[TrashMan]

So now after my fathers death there is a LOT of paperwork to deal with. And in the process you end up finding up a lot of stuff you didn't know.

Like that my family used to be very rich. We owned valuable pieces of land in a lot of places, and multiple buildings inside the capitol. But during "good old Yugoslavia" the state said "NOPE!", took everything away and gave it to other people (party hard-liners, serbs), and showed an old widow and 5 children (one of them being my father) a tiny run-down apartment.

Thankfully they didn't managed to take away everything, and my family bounced back somewhat.

But it leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

[Nuke]

my grandparents were rather rich. or at least mid upper class. unfortunately they haven't produced any remotely useful offspring, just a few generations of loosers. the crooks of the family (my brother and uncle) are positioning themselves to take everything, sucking up to the dieing grandmother. you have the hopefuls (mostly my sister and all the great grand children) thinking they will get something and are keeping their fingers crossed. and finally you have the people like me and my mom, who dont give a crap about cash or property and just want to see the world burn. we are cheering for the inevitable bloodbath.

[StarSlayer]

My mother was looking into the family tree some time ago.  Her father's family where French Canadian.  She noted that they were doing really well up until the 1750s.  To which I responded "Yes the French and Indian War happened."

[666maslo666]

Similar thing happened to my grandfather. Czechoslovak communists took his farm with house, money, property and some land. They only left him enough money to buy a small house so he wouldnt be homeless. After the revolution we got some of it back and we are still fighting in the court to get the land back, or at least a financial compensation (since parts of it were converted into residential areas in the meantime).

[Dragon]

My family from the mother's side was pre-war Polish nobility, and my family used to own huge amounts of land, a manor and even two whole villages! Then the commies came and... yeah. Over the years managed to steal pretty much everything my family had (well, one village ended up sold earlier, due to it's financial troubles). All that's left of it is an endless lawsuit conducted by a great-uncle of mine and (maybe) his descendants and a claim to a coat of arms which I'm planning to pursue if I'll ever have money to spend.

From my father's side, much less is known due to them being from Eastern Poland, also known as Ukrainian SSR after WWII. There were nobility, that's for sure, but there doesn't seem to be anything left from their holdings. Considering what did they thought of nobility in the USSR, records might be hard to come by. My paternal grandparents are respected scientists and teachers (though not too well known outside Poland), and that's what the family is known for nowadays. We're upper-middle class now, which is quite good for this country, all things considered. I'm mostly interested in the coat of arms now, though I suppose a compensation for the village would be something, too.

[Phantom Hoover]

Then the commies came and... yeah. Over the years managed to steal pretty much everything my family had (well, one village ended up sold earlier, due to it's financial troubles).

yeah not gonna lie i take significant objection to you complaining about the commies 'stealing' land from one elite to another

[est1895]

and finally you have the people like me and my mom, who dont give a crap about cash or property and just want to see the world burn. we are cheering for the inevitable bloodbath.

You sound like this guy Nuke:  Fast Forward it to 2:14    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOIjdIXvJFk     

[Nuke]

15 cities, a little unambitious dont you think?

[TrashMan]

Similar thing happened to my grandfather. Czechoslovak communists took his farm with house, money, property and some land. They only left him enough money to buy a small house so he wouldnt be homeless. After the revolution we got some of it back and we are still fighting in the court to get the land back, or at least a financial compensation (since parts of it were converted into residential areas in the meantime).

Yup, sux, doesn't it.

The problem is that the cost of courts and the amount of compensation one gets, ends up not being worth it in the end.

[The E]

... Then the commies came and... yeah. Over the years managed to steal pretty much everything my family had (well, one village ended up sold earlier, due to it's financial troubles). All that's left of it is an endless lawsuit conducted by a great-uncle of mine and (maybe) his descendants and a claim to a coat of arms which I'm planning to pursue if I'll ever have money to spend.

<snip>

I'm mostly interested in the coat of arms now, though I suppose a compensation for the village would be something, too.

