“The Standing Rock protest camp represents that struggle for freedom and the future of a people. All of us. If I ask the question “What would Sitting Bull do?”—the answer is pretty clear. He would remind me what he said 150 years ago: “Let us put our minds together to see what kind of future we can make for our children.”
via https://t.co/tPNHihZ1p0
Some reflection:
– The pipeline is not just serving corporate interests.
>> These ‘big oil’ corporations and activities arise from a complex web of wants and needs, tangled up in incomplete accounting for costs and benefits or risks and opportunities involved in projects such as this. That isn’t to mention the misinformation, distraction, and other legitimate and inauthentic complications leading us to or away from the pipeline.
– That being said, this does indeed represent the future of all of us, whatever your stance on it may be.
>> The Missouri river, which this pipeline will cross, continues on through a huge stretch of the United States, with many people (I’m sure of all shapes, sizes, colors, and backgrounds) along its shores.
>> The fuel being transported through this pipeline is in high demand, and alternative fossil fuel options are not so nice (does oil from the middle east, or oil shipped on trains & trucks sound better than this pipeline?) No doubt we need energy but how much, from where, and at what price?
– So, “Let us put our minds together to see what kind of future we can make for our children.”
>> Consider to what extent you demand fossil fuels and why. Is your lifestyle and the landscape you exist within ready & willing to move in large part beyond fossil fuels? To what extent are you not, and why, considering how finite and controversial a resource it is?
In what ways do you directly use fossil fuels, and what are the alternatives? In what ways do you support fossil fuel through industries and other activities, and are there alternatives? What can be done to implement those alternatives?
>> How do you value environmental and cultural benefits from common natural resources, especially when considering a decision that can degrade the common resource? What long-term importance do rivers, forests, and indigeneity have?
>> What kind of future would you like to see for the next seven generations? What kind of future are you willing to work toward for the next seven generations? How flexible are you on different aspects of this vision?
This writing also appears as a post on Facebook.com