Privatised Water - A Legacy for the Developed World

It really hits you how badly we have fucked up in the west when you watch programmes about our ability to regularly screw the poor. Watching a poor Bolivian girl crying because other children won't play with her because she is dirty, and all because her father cannot afford the privatised water supply. In El Alto, Bolivia, 200,000 people do not have access to clean water. It just reinforces the point that Latin America needs to stand up for itself against the might of western governments and the big corporations.

Watching people fighting over water, literally, doesn't exactly fill you with pride. Our governments (particularly the UK) have played a massive part in making as much money as possible from those who can barely afford to feed their families. But this problem doesn't just affect people in poverty stricken countries. Many people in America suffer at the hands of the water companies. Yes, even in the richest country in the world, people cannot afford to receive a clean water supply. One woman from Detroit had a bill for $4,000, but had been disconnected when her bill was around $400. They were still charging her when she was cut off. And yet, the World Bank still actively recommends the practice around the world, particularly in the poorest nations.

What makes this even more obscene is our waste of water in the developed world. There is a constant demand for dishwashers in our consumer societies. Furthermore, our demand for vegetables and fruit year round, compounds the problem further. By importing produce from places like Southern Spain, Africa and Israel we are adding to the strain on their all ready stretched resources. Our laziness and selfishness is playing a huge part of the problem. Water, like money, should be equally distributed around the world. It should not be a commodity to be bought and sold by the rich.

We can all play a part in dealing with this situation. Buy as little produce as possible from countries that have serious water shortages. Conserve as much water as possible. Do not fall into the capitalist trap of buying products you don't need that deplete the earth's resources. We can play a small part in dealing with the disastrous policies of governments and corporations.

And who should we blame for this travesty......Thatcher of course. But not only Thatcher. We can't continue to blame someone from the past. She is not in power now so it must be someone else. Oh yes, that filthy spawn of Maggie, Tony Blair. That's right, good old Tone has been promoting the 'benefits' of a privatised water industry to developing countries (or countries ripe for a good screwing). His government has been plowing money into advertising in support of privatised water...oooopps, there goes those socialist principles.

So, next time you read a newspaper, blog, political commentator