In principle, the wrong done was such that no price can be put on it. Dollar values would demean and trivialize the horror. In practice, attempts to establish dollar amounts would provoke bickering and a backlash. It would aggravate, not heal, the racial divide. On Aug. 11, Australia's federal court ruled against two members of the stolen generation seeking compensation from the Australian government.
Sentiment is no substitute for judicial standards of evidence.
Attempts to right historical wrongs are complex. Force was often the arbiter of the fate of individuals and tribes in the past. If this principle were to be applied worldwide, we would face massive upheaval, dispossession and injustice. The oppressors and oppressed are all dead. The modern-day Robin Hoods sometimes want to take from those who caused no harm and give to those who suffered none.