Why the Sioux Oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline

As the Flint, Michigan, water crisis made national headlines in 2016, members of the Standing Rock Sioux  successfully  protested to protect their water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline. After months on end of demonstrating,  the water protectors rejoiced when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided on Dec. 4, 2016, to  prohibit the pipeline from crossing  Lake Oahe, effectively bringing the project to a halt. But the pipelines future is unclear after Obama leaves office, and the Trump administration enters the White House. Building of the pipeline could very well resume when the new administration takes over.   If finished, the $3.8 billion project would span 1,200 miles across four states to link the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to an Illinois river port. This would allow 470,000 barrels of crude oil daily to be transported along the route. But the Standing Rock wanted construction on the pipeline stopped because they said it could devastate their natural resources. Initially, the pipeline would have crossed the Missouri River near the state capital, but the route was changed so that it would pass under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, a half-mile upstream from the Standing Rock reservation. The pipeline was redirected from Bismarck because of fears that an oil spill would endanger the city’s drinking water. Moving the pipeline from the state capital to an Indian reservation is environmental racism in a nutshell, as this form of discrimination is characterized by the disproportionate placement of environmental hazards in communities of color. If the pipeline was too risky to be placed near the state capital, why wasn’t it deemed a risk near Standing Rock land? With this in mind, the tribe’s effort to stop  construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline isn’t simply an environmental issue but a protest against racial injustice as well. Clashes between the pipeline’s protesters and its developers have also sparked racial  tensions, but the Standing Rock have won support from a broad cross-section of the public, including public figures and celebrities.   Why the Sioux Are Against the Pipeline On Sept. 2, 2015, the Sioux drafted a resolution explaining their opposition to the pipeline. It read in part: â€Å"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe relies on the waters of the life-giving Missouri River for our continued existence, and the Dakota Access Pipeline poses a serious risk to Mni Sose and to the very survival of our Tribe; and ...the horizontal direction drilling in the construction of the pipeline would destroy valuable cultural resources of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.† The resolution also argued that the Dakota Access Pipeline violates Article 2 of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty which granted the tribe the â€Å"undisturbed use and occupation† of its homeland. The Sioux filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July 2016 to stop construction of the pipeline, which began the following month. In addition to concerns about the effects a spill would have on the Sioux’s natural resources, the tribe pointed out that the pipeline would course through sacred ground protected by federal law. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg had a different take. He ruled on Sept. 9, 2016, that the Army Corps had â€Å"likely complied† with its duty to consult the Sioux and that the tribe â€Å"has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the court could issue.† Although the judge denied the tribe’s request for an injunction to stop the pipeline, the departments of the Army, Justice and Interior announced after the ruling that they would suspend building of the pipeline on land of cultural importance to the tribe pending further evaluation. Still, the Standing Rock Sioux said they would appeal the judge’s decision because they believe they were not sufficiently consulted when the pipeline was rerouted.    My nations history is at risk because the pipeline builders and the Army Corps failed to consult the tribe when planning the pipeline, and routed it through areas of cultural and historical significance, which will be destroyed,† stated Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II in a court filing. Judge Boasberg’s ruling led the tribe to ask for an emergency injunction to stop building of the pipeline. This led the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit  to state in a Sept. 16 ruling that it needed more time to consider the tribes request, which meant that all construction 20 miles in either direction of Lake Oahe had to stop. The federal government had already called for construction along that part of the route to be halted, but Dallas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners didn’t immediately respond to the Obama administration. In September 2016, the company said the pipeline was 60 percent complete and maintained it would not harm the  local water supply. But if that were absolutely certain, then why wasn’t the Bismarck location an appropriate site for the pipeline? As recently as October 2015, a North Dakota oil well blew out and leaked more than 67,000 gallons of crude, putting a tributary of the Missouri River at risk. Even if oil spills are rare and new technology works to prevent them, they cannot be completely ruled out. By rerouting the Dakota Access Pipeline, the federal government appears to have put the Standing Rock Sioux directly in harm’s way in the unlikely event of an oil spill. Controversy Over Protests The Dakota Access Pipeline hasn’t attracted media attention simply because of the natural resources at stake but also because of clashes between protesters and the oil company in charge of building it. In Spring 2016, only a small group of demonstrators  had set up camp on the reservation to protest the pipeline. But in the summer months, Sacred Stone Camp ballooned to thousands of activists, with some calling it â€Å"the largest gathering of Native Americans in a century,† the Associated Press reported. In early September, tensions heightened as protesters and journalists were arrested, and activists accused the security firm tasked with protecting the pipeline of pepper-spraying them and letting dogs viciously attack them. This called to mind similar images of attacks on civil rights protesters during the 1960s.    In light of the violent clashes between protesters and security guards, the Standing Rock Sioux were granted a permit to allow the water protectors to legally rally on the federal lands that surround the pipeline. The permit means the tribe is responsible for the cost of any damages, keeping demonstrators safe, liability insurance and more. Despite this shift, clashes between activists and officers continued in November 2016, with police reportedly firing tear gas and water canons at protesters. One activist came dangerously close to losing her arm as a result of an explosion that occurred during the confrontation. Protesters say she was injured by a grenade thrown by police, while police say she was hurt by a small propane tank that protesters rigged to explode, according to CBS News. Prominent Standing Rock Supporters A number of celebrities have publicly expressed their support for the Standing Rock Sioux’s protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jane Fonda and Shailene Woodley helped serve Thanksgiving 2016 dinner to the demonstrators.  Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein visited the site and faced arrest for allegedly spray-painting construction equipment during a protest. A former 2016  presidential candidate also stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock, leading a rally against the pipeline. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said on Twitter, â€Å"Stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Respect Native American rights. And let us move forward to transform our energy system.† Veteran rocker Neil Young even released a new song called â€Å"Indian Givers† in honor of the Standing Rock protest. The song’s title is a play on the racial insult. The lyrics state: There’s a battle raging on the sacred landOur brothers and sisters have to take a standAgainst us now for what we all been doingOn the sacred land there’s a battle brewingI wish somebody would share the newsNow it’s been about 500 yearsWe keep taking what we gave awayJust like what we call Indian giversIt makes you sick and gives you shivers Young also released a video for the song that features footage of the pipeline protests. The musician has recorded songs about similar environmental controversies, such as his 2014 protest song â€Å"Who’s Gonna Stand Up?† in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline. Leonardo DiCaprio announced that he shared the Sioux’s concerns as well. â€Å"Standing w/ the Great Sioux Nation to protect their water lands,† he said on Twitter, linking to a Change.org petition against the pipeline. â€Å"Justice League† actors Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher  took to social media to announce their objections to the pipeline. Momoa shared a photo of himself on Instagram with a sign that said, â€Å"Oil pipelines are a bad idea,† along with hashtags related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. Wrapping Up While the Dakota Access Pipeline protest has largely been framed as an environmental issue, it is also a racial justice issue. Even the judge who denied the Standing Rock Sioux’s temporary injunction to stop the pipeline, acknowledged that â€Å"the United States’ relationship with the Indian tribes has been contentious and tragic.† Since the Americas were colonized, Native Americans and other marginalized groups have fought for equal access to natural resources. Factory farms, power plants, freeways and other sources of pollution are all too often erected in communities of color. The richer and whiter a community is, the more likely its residents have clean air and water. So, the Standing Rock’s struggle to protect their land and water from the Dakota Access Pipeline is just as much an anti-discrimination issue as it is an environmental one.

