Virtue signaling is the stupidest thing since bell bottoms for men. But our leftist friends don’t seem to let that bother them so here we are.
SIGH!
Here’s a little bit of law school for ya – you cannot legally purchase stolen goods. If it was stolen, it remains the property of the person it was stolen from no matter how much you paid for it. There are all kinds of messy situations where it is very hard or impossible to return the property but we’re just concerned with the principle: you don’t get to keep other people’s stuff.
According to Ben and Jerry’s Inc., all land in the United States is stolen. Stolen from the indigenous peoples who moved here first – if scientists are to be believed – 30,000 years ago, give or take a few ten thousand years. Evidently, arriving first means you can steal land from the bison. Or we only think animals have rights when it’s convenient for our argument. I always get that one mixed up.
No matter, first come, first served it seems.
I should make clear that Ben and Jerry’s is located in Vermont. They’d probably be okay in Manhattan since we all know that Manhattan was legally purchased. By the by, the Native Americans thought the Europeans were suckers as beads were far more valuable than some swampy island. Vermont was not purchased from the Abernaki; it was abandoned by them to the Europeans. Some folks are just easier to move away from, I suppose.
But making someone else’s property uninhabitable isn’t exactly the same thing as purchase. It is a form of squatting and can be a form of theft. Well, B&J’s may be onto something after all.
Buying something in good faith doesn’t make you a thief; keeping it once you know it is stolen does. By their own account, Ben and Jerry’s is aware that the land their headquarters is sitting on was in fact stolen. Once they made that information public, the corporation became guilty of theft.
Ben and Jerry’s Incorporated is an unapologetic thief.
Ben and Jerry’s has made no attempt to return that property. Despite being aware of the stolen nature of the property, the company has made zero effort to return it.
Hypocrites.
Oh, yes, I’m well aware that I’m oversimplifying the whole thing. It’s been four hundred years and the original owners are very, very dead. That makes asking them why, exactly, they abandoned the property a little tough. Which makes establishing theft very difficult. Unless Ben and Jerry’s confesses – which they did.
The whole ‘America is stolen’ trope is idiotic. Some land clearly was. A lot was abandoned. A good bit was sold. More was ceded by treaty. Sorting that mess out four hundred years after the fact is gonna be a bit complicated. I’m actually all for compensating the descendants where we can clearly establish theft but the ‘give it all back’ thing is nonsense.
Unless you change the game by admitting theft and that you have no legitimate claim. America hasn’t done that; Ben and Jerry’s has.
Dear Ben and Jerry’s – GIVE IT BACK. Give it ALL back. Not just your HQ but every inch of real estate you own. For good measure, give back anything you have in Manhattan as well.
The natives will probably refund the beads.
