"Reparations," as a word, means much more than a simple compensation for injuries, "reparations" also means a repairing of the things that have brought about injuries.  And, it is in this "repairing" that care should be taken not to cause or allow new injuries to the same injured persons or to cause or allow new injuries to other injured persons. Certainly, there is no shortage of injured people in this nation. There are homeless people, hungry people, sick people, people without access to education and vocational training and opportunity, and people who live every day in real fear for their own safety and the safety of those they love. No nation can ignore some of their injured citizens and claim to seek true reparations, to do so leaves the nation "unrepaired."

It is not a utopian notion that this nation has the wherewithal to end homelessness, hunger, sickness, the lack of true opportunity, and even, desperation, itself.  There are only two arguments against a program that "repairs" these conditions.

Some argue that these people "deserve" these injuries, yet there are many examples of desperate people born into lives of deprivation, misery, and fear. Perhaps more importantly, this nation has a moral imperative that strongly cautions against "judging" others. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon for some of us to blithely condemn others without really thinking it through.

The second argument is that it will cost too much to guarantee everyone a safe and secure space, adequate nutrition, healthcare, and accesss to education and vocational training. But, the impacts of crime, homelessness, hunger, sickness, and unemployment already cost this nation vast amounts not only to pay for the imperfect social safety nets but also to pay for the vast local, state, and federal bureaucracies that decide who gets help and who does not. If these guarantees are enacted, then the need for vast bureaucracies that selectively administer the current social safety nets could be replaced by small bureaucracies that simply insure the creation and administration of these basic guarantees. It would be interesting to see a Congressional Budget Office analysis of how just such a program would impact Federal, state, and local budgets.

Should this nation enact this kind of true reparations, then this nation also could claim a new kind of global leadership by encouraging the United Nations to require all Nations to move towards similar guarantees for all of their own citizens. Such an extension of a national reparations program into a global reparations program in which this nation could lead by example also could provide a foundation for real solutions to many of our global problems by placing the onus on each individual nation to provide for their own citizens rather than attempting to solve these problems, all at once, on a global level.