Dr. I.L. Kandel’S Article Entitled “Education In Nazi...

Dr. I.L. Kandel’s article entitled â€Å"Education in Nazi Germany† highlights Nazi policy regarding the reeducation of the citizenry with the goal of showing that totalitarian states utilize education as a method of subordinating all individuals comprising the nation. During his analysis, Kandel makes the claim the Nazi Party’s policies regarding education were influenced by the idea of Gleichschaltung – coordination; all policies aimed to construct a uniform citizenry answer to the whim of its single governmental entity. In constructing his argument, Kandel references four major types of educational reform – both informal and formal – that allowed the Nazi Party to consolidate power and gain total control over the beliefs, attitudes, and†¦show more content†¦Doing this satisfied the Nazi goal of creating a Volksgemeinschaft – a racially unified nation whereby the citizens were subject to the will of the state. Regarding the implementation of concentration camps, Kandel writes: â€Å"The first phase of each revolution was marked by terrorism, violence, and murder, with concentration camps or penal colonies for any opposition that might survive or emerge. In a sense, this was a form of education of a negative kind.† Political opponents of the Nazi Party were persecuted and placed in concentration camps as these individuals hindered the ability of the government to create a nation that would follow the Nazi ideology. Goebbels states: â€Å"‘anyone may grumble or criticize the government who is not afraid to go to a concentration camp.’† Concentration camps were used as a form of informal education reconstructing the German citizenry’s beliefs of right action and wrong action; wrong action led to detention within concentration camps. With the help of the Gestapo, the Nazis eliminated tens of thousands of political enemies. Concentration or penal camps allo wed the Nazis to reconstruct the beliefs of the German people to fit the party’s ideals which

