http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1435240
First off, if anyone would like to hear or read news that is independently ran (IE not one of the 8 privately owned corporations that control our media) than I suggest www.democracynow.org.
I have been following the implications of the privatization of water for a while now, and this article has a lot to offer as far as how privatization of water affects the world. Due to the recent scandal regarding Aquafina (pepsi owned) and Dasani's (coke owned)admission to using tap water for bottled water a lens of scrutiny has been placed on the bottled water industry questioning the true intensions of these corporations. Millions of dollars are spent on advertising for the health and safety of bottled water. I know personally that I have felt more secure in drinking bottled water over tap water, that it somehow tastes better, this is just a lie and proof that everyone is contaminated by advertising. In the environmental realm the increasing security people feel from drinking bottled water has led to such waste,
"Each day an estimated 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away. Most are not recycled. The Pacific Institute has estimated 20 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the plastic for water bottles."
What I really want to talk about is what the implications of these corporations have abroad. India has seen the impacts of the bottled water industry as the rivers dramatically decrease. Already we see water shortages in places like India, but hardly do we point a finger at companies such as Pepsi and Coke who are honing in on our blindness. Farmers are not able to irrigate their land, because there is such a shortage of water. Not only are they taking the water from India they are then dumping toxic pollutants back into the rivers.
July 2nd there was a rally in El Salvador against the president’s agreement to decentralize water (the first step of privatization) 14 people were arrested and are being charged with terrorism. They were arrested on their way to a peaceful rally. Interestingly enough the World Bank was the one who gave El Salvador a loan to decentralize the water.
Would you really feel safer if corporations owned our water rather than the public?
Many people would argue that we would have safer water if it was controlled by corporations, but the fundamental rule about being a capitalist is all about profit gain, how could we trust corporations to care about the well-being of the recipients.
Is it right that a basic need such as water be owned by a company that profits from our fear as consumers?
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2 comments:
I think that basic human necesseties should not be privatized, not completely. I can understand wanting to have safer drinking water (but it should come from a spring not the same place where we get our tap water, or that defeats the whole purpose). However, I think that water should be provided at a low/reasonable/controlled price to the people (like tap water is in the US) in addition to whatever corporations want to bottle a "safer" version and charge more money for. We should all have the choice to have the inexpensive non-corporate water OR the more expensive corporate water.
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