There are certain things in life that people take for granted when living in a first world country. Some of these include sanitation and water.
Considering that the water supply of the world is becoming more contaminated each day, the privatization of water is a topic of much controversy. We all know that water is essential for life, but should this priceless resource be used for windfall profits or should it be considered a human right?
According to most resources by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will run low on drinking water. The World Bank Group pushes privatization as a solution to the water issue. World Bank is the largest funder of water management in the world, with loans and financing fed through the group’s International
…show more content…
Around the biosphere, rivers, lakes, and aquifers are diminishing faster than Mother Nature can possibly replace them; business and household chemicals are quickly polluting what’s left. Meanwhile, global population is ticking upward. Goldman Sachs guesstimates that global water intake is doubling every 20 years, and the United Nations considers demand to surpass stock by more than 30 percent come 2040. In the industrialized world, America particularly, it’s easy to take water for granted. Turn on any tap, and it comes rushing out, sparkling and abundant, even in the parched Southwest, where the Colorado River Basin is besieged through its 11th year of scarcity; in most cities a month’s stock still costs less than first-rate cable or a lavish cell-phone plan. Many of us have no knowledge where our water comes from, let alone who retains it. In fact, most of us would probably reach a decision that water is too valuable for anybody to own. But the privileges to deter water from a river or lake or underground aquifer are indeed sellable merchandises; as well as the plants and pipes that clean the water and carry it to our taps. As demand surpasses supply, those supplies are set to appreciate quickly. According to a 2009 report by the World Bank, “private investment in the water industry is set to double in the next five years; the water-supply market alone will increase by 20
Water, like food, is a necessity for human life that is used for many purposes such as agricultural, industrial, and domestic systems. While water is a common element around the world not all of it is clean and able to be consumed or used by humans. With only a percentage of the world’s water being clean and the use of water increasing, the availability of water around the world has become a common issue in the developing and even the developed world. This may be a smaller problem in areas close to clean water sources compared to areas far from a clean water source but, the availability of water is not strictly based on location, it also depends on the specific political and social needs and issues of the area as well. These all become issues that must be accounted for when deciphering whether water is a basic human right or a commodity and what action must be taken to aid the developing water systems in community’s that lack them.
The story Thirst reflects on how global corporations like Nestle, Suez, and Veolia are rapidly purchasing local water sources such as lakes, streams, and springs. Those companies are also taking control of public water services. While trying to privatize and turn a larger profit off of water, they have manipulated and bought politicians, have gone “under the table” to make deals and undermined the democratic process by trying to deny citizens a voice in fundamental decisions about their most essential public resource. The authors ' Thirst explain the emergence of a controversial new water wars in the United States and showing how communities here are fighting this battle, often against companies headquartered overseas. The three followed water privatization battles across the United States from California to Massachusetts and from Georgia to Wisconsin, documenting the rise of public opposition to corporate control of water resources. These towns find it hard to balance a budget, so when large companies come in and offer to control the water the town looks at it as a major way to cut costs, but what it ends up costing is much more.
The world revolves around water. Without it, organisms would cease to exist. With that being said, humans depend on it on a daily basis. In the documentary “Thirst”, it covers the controversy of water privatization in Bolivia, India, and Stockton. All of these regions are opposed to water privatization by the powerful corporations that operate in the area. The people living in these places believe that water privatization negatively affects their control of their water, because it a human right. On the other hand, the multinational corporations believe that water is an economic resource that should be bought and sold, for profit. I believe that water should not have the ability to be privatized.
As you all may know president-elect Donald Trump will soon be inaugurated, congress plans to cope with the lame-duck period which is the post obama era. The government is preparing bills that will help things run smoothly for him when he enters office. One of the things top on their list is the water systems in cities that are poisoned by lead. The Congress plans to introduce many bills that will help the country run better and help more people out.
In 133 BC, Rome was governed by democracy. At the end of the second century BC the Roman people became supreme ruler. True noblemen in politics and rich people elected in election. Magistrates were elected by the assemblies implement the laws and carry state decisions. Rome was powerful and rich in culture however Ceaser Dictatorship, increase in slavery, and rise of private army destroyed the Roman Republic.
Illegal immigration has caused a lot of controversy within the United States. The media has influenced our society to make us believe that illegal immigrants are horrible people. One thing that I have learned throughout life is, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Rousseau 4).” This sums up how society dictates our lives and limits us to what the media wants to us to believe. Whether it is legal or illegal, everybody should be treated equally. Illegal immigrants might always end up with the short end of the stick, but they heavily support the US economy. They contribute by paying taxes every year. In addition, they adopt difficult low wage jobs that are not of interest to the average American.
