Check this out, because if one is thinking this, you can bet others are: Nestlé's water privatization push http://action.storyofstuff.org/sign/nestle_water_privatization_push WTF is the matter with these people?
This is over a decade old. Saying water is a right is about as sensible as saying healthcare is a right. Your right to healthcare is you being able to take care of yourself, you want professional care you pay and the same goes with water. Except, oh wait, no it doesn't because if you tried to collect rain water for your own personal use the liberal thug EPA would fine and imprison you. So I guess waters not much of a right now is it?
Spare us all this Ayn Rand clap trap, because YOU wouldn't exist without the evolving of government protection, as slavery, indentured servitude, no worker protections, no guidelines for proper food, water, etc. would exist. You PAY for your water, as it's on the land that YOU pay taxes on, right? So it's your RIGHT as a citizen who shares the commons (look it up) in our society that is mandated by the federal government and rule of law that YOU (supposedly) participate in. Corporations are NOT people. Got that? Water, like your health make up "the common good/welfare" of the people in the U.S.A., that's YOU and ME. Got that? Good.
Yea I pay taxes and I pay my water bill which means I'm entitled to the product. If I stop paying my water bill do I not lose access to that product. That makes water a commodity not a right. And it's not like these companies are stealing the water. They buy the land and harvest it out just like oil companies do, just like farmers do, just like mineral miners do. So do we have a right to tomatoes, gas, and silver too?
For close to a half a century one company was able to successfully block any other major employer from locating in our city by controlling access to the river. They bought all the land along the river and refused to sell it to companies that needed access to it for their business. Those companies that wanted to come here had to locate in other places because of it.
From the horses' mouth (or rather from the horses' backside, given the amount of misleading, distorted stuff this guy spews): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEFL8ElXHaU
they are not part of the "commons". I suggest you look up what that means in relation to the Constitution.
If corporations are not people then governments are not people either and government can dictate whether you can collect water from your own land and fine you if you do, like in Denver.
I would not take water processing and delivery out of the public sphere and privatize it, but your argument that people paid for it isn't a good one. Few people pay for what government provides. Our federal government spent about $14,000 per person last year, less than 4% of the families in this nation paid more than $14,000 per person in federal taxes. And I don't expect that will increase as at our current level of spending. Most of us don't pay for the rights we enjoy. I think a more important issue though is being clear as to the right we're talking about. A right is something you're guaranteed. Those guarantees can take two forms, entitlements or freedoms. You have a right to vote (our constitution guarantees that entitlement). You have a right to free speech (our constitution guarantees that freedom). The difference is no one has to pay to provide you with freedom. We may pay to have your freedoms protected (a separate right), but your expressing yourself freely doesn't cost the next guy anything. Speak as much or as little as you want, there's no per word expense that you're racking up. That voting thing though, someone has to pay to provide it to you. Same with any entitlement. A freedom is something you have a right to do for yourself, and entitlement is something you have a right to have done for you. When we talk about water freedom, we should be clear as to what that right we're talking about. Do we mean the freedom to not be barred from collecting our own water or are we talking about the entitlement to have processed, clean water provided to people? I'm not saying either shouldn't be a right, but the latter has a cost and that cost has to be considered as part of making that promise.
translation: Documented FACTS that disprove/contradicts what CJtheModerate believes are considered "irrelevant". Give a rest, man.....the guy confirms my subject thread 100%. Deal with it.
Baloney....a tired right wing/libertarian mantra that's applied to every situation where they want to defend tax breaks for the rich or corporation paying mere fractions of the taxes they should or NOT to pay individual taxes. EVERY HOMEOWNER AND APARTMENT DWELLER PAYS TAXES/RENT......working poor folk sure as hell pay the taxes on welfare they receive and any tax on food or public services they use. When all is said and done, WATER IS STILL PART OF THE COMMONS, NOT SOMETHING TO BE PRIVATIZED. You have the right as an American citizen to the commons to be regulated by Congress...something we are all supposedly to participate in electing. Water is part of the commons, as it's something you pay taxes on to have the state/federal regulate. A distortion and muddling via libertarian clap-trap doesn't pass the mustard. By our Constitution, you as a citizen are entitled to rights that are to be defended and upheld for the common good. These are parsed via legislation that we are to keep abreast of before we send elected officials to tend to our needs. Things get changed (Amendments) or altered by the SCOTUS. As it stands, the SCOTUS gave Corporations the same status as an individual human in a recent case.....a change in the Congress' political make-up can override that decision. Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from the consequences of that expression (i.e., arrest for inciting to riot/causing a public disturbance). The voting apparatus requires finance via your local/federal gov't WHICH YOU PAY FOR VIA YOUR TAXES. I've already made it clear.....we are talking about water and it's distribution to the citizenry as part of the commons....paid by taxes (state & federal). That is a right, not to be wholly privatized apart from aforementioned government entities.
If you are a home owner or resident in dwelling you do. And then there are PUBLIC drinking fountains.
No, you still dont. You are paying for utitilies including water. If building a new house , you are paying for the plumbing that carries it to and in your house. If you don't pay, you don't get.
It's unbridled greed under the guise of Capitalism, so therefore it has to be right...don't you know that?
There is a difference between wanting something and working towards it. You proved that he wants to privatize water, but you have not proven that he is working towards that goal.
Water is free. It's the refining by the water treatment plants and buying and selling that we pay for. Drill your own well and treat it yourself.
More libertarian/neocon clap trap. Corporations are a BUSINESS! That's how they identify themselves on their tax forms. Last time I checked, a business does not require healthcare, procreates via sex, adheres to a religion, etc. Governments are CREATED BY THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE! If the people in Denver don't like what their local government is doing, then organize, vote the bastards out and get someone in that will do right by them on that particular issue. That's how it's done here in America, son.
Wrong.....you pay taxes in your state for services like water...the state has to provide it and companies licensed and regulated by the state deliver that water. And then there's such a thing as a PUBLIC water fountain, don't cha know. - - - Updated - - - http://www.politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=411861&p=1065089825#post1065089825
Actually, you pay taxes for the state to deliver the service if you are a home owner or apartment dweller (via rent). The State meets federal regulations, the company that deliver the water or regulated and approved by the State. And property owners have and do drill their own water wells if they have the ground water on their property. Oh, and you have heard of PUBLIC WATER FOUNTAINS, right? - - - Updated - - - that's not the issue here, son. We're looking at this clown advocating TOTAL privatization of water....if you think you pay through the nose in taxes now, just think what you'll be paying for a private, non-regulated company to control ALL water rights.
You obviously didn't go through the entire video.....CEO's don't make speeches just to hear themselves talk....they do so to set the stage for a proposal or to defend current policies in action. But since you find facts irrelevant, then the following won't register with you: Here is just one example, among many, of his companys concern for the public thus far: In the small Pakistani community of Bhati Dilwan, a former village councilor says children are being sickened by filthy water. Whos to blame? He says its bottled water-maker Nestlé, which dug a deep well that is depriving locals of potable water. The water is not only very dirty, but the water level sank from 100 to 300 to 400 feet, Dilwan says. (source) Why? Because if the community had fresh water piped in, it would deprive Nestlé of its lucrative market in water bottled under the Pure Life brand. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-pr...at-water-is-a-fundamental-human-right/5332238