A Medium of Exchange and a Unit of Account Versus Money Free Essays

These Short Essays are partial fulfillment of Paper IE1001 of Part 1 of Certified Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP) [DRAFT V0. 5] INCEIF Student Name: Mustafa Aydemir Student ID: 1200279 IE1001 Assignment in Islamic Economics – Short Essay No 3 by Mustafa Aydemir – DRAFT Version 0. 5. We will write a custom essay sample on A Medium of Exchange and a Unit of Account Versus Money or any similar topic only for you Order Now doc -1- Bismillahirrahmanirrahim Essay No. (3) Money and Islam – A Medium of Exchange and a Unit of Account versus Money as a Commodity Everybody is using money. Most of us want it; we work for it and think how to get more of it. Therefore, it is vital to ask what money is, where it comes from, and what money is worth. Economics is an academic discipline that tries to answer those questions. It would be to long and lengthy to discuss about money creation and growth from A-Z but in the following paragraphs the subject matter is elaborated from the conventional as well as the Islamic worldviews. Money in the conventional sense is a commodity people use in exchange for goods and services. Before money was used as a medium of exchange, barter trade was practiced whereby people trade goods and services in exchange for other goods and services. However, barter trade was considered not so practical as weighing, transporting and dividing goods was difficult. It was the lack of transferability and inefficiencies that created the need for better ways of exchange. The concept of money was born. There are different types of money that developed over time, which should be presented briefly. Commodity money is defined as valuable goods, which were used as an underlying for a currency, such as gold, silver, coffee or even tobacco. The biggest advantage of this kind of currency was its portability and easy storage. Another example of commodity money is the U. S. currency before 1971, which was backed by gold (Investopia). Fiat money is the paper money currently circulating in our world that is not convertible in any other type of money. It is used in our daily life where we buy and sell goods and services. Fiat money is basically not backed by any commodity but by a government that guarantees its value and creates a perception and faith in people that it is worth it. It is simply needed because gold is IE1001 Assignment in Islamic Economics – Short Essay No 3 by Mustafa Aydemir – DRAFT Version 0. . doc -2- rare on this planet. The perception created is, that the stronger the economy, the stronger is the value of its money. It is important to understand, that money is valuable because we want it, but we want it only because it can get us a desired product or service. Money is generated by a kind of an uninterrupted collaboration between physical things, our elusive desire for them, and our theoretical trust in what has value. That is why printing fresh money will not enrich a nation. Another type of money is named credit money. Investopia defines credit money as â€Å"Any future monetary claim against an individual that can be used to buy goods and services†. There are many forms of credit money, such as IOUs, bonds and money market accounts. Virtually any form of financial instrument that cannot be repaid immediately is considered credit money. Economists measure money in M1, M2 and M3 defined as follows. M1 money includes all coins and currency that is physically available, travellers checks, demand deposits, checking accounts that is used to make payments. M2 money is all the money in M1 plus saving accounts, timelinked deposits and non-institutional money-market funds. M3 money is all the money in M2 plus all large time-deposits, liquid assets, institutional money-market funds, and short-term repurchase agreements. M1+M2+M3 together is the total supply of money in an economy, the â€Å"broad money† Money fulfills the three main functions. It is used as a medium of exchange. Furthermore, money is a unit of account that is a numerical unit of measurement for transactions, goods and services. IE1001 Assignment in Islamic Economics – Short Essay No 3 by Mustafa Aydemir – DRAFT Version 0. 5. doc -3- Lastly, money is used to store value that can be retrieved and used again. In Islam money is not a commodity, which makes all the difference. It is not considered as a commodity that should be used for a price, but rather as a medium of exchange in business transactions Money as a commodity concept is prohibited, because it contradicts Islamic principles that does not recognize money as a tool to make profit. Money is only a medium of exchange, a way of defining the value of a thing; it has no value in itself, and therefore should not be allowed to give rise to more money, via fixed interest payments, simply by being put in a bank or lent to someone else. † (INCEIF Lecture Notes p. 81). Money used as a commodity would presumably divide the society into the poor and the rich, even countries into categories rich and poor economies neglecting their national debt levels. People or nations in need for cash, deficit units, borrow money from people or nations with additional cash, surplus units. They are required to pay a fixed interest payment for their loans. This is riba and is clearly illegal according to Shariah law because it enriches surplus units without any contribution to the real economy. Consequently, people in need for money would take a high risk of becoming even poorer. Compound interest is the big problem that creates money out of thin air. Moreover, the so-called fractional banking system that creates 100. 000 USD out of a 10. 000 USD deposit, 90. 000 USD can be considered fictional money. 1 Title: Concept of Money from Islamic Perspective; Class: Islamic Economics [IE1001]; Prof: Dr. Magda Ismail Abdel Mohsin; Institution: INCEIF; Date: 8/16/2006 # Of Pages: 44 IE1001 Assignment in Islamic Economics – Short Essay No 3 by Mustafa Aydemir – DRAFT Version 0. 5. doc -4- The rich is getting richer relatively faster than involvement into the real economy, because money creates more money without work required and Many countries fall into the trap of borrowing money from the International Monetary Funds, in particular Muslim states. The weaknesses of money as a commodity, hit those countries with all its evil as borrowed money doubles, multiplies and compounds. Consequently future generations are affected. The current generation is living in exaggerated prosperity on the cost of many future generations. Money is Islam should not be hoarded and kept in the bank savings account. Instead, money is required to circulate within the economy freely to benefit frequently, continuously, proactively and directly the society at large. This leads to the basic principle of interest prohibition and replaces this Riba system with that of Al-Bay. A system that is very different from Riba. The principle paradigm is risk sharing to allow borrowers and lenders to share rewards. The process of wealth accumulation and distribution in the economy is fair and just and fits the spending (infaq) criteria of Al-Bay suggested by the following verses. â€Å"Those who eat Riba (usury) will not stand on the Day of Resurrection except like the standing of a person beaten by Satan leading him to insanity. That is because they say: â€Å"Al-Bay is only like Riba,† whereas Allah has permitted Al-Bay’ and forbidden Riba. So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Riba shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allah (to judge); but whoever returns [to Riba], such are the dwellers of the Fire – they will abide therein. † (2-275) The verse (2-261) states the incentive of spending in the way of Allah swt by counting the great reward and the blessing that an individual get from one single transaction: Then the following verse (2-262) puts the conditions for infaq to be accepted, and that is for Infaq not to be followed IE1001 Assignment in Islamic Economics – Short Essay No 3 by Mustafa Aydemir – DRAFT Version 0. 5. doc -5- by Riya (show-off) or by harming anyone or harming the society as a whole. Even if the spending is based on charitable purposes mentioned in verse (2-263), no reminding of it and no harm should be resulted from spending process. Indeed, a kind speech and asking for forgiveness would have better impact. So infaq has to be fully for the sake of Allah swt. (2-264). The consequences of Infaq being not for the sake of Allah are serious as there would be neither Baraka nor growth. Verse (2-265) shapes the objective of spending and is to be for the sake of Allah and his reward so the profile of gain and loss in Infaq is different from the ordinary thinking. In conclusion, the definition of money and the way wealth is accumulated and spend draw a fine line in the distinction of both the conventional versus the Islamic economic system. As money is a medium of exchange, savings does not yield interest income but instead require business transactions. Al-Bay as the system of exchange that is based on the concept of spending (Infaq) and risk sharing for any single transaction between parties of exchange. It is notable that Tijarah and Bay are of two different meanings. Tijarah is for the individuals that are setting up the business that has the aspect of long term. It becomes clear that lots of efforts have to be spending in education, elucidation and clarification of the consequences by a simple definition of money. 2 2 This meaning can be clarified by looking verse: (2-282) â€Å"And do not be too weary to write it, whether it is small or arge, for its specified term. That is more just in the sight of Allah and stronger as evidence and more likely to prevent doubt between you, except when it is a Tijarah which you conduct among yourselves. †So we can understand from this verse that Tijarah is among some people that the conduct it among themselves. (61-10) â€Å"O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a Tijarah that will save you from a painful punishment? † So, we can sense the longterm involvement in this transaction as Allah swt stated that for in the following 3 verses 11,12 13. 1 â€Å"It is that you believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is best for you, if you should know. †12 â€Å"He will forgive for you your sins and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence. That is the great attainment. † 13 â€Å"And you will obtain another favor that you love – victory from Allah and an imminent conquest; and give good tidings to the believers. † IE1001 Assignment in Islamic Economics – Short Essay No 3 by Mustafa Aydemir – DRAFT Version 0. 5. doc -6- How to cite A Medium of Exchange and a Unit of Account Versus Money, Essay examples

