During the civilization period, different nations indulged in numerous inhumane practices against their people or those from neighboring nations. Illustratively, colonization and slavery were common practices during the civilization era (Ikuta, 2022). Modern societies were mainly built through oppressing and mistreating others to get resources or labor. As a result, this leads to the ethical question of whether modern societies should be held accountable or whether accountability would only apply to the forefathers who instigated immoral and inhumane acts (Ikuta, 2022). Ethically, modern societies should be held accountable for what they did in the past to hinder the present societies from indulging in such acts.
Supports of accountability argue that it is essential for countries associated with inhumane practices to be held accountable. To solve this case, criminal law may be applied in such cases based on two requirements: collective responsibility and national identity (Mason, 2022).
National identity will aid in establishing that the nation or community at present is still the same accused of committing a certain crime. Collective responsibility aids in establishing that members of neither the community nor the nation may be jointly held accountable for their nation’s actions (Mason, 2022). The national identity approach will assume that a nation, like an individual, maintains a singular entity over the duration. The point is that the actions of a nation at its growing or developing age are still the same even after civilization and modernization (Mason, 2022). Therefore, irrespective of the forefathers committing the crime, members of modern societies should be held accountable for their previous actions.
Collective responsibility focuses on showing that a community of a nation is ultimately obliged for its practices and actions, hence guilty of any crimes. In democracies, collective responsibility tends to be formalized through the notion of collective self-government (Spinner-Halev, 2022). That is, everyone in the country agrees with decisions made with respect to particular democratic criteria that represent everyone’s collective will. The chief point is that any time a nation indulges in ethical behavior, all members of the nation or citizens are assumed to share equal responsibility (Spinner-Halev, 2022).
In case they differ with the actions, they are required to prove that they put in place all available measures to hinder it but failed. However, for actions like colonialism and slavery, that had been accepted by all community members, the modern communities involved should be accountable (Spinner-Halev, 2022). Therefore, they should feel obliged to offer an apology or offer reparations as a nation to show that they regret the actions of their forefathers.
Critics of the proposal of holding modern communities responsible offer different reasons supporting their stand. The first argument is that modern communities are not at fault for the injustices committed by their fathers (Stow, 2020). The emphasis on being at fault makes it complicated to mandate accountability, as it is difficult to blame them for their forefather’s actions. Stow, (2020), argues that modern generations did not know nor were they aware of any actions committed against other human beings. Therefore, it would be unfair to hold them accountable for sins they did not commit. The inability to prove that they were at fault makes holding them accountable difficult, as there is no proof that such an allegation could be based on the present (Stow, 2020). The fact that modern communities are not culpable of any injustices makes it difficult to give them the responsibility of compensating for their forefather’s sins.
Critics may also argue that there is a difference in generations, which has led to more social and moral entanglement between propagators and victims. The 21st century is characterized by intermarriages and other social and cultural entanglement between the generations of victims and propagators (Stow, 2020). As a result, it may be difficult to hold a single ethnic group accountable since they have intermarriage. Thus, it is difficult to identify who will get the compensation and who will be liable. The American people have mixed descent, which makes the modern generation a product of both victims and oppressors (Stow, 2020).
Additionally, immigration across different continents has made victims from their native countries move to modernized nations. Hence, it is challenging to hold them liable for injustices they were neither involved directly nor indirectly. Therefore, immigration and intermarriages are among the major reasons stated by critics against holding modern societies accountable.
To conclude, critics still hold a weaker position in this debate. The availability of historical accounts and records proving that certain nations were united in oppressing and abusing others is sufficient to have people from such nations accountable. The international community may assume a national identity approach in ensuring that countries that benefit from the injustices of others compensate those that were colonized or harassed.
Notably, there are still exiting inequalities that arise from the actions of earlier generations such as the poverty rate and difficult life in African countries. Consequently, any nation that benefited and progressed due to the fruits of its injustices should be accountable irrespective of whether there were intermarriages or different forms of entanglement that the country has had in recent years. Therefore, modern societies should be held accountable for past injustices against fellow human beings.
References
Ikuta, J. C. (2022). On the Uses of Acknowledgment for Injustice: Disavowal and Deflection in Baldwin’s Thought. Polity, 54(3), 000-000. Web.
Mason, T. (2022). State Responsibility For Historical Injustice (Doctoral dissertation, Central European University). Web.
Spinner-Halev, J. (2022). Group agency and the challenges of repairing historical injustice. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 25(3), 380-394. Web.
Stow, S. (2020). Memory, Historic Injustice, and Responsibility. By W. James Booth. New York: Routledge, 2020. 192p. 36.76 paper. Perspectives on Politics, 18(4), 1205-1206. Web.