I Guess Organized Religion Isn't All Bad
The United Church of Canada is calling on all it's members to boycott all bottled drinking water. No, not because of bottled water terrorism threats on airplanes, but because they believe that bottled water is the first step towards water privatization, and I agree.
They believe access to clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, and I agree.
Slowly but surely, we are getting used to the idea of buying our drinking water from private companies in convenient, portable packages. Water which, by the way, has no regulatory oversight (in Canada at least), meaning that the bottled water you buy could be regular tapwater, or water straight out of a lake or river,. There's no oversight. You could start your own bottled water company right now using dishwater if you could convince people to ignore the look or smell..
Besides the ethical question of putting the control of water into private hands, there is also the wastefulness of the industry. Public water systems are energy efficient:
This is madness! All of the money wasted in this industry could build the cleanest, safest public water system ever, everywhere on the planet.
Here are some outrageous water privatization stories for ya:
India; Bolivia; USA; Canada.
Now try to find some positive ones (corporate profit reports don't count).
When are our elected officials going to wake up to the fact that privatization of public utilities only serves to enrich corporations. In virtually every case, the privatized service has denigrated at the expense of efficiency and profit. When a public utility is privatized, it's primary function, that of a public service, is undermined by the corporation's primary concern of maximizing profit for it's shareholders, often by any means necessary. When a corporation takes control of a region's water services, they are not responsible to the population in that region, but only to their shareholders, the majority of which most likely do not live in that region.
Watch this! (I know it's long, but it's so damn riveting)
They believe access to clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, and I agree.
Slowly but surely, we are getting used to the idea of buying our drinking water from private companies in convenient, portable packages. Water which, by the way, has no regulatory oversight (in Canada at least), meaning that the bottled water you buy could be regular tapwater, or water straight out of a lake or river,. There's no oversight. You could start your own bottled water company right now using dishwater if you could convince people to ignore the look or smell..
Besides the ethical question of putting the control of water into private hands, there is also the wastefulness of the industry. Public water systems are energy efficient:
"Tap water comes to us through an energy-efficient infrastructure whereas bottled water must be transported long distances--and nearly one-fourth of it across national borders--by boat, train, airplane, and truck. This 'involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels,''...
This is madness! All of the money wasted in this industry could build the cleanest, safest public water system ever, everywhere on the planet.
Here are some outrageous water privatization stories for ya:
India; Bolivia; USA; Canada.
Now try to find some positive ones (corporate profit reports don't count).
When are our elected officials going to wake up to the fact that privatization of public utilities only serves to enrich corporations. In virtually every case, the privatized service has denigrated at the expense of efficiency and profit. When a public utility is privatized, it's primary function, that of a public service, is undermined by the corporation's primary concern of maximizing profit for it's shareholders, often by any means necessary. When a corporation takes control of a region's water services, they are not responsible to the population in that region, but only to their shareholders, the majority of which most likely do not live in that region.
Watch this! (I know it's long, but it's so damn riveting)
Labels: religion
This entry was posted
on August 17, 2006 at 11:05 AM.
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