You do know that that sounds absolutely mind-boggingly entitled, right? "The Communists took OUR villages, and now that they're no longer in power, the new regime does nothing to compensate us for our loss!"

I can get behind the notion of trying to get compensation for such losses when it's "normal" posessions, a factory or a plot of land or whatever, but when you're talking about entire villages? That's a bit much.

[pecenipicek]

... Then the commies came and... yeah. Over the years managed to steal pretty much everything my family had (well, one village ended up sold earlier, due to it's financial troubles). All that's left of it is an endless lawsuit conducted by a great-uncle of mine and (maybe) his descendants and a claim to a coat of arms which I'm planning to pursue if I'll ever have money to spend.

<snip>

I'm mostly interested in the coat of arms now, though I suppose a compensation for the village would be something, too.

You do know that that sounds absolutely mind-boggingly entitled, right? "The Communists took OUR villages, and now that they're no longer in power, the new regime does nothing to compensate us for our loss!"

I can get behind the notion of trying to get compensation for such losses when it's "normal" posessions, a factory or a plot of land or whatever, but when you're talking about entire villages? That's a bit much.

it explains a lot of his attitude in general tho XD

[Mongoose]

If it was property that was legally his family's, I don't really see that the size makes any difference in terms of the validity of its seizure.  Not that I think restitution is particularly feasible at this point.

All of this does make me a bit sad that I have no real idea what my ancestors did before my great-(great-)grandparents came over here.  I always just assumed they were just dirt farmers in eastern Europe, but who knows, maybe we owned a badass castle or something.

[Lorric]

... Then the commies came and... yeah. Over the years managed to steal pretty much everything my family had (well, one village ended up sold earlier, due to it's financial troubles). All that's left of it is an endless lawsuit conducted by a great-uncle of mine and (maybe) his descendants and a claim to a coat of arms which I'm planning to pursue if I'll ever have money to spend.

<snip>

I'm mostly interested in the coat of arms now, though I suppose a compensation for the village would be something, too.

You do know that that sounds absolutely mind-boggingly entitled, right? "The Communists took OUR villages, and now that they're no longer in power, the new regime does nothing to compensate us for our loss!"

I can get behind the notion of trying to get compensation for such losses when it's "normal" posessions, a factory or a plot of land or whatever, but when you're talking about entire villages? That's a bit much.

Unless he corrects me, I very much doubt that's what they're after. He says they took everything. That leaves a lot of room for reasonable compensation.

If it was property that was legally his family's, I don't really see that the size makes any difference in terms of the validity of its seizure.  Not that I think restitution is particularly feasible at this point.

Indeed.

[Phantom Hoover]

If you seriously think feudal landlords 'legally' owned their property in any way we'd accept today I don't really know what to say. Dragon is essentially demanding that he be rewarded because his ancestors happened to benefit from social inequality.

[Mongoose]

I'm not really going to delve into the whole politics of feudal holdings vs. modern-day property rights, because frankly I wouldn't even know where to begin figuring out the best way to suss it all out, but again, if a person has legal holdings under a certain government that are then seized without any compensation, I'd consider that unjust no matter which party was being seized from.  A rich guy stealing from another rich guy is still theft.

[StarSlayer]

I dunno I think I respect the social inequity based on prowess with lance and steed more than being able to kick a football around or being a stupid ass on reality TV.

Society showers an in ordinate amount of fame and riches on some pretty stupid **** even today.

[swashmebuckle]

You think that's bad? When the bastards got into power over here, they took away everyone's slaves, and they didn't give any back! No justice, I tell ya.

[Phantom Hoover]

swashbuckler has exactly the right idea

[Lorric]

Let's take a step back here people.

I'm mostly interested in the coat of arms now, though I suppose a compensation for the village would be something, too.

That is not unreasonable to want the coat of arms back and see anything else as a bonus. That's how I'm reading it. In fact, I think that is very reasonable.

[Mongoose]

swashbuckler has exactly the right idea

Apparently you're intimately familiar with Dragon's family history, so do share it with the rest of the class.  We're all ears!