The following post is written by Jonas Magram of Fairfield, Iowa’s local No Bakken Here group. You can find them on Facebook here.
I love movies, really all types of movies, as long as they are done well. I love the emotions movies evoke: joy, excitement, fear, anger, love, sadness. But most of all, I like movies that cause me to examine my life and ask myself if I am living the life I aspire to or settling for something less.
Perhaps the most powerful example of a movie that had this effect on me is Schindler’s List, the hard-to-watch but nevertheless profoundly moving film about German industrialist Oskar Schindler’s transformation from wartime opportunist to a hero credited with saving 1,200 Jews from Nazi extermination.
One particularly moving scene takes place in Schindler’s bankrupt factory at the war’s end. One by one, many of those whom Schindler has rescued thank him for his sacrifice and heroism. Yet, in spite of his incredible commitment and accomplishment, Schindler laments, “I could have done more. I could have done more.” Hearing him, I could not escape reflecting on my own life and my deep desire never to be faced with those same feelings.
“Let me live my life with purpose, focus, and commitment and be free from this kind of regret,” I thought.
What does this have to do with my engagement in fighting the proposed Bakken Pipeline and confronting Big Oil and the corrupt political system it has been instrumental in creating? Everything.
It is true, the deck is stacked against us. Even the US Supreme Court, in its Citizen’s United decision, effectively endorsed this corruption. Why, you might ask, would I want to invest my time and energy banging my head against this immense wall of corporatocracy when I could be spending my retirement riding my motorcycle or writing and playing music or traveling with my wife of 33 years?
Sure, the Bakken, if built, would represent a perpetual threat to Iowa’s rivers and streams and soil. And sure, it would facilitate the consumption of an additional 500,000 barrels a day of climate-killing crude oil at a time when the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change is issuing dire warnings about the impact of global warming on our planet. And sure, it would undercut our state’s growing sustainable energy industry. But what’s the point of me fighting what many believe to be an unwinnable war?
Simply put, it is because I do not want to look back on my life and say, “I could have done more. I could have done more.”
Perhaps, no matter what we do, it is just part of being human for us to look back on our lives and recognize we could have done more. But, at least for me, this does not justify my giving less than my best while there is still time. Win or lose, I am called to play my role in this battle between those who would sacrifice all for profit and those who stand against the madness, much as Schindler stood against the madness of his own nation.
There is another movie scene I relate to the Bakken fight as well. It is from the acclaimed 1957 film, The Bridge Over The River Kwai, directed by David Lean. The movie tells the story of a Japanese labor camp in Thailand, where allied prisoners must build a bridge vital to Japan’s military interests. Ranking allied officer, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson, played by Alec Guiness, much to the chagrin of other officers, embraces the project as a morale booster for the interned troops. Eventually, the bridge is completed and the Colonel revels in the achievement. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Nicholson, a small group of commandos has rigged the bridge for explosion before the first weapons-filled train can cross.
Just as the train rumbles toward the crossing, Nicholsen discovers the explosives and, in a desperate attempt to save his bridge, yells for help. Guards open fire, killing the commandos, one of whom is a fellow officer Nicholson recognizes. Suddenly, Nicholsen realizes his colossal misguidedness and is filled with soul-crushing regret for having built the bridge. “What have I done,” he utters aghast at his own hubris.
The connection? I believe many of those politicians, farmers, and business people who champion the Bakken Pipeline today, and who even ridicule the Coalition’s efforts to create a safe and sustainable future for Iowa, are destined to experience the same gut-wrenching awakening. Sooner than later, perhaps in the face of some horrific pipeline spill or some catastrophic weather event caused by climate change, they will realize they have swallowed Big Oils poison pill and stood on the wrong side of history.
Of course, my imaginings presuppose we are destined to suffer more pipeline spills and climate chaos before we are able to create the economically and environmentally sustainable future for which the Bakken Pipeline Resistant Coalition and our own No Bakken Here group in Southeast Iowa are fighting. But it also imagines a change of heart for those in power, which swiftly will lead Iowa and our planet to a brighter future.
I guess there is one last thought I would like to share. A great Indian saint once said, as we engage in helping to change the world, we should “See the job, do the job, and stay out of the misery.” For me, in the context of fighting the Bakken Pipeline, this means I need to stay focused on giving my best to help plan and implement our resistance strategy while, at the same time, accept that ultimately the results are out of my hands. Only by approaching the challenge with this attitude will I be able to minimize the inevitable feelings of frustration, anger, and even hopelessness, and stay in the battle for the long haul.
I would invite everyone taking a stand for Iowa and our planet to embrace this same attitude. I sincerely believe, in the end, it will enable us to persevere and, eventually, to prevail.
By Jonas Magram
No Bakken Here; Fairfield, Iowa