Misunderstood free essay sample

Everyone has his or her own struggles to deal with, which is why I don’t really like to talk about mine. However, the struggles I had did indeed help shape me as an individual. When I was younger, I was very quiet and reserved—exactly the opposite of how I am now. Due to this trait, I guess some people just saw me as an easy target. My mother grew up in Taiwan, and she immigrated to America to make something better out of her life. Because she was a native Mandarin Chinese speaker, that’s how she and I would communicate in the early years of my life, so I was effectively bilingual. I never saw this as a big deal until one of my six-year-old classmates came up to me and asked me why I was such a freak. He told me I was ugly and didn’t belong here with normal people, and that I should go back to the pig’s hole of a country where I came from. We will write a custom essay sample on Misunderstood or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Those are some pretty prejudiced things for a six year old to say to someone, especially since I’m only half ethnic. I was born in America, so how was I any less American? I wasn’t. I didn’t see it that way, though. I thought being half Chinese made me inferior to everyone else—that I was ugly, unimportant, and abnormal. I pretty much grew up with the mentality of being ugly, unimportant, and abnormal, all thanks to one individual. This â€Å"personal struggle† really taught me how much words mean. It doesn’t matter if your words seem unimportant—everything said by every single person is important, and they all have an impact on someone. Words are so powerful, and it’s so unfair to underestimate that.