What's wrong with this argument?

[Rcder]

I’ve been looking for message boards of other viewpoints. Know of any good modern liberal ones?

The Democratic Underground would be a good place to start; most “modern liberal” magazines like The Nation have forums, too. Kind of a weird question, to be honest.

[Fool_on_the_Hill]

Was it my use of the word “good”?

[Wheylous]

Yes

But ah, fine, I suppose you mean some forums where people tend to dig a bit more beneath the surface before coming to conclusions.

[Autolykos]

@Fool on the Hill

If someone is forced off his land into slavery and spends most of his life building up someone else’s plantation, then I think he “deserves” more than just his old land. He has contributed to creating a vast quantity of wealth whose presence in the market has made his old way of life uncompetitive. (Of course I don’t think being paid more is the best solution; I think the solution is to take control of the means of production.)

What entitles his old way of life to be competitive for any given length of time?

[Fool_on_the_Hill]

Nothing. But my point is that restoring him his land may not be an adequate reparation given that the crime also involves rendering that land worthless.