Happiness is not a reward - it is a consequence.
Suffering is not a punishment - it is a result.
- Robert Green Ingersoll
Winona LaDuke: DAPL Pipeline Lawsuit Against Greenpeace Aims to Silence Indigenous Protests, Too
Greenpeace, The Sioux, and the World Happiness Sham: Where Would Native Americans Rank?
Once again, the World Happiness Report has declared Finland the happiest nation on Earth. Congratulations to the Finns—your lakes are clean, your social services are top-notch, and your people trust each other enough to leave their wallets on cafĂ© tables without fear.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the Sioux of Standing Rock are still fighting the same battle they lost in 2017 when the Dakota Access Pipeline cut through their ancestral land.
And Greenpeace?
Well, they're on the brink of bankruptcy, sued for their support in those very protests. But let's ask an uncomfortable question: If the Standing Rock Sioux were their own country, where would they rank on this so-called Happiness Report?
Not 1st, that's for sure. Not even 81st, where Greece sits, lamenting its economic woes.
No, the Sioux—and Native Americans as a whole—would be battling Afghanistan for last place. And why?
Because when the West talks about "happiness," it conveniently ignores the foundations of its prosperity: land stolen, treaties broken, and indigenous cultures bulldozed for pipelines and profits.
The Price of Protest: Greenpeace’s Financial Death Sentence
Greenpeace, ever the rebel of the environmental movement, now faces financial ruin after a North Dakota jury ordered it to pay $660 million in damages to Energy Transfer, the corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their crime?
Supporting the Sioux and daring to challenge the oil juggernaut.
It’s a textbook example of corporate retaliation. Energy Transfer, armed with legal teams and political connections, claims Greenpeace orchestrated the protests, spread false information, and caused $340 million in losses.
A compliant jury in a state reliant on fossil fuel revenues agreed.
Never mind that Greenpeace was just one of many voices in the resistance.
Never mind that the Sioux themselves were the ones whose land and water were at stake.
The real message here is clear: challenge Big Oil, and you’ll be crushed—legally, financially, and systematically.
The Real Happiness Report: A Rigged System of Metrics
While Greenpeace fights for survival, Western nations are busy patting themselves on the back for being "the happiest."
The World Happiness Report, released every year, ranks countries based on metrics like GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, and perceived freedom. And surprise, surprise—the top spots are always filled with Scandinavian nations, the very same ones that have built strong democracies, invested in high-quality education, implemented progressive taxation, and developed world-class healthcare systems.
Meanwhile, indigenous peoples don’t even appear as a footnote in this report.
The Sioux, the Navajo, the Cree—where do they rank?
What about the entire indigenous population of the United States, many of whom still live in conditions resembling third-world poverty, their water poisoned, their lands fracked, their youth in crisis?
What good is "freedom" when your sovereignty is trampled every time oil money enters the conversation?
What Happiness Looks Like When Your Land is Stolen
Let’s imagine an honest Happiness Report—one that includes not just prosperous nations but also those whose happiness was stolen to fuel the wealth of others.
Where would the Sioux rank?
Where would the Palestinians rank?
Where would any displaced, exploited, or colonized people sit on this list?
Would the indigenous of North America score high on "freedom" when their lands are taken at will?
Would they score high on "trust in government" when every treaty signed with them has been violated?
Would they score high on "social support" when they are often left to fend for themselves, their crises ignored by mainstream media until an oil pipeline threatens their water?
The Final Question: Who Really Deserves to be Called "Happy"?
Happiness is a privilege. And like all privileges, it is unequally distributed. The West celebrates its high-ranking nations while ignoring the systemic oppression that allowed them to achieve such prosperity in the first place.
Meanwhile, the Sioux are still fighting a battle that should have been won centuries ago.
Greenpeace, despite all its missteps and controversies, is paying the ultimate price for daring to stand beside them. And the World Happiness Report?
It will continue to churn out its rankings, blissfully ignorant of the blood and tears that never make it into its statistics.
If there is any justice, happiness should be measured not just by how much a country has, but by how much it has taken.
Until then, the Sioux and all indigenous peoples will remain at the bottom of a list that was never meant to include them in the first place.
Sincerely,
Adaptation-Guide
ADAPT OR DIE!
WE ARE READY! ARE YOU?
WHERE IS OUR GREEN BILLIONAIRE HERO??
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