Not a drop to sell?
May 16, 2010 2:45 PM
Water: right or commodity?
All around the world from England to Bolivia(SLYT, but really interesting!), water is being privatised. In your opinion (allowing for grey areas), is water more of a right or more of a commodity? Please consider the obvious (people die without it) and the slightly less obvious (water provided for free is more likely to be wasted; free water is less likely to be complained about- or is it?; anything of a limited quantity that people need is a commodity, etc...) I'm looking for practical analyses as well as moral ones. Marxists, Thacherites, Teabaggers, Abahlali baseMjondolo... lay it on me!
All around the world from England to Bolivia(SLYT, but really interesting!), water is being privatised. In your opinion (allowing for grey areas), is water more of a right or more of a commodity? Please consider the obvious (people die without it) and the slightly less obvious (water provided for free is more likely to be wasted; free water is less likely to be complained about- or is it?; anything of a limited quantity that people need is a commodity, etc...) I'm looking for practical analyses as well as moral ones. Marxists, Thacherites, Teabaggers, Abahlali baseMjondolo... lay it on me!
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is really broadly stated and comes off more as chatfilter than a problem that needs to be solved. -- cortex
Where I live water is a commodity AND a right, with commodity winning out most of the time. I live on Maui, which is in the United States. This leads to a lot of tension between commercial concerns and the need for the community to have access to clean, safe water. Since I live with the situation, I believe water should be treated as a human right.
posted by fifilaru at 2:55 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by fifilaru at 2:55 PM on May 16, 2010
Like so many other things, it is both.
It is a finite resource that different people and different entities demand in different amounts, therefore it is a commodity and is priced to balance supply versus demand.
It is a right because you can't live without it for very long. Nobody ought to be able to say you can't have water.
Something being a right doesn't mean it must necessarily be free. I have a right to free speech, that doesn't mean my speech has no consequences.
(And privitization isn't necessarily a bad thing. Whether the gubmint or the private sector owns the pipes, they still have to follow the law.)
posted by gjc at 3:06 PM on May 16, 2010
It is a finite resource that different people and different entities demand in different amounts, therefore it is a commodity and is priced to balance supply versus demand.
It is a right because you can't live without it for very long. Nobody ought to be able to say you can't have water.
Something being a right doesn't mean it must necessarily be free. I have a right to free speech, that doesn't mean my speech has no consequences.
(And privitization isn't necessarily a bad thing. Whether the gubmint or the private sector owns the pipes, they still have to follow the law.)
posted by gjc at 3:06 PM on May 16, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mreleganza at 2:52 PM on May 16, 2010