Stealing is Stealing

Every time India asks for the Kohinoor diamond, Britain says No. Was it really “given” to them voluntarily? Or at gun point? The answer to other requests to return such loot lying in European museums is the same No, whether the source is Africa or Aborigines or native Americans or Chinese antiquities.

And yet, the same Europeans are all in favour of returning if it was what the Nazis looted. No, the reason’s not because everyone hates the Nazis. Sadly, the reason’s what Erin Thompson says:

“The farther we get from Western Europe, the less morally compelling we seem to find the claims of those whose art Europeans looted.”

And so she concludes:

“Why are the victims of Nazi aggression more deserving than those of colonial violence? At root, I see no reason other than disdain for non-Europeans.”

And while no real action is taken to right this historical wrong, the Guardian contents itself with moronic condemnation of (hold your breath) video games that involve “stealing” cultural artifacts!

“Many of us are sensitive to the case put forward by countries that have seen their treasures dispersed around the globe; but while playing Uncharted or Tomb Raider, we’ll spend hours of our free time engaged in the process of removing valuable cultural artefacts from their native homes. We’ll happily lose ourselves in the wonderful escapism – the exotic locations, the intriguing mythologies – with little thought as to what it means to inhabit these characters, and to be made complicit in their actions.”

To which Alex Balk posted the perfect response:

“Whose 0s and 1s Are You Plundering?”