If we're to begin holding people responsible
for the crimes of their ancestors, then no one
would be free of guilt. It seems unlikely that
there would be anybody whose family tree
remains perfectly pure of all taint of
wrongdoing.

As a theoretical example, take the folks who
are suing these three big companies for their
predecessors' involvement in and profiting
from slavery. Presumably they are
descendants of freed slaves, who were
descendants of Africans, who were
descendants of other Africans. Suppose their
ancestors were involved in tribal warfare and
aggression against other Africans, perhaps
even indulging in cannibalistic practices,
before they were taken as slaves? If American
corporations today can be held liable and owe
trillions of dollars to the descendants of
slaves, then why wouldn't African Americans of
today likewise owe trillions of dollars in
reparations to their African cousins for the
wrongful deaths their ancestors inflicted upon
the Africans' ancestors?

What if I discover that some of my progenitors
were pirates off the Spanish Main during the
1600s? That would mean I must owe the
Spanish government of today millions of
dollars in lost revenues from the silver mines
and plantations of the Caribbean. But wait,
didn't the Spanish steal all that money from
the Carib Indians who were already there? So
I might as well forward my check to their
descendants.

Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn't it?