Empowerment is the act of giving power or authority to; to enable or permit (“The Definition” 1). Black empowerment in my opinion is the uplifting of African Americans to achieve a greater purpose in life, while enhancing the black community as a whole. Black empowerment can be achieved in many ways, such as influences from musical artists as well as popular actors and actresses. They become major influences based on their celebrity status. Numerous people in our society disregard the influence that literature impacts our culture, especially in earlier time periods. A reason for this is possibly because of the emphasis on education during that time because African Americans wanted to overcome the stereotypes of not being as educated as whites. Another reason literature was an influence on the culture of the black society is that at the time there was no social media. The lack of social media results in people trying to send a message in a different way, such as poetry. Maya Angelou and Claude McKay are perfect examples of black empowerment through literature in the area of poetry. They were both voices of power for blacks and were faces well known in the black community for their activist roles. In McKay’s time, which was early 1900s, there were many violent riots as well as blacks being killed ruthlessly from whites who showed no remorse nor faced any punishment. Specifically, the 1919 Race Riots also known as the “Red Summer” which was the inspiration to McKay’s poem “If
There is a water crisis which faces many parts of the world and it is a threat to survival of human beings since humans are primarily dependent on water. Shortage in drinking water is beginning to show its effects in first world countries, but is a current major problem facing lesser developed countries which have not taken drastic steps to harvest water and purify it to make it safe for human consumption. In developed countries the population growth has strained available water resources and stretched the ability of governments and private firms to provide safe drinking water to the vast majority of the population. Seventy one percent of
The world’s supply of water is in steep decline as more and more is being used each year by more and more people around the globe. Currently, 800 million people do not have access to a drinking source. At the current rate, 1.8 billion people could be living in areas of absolute water scarcity by 2025.
Water is just as important as air, it is a basic need for life, ever since the
Clean water is essential to our basic needs as human beings and has been acknowledged as a basic human right according to the UN as of July 28, 2010. Still, 1 in 9 (782 million) people don’t have access to clean water, 1 in 3 (2.5 billion) don’t have access to adequate sanitation which results in the spread of often fatal and preventable disease. In a world where 2 in 5 people own a smartphone, it’s easy to forget that for some people even the most basic necessities are hard to come by. Approximately 3.5 million people die every year due to inadequate water supplies. Access to sanitation and safe drinking water could save the lives of 1.5 million children each year.
As the worlds population grows, it is forced by circumstances that it has created to face the limitations of the worlds resources. Most people in the US have always been fortunate enough to have enough of whatever they wanted. When something they like breaks or wears out, they throw it away or buy a new one, and they often don’t even make an attempt to repair an item. They neglect basic maintenance until they damage their belongings beyond repair, and expect that they’ll always have enough. But some things are beyond their control, beyond there power or financial ability to replace or repair. The world’s drinking water supply is one of these without concern, without attention, without preventative maintenance and reclamation and
Bywater, K. (2008). Globalization, privatization, and the crisis of sustainability: Examining the global water crisis. Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association, 1.
Water is a human right, not a commodity. It is the essence of life, sustaining every living being on the planet. Without it we would have no plants, no animals, no people. However, while water consumption doubles every twenty years our water sources are being depleted, polluted and exploited by multinational corporations. Water privatization has been promoted by corporations and international lending institutions as the solution to the global water crises but the only one’s who benefit from water privatization are investors and international banks. The essential dilemma of privatization is that the profit interests of private water utilities ultimately jeopardizes the safeguarding of the human right to water. Access to clean, sufficient
Life springs up around water sources. It is no coincidence that some of the greatest civilizations have been build need fertile bodies of water. Known life relies on water to sustain that life. So it is no surprise when a debate arose in 2013 around comments made by Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck regarding privatization of water and the fundamental human right to survive from dehydration and illness from non-portal water consumption. Although the context of Brabeck’s comment was taken out of context, issues surrounding the access companies like Nestlé have been given to bottle their water when people do not have access to clean water and droughts are threatening crop production. Adding a price tag is not the answer. The market, both these companies and their consumers have a major role to play in the management of water; a role that requires a change in mindset of privilege many citizen of the United States, and other countries that do not see the direct effects that serious clean water issue have on people that do not have it.