Whether the ultimate showdown occurs on Monday or not, there is certainly a moment of great historical significance in the making at Standing Rock. The two ends of the chain of (what I will call) “absurd brutality” and “brutal absurdity” are connected there, the chain set in motion by European colonialism and presently manifesting in postmodern capitalism. At either end of the chain there is a supposed “question” that is absurd, ridiculous, crazy. In this meeting point of the two ends of the chain we see a world that appears to have spiraled into not only insanity but even into a late stage of dementia.
Before getting all world-historical, let’s look at the lines that are being drawn. First and foremost, there is the line that is being drawn by the Lakota Sioux. This is an unambiguous case of where the line separates the good people from the bad people. How far the scope of the term “bad people” reaches beyond those on the frontline of attacking the Water Protectors is ambiguous–in some sense it reaches out to all of us who take advantage of energy production in the global economy. At the least, this spreading wave of complicity represents a demand that we take a stand on the side of the Lakota Sioux.
Thus far, the solidarity has been extraordinary, a beautiful thing to see. The images of a delegation from Black Lives Matter riding to the Standing Rock camp are some of the most beautiful and powerful images I have seen in a long…