Victory at Standing Rock

The recent victory at Standing Rock in North Dakota, fought for by the Lakota Sioux people, joined by other Native American protectors, added to and supported by thousands of other Americans, I see as an important event in US history. That is true no matter how long it lasts. The spectacle of a few brave individuals from a nation that has been so wronged and dishonored, standing up against the odds, being joined by more, more and still more, from all over the US and beyond, with so many other people of all nationalities following and cheering them on from afar, is beautiful.

The subsequent apology by US armed forces veterans, and the expression of forgiveness by the Lakota, though it did not involve so many people, is one of those things that ends up in the history books children read at school. It's powerful and moving, and is for all time. 

Photograph by Josh Morgan for The Huffington Post

The following question came to mind. It was first asked by Eli Siegel, the American poet, critic, educator and founder of the philosophy Aesthetic Realism: "What does a person deserve by being alive?"