“We Spaniards are an enlightened lot,” I say smugly as I walk through my dazzling city. “Our genocidio was much nicer than theirs.”

“Where did all the money come from to build this city, this grand crumbled empire, you ask? No fucking clue, I guess we just found it.”

We continue walking.

“Did i benefit from the empire? Shucks no friend, I traced my family history back 500 years, all 150,000 ancestors living at that time, and found no one participated in the empire. They all lived out in the woods, and every descendant since then has also lived in the woods. We have never lived in a society.”

I see a stupid American look on your face.

“What are we going to do about it?” I make a confused puppy face in return. “They’re all dead anyway I guess so what’s the point? Let’s just move on.”

We turn the corner.

“Apologize? No, the Zapatistas say that the capitalists shouldn’t apologize because what good would that do. So that means us leftists should do absolutely nothing,” I say, smugly.

Dumb Americans, I think, they really know nothing of history.

It was still a genocide, though? Like if the onset was to take them all out on purpose or if it was a byproduct of the colonization is minute differences and placing what Spain did in the category of “not that bad” excuses the behavior.

Just because it was 400-150 years ago doesn’t meant it hasn’t placed strains on the countries or indigenous populations that exist there today?

If I cut off your leg at the knee today, and then did nothing to fix it would 50 years from now we be ok? Or should I still owe you a prosthetic to make up for the damage I did?