-to-state action, there is a decent claim to be made that redress, obligation, and culpability do extent beyond specific individuals lifetimes. But those don't outweigh the new harm that would be caused to people by taking from them now to address those older issues.

Steal more, keep more applies, I guess (or if we're looking at that individual level it's "steal more, descendants keep more") but I think you're glossing over relevant ethical matters.
I am not glossing over them, I'm just pointing out that it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to create a system that is equitable. By and large it's all very arbitrary who will get what reparations from whom and at what price. Let's take the case of Germany; the state has accepted liability for damages to a wide range of victims of its aggression during World War II. And on some level I think most people think that is fair. However, what if we were forced to seriously think about Germans (not Nazi's) as victims of ethnic cleansing and expropriation on a feeble legal basis? Should we start thinking about Poland paying reparations for the taking of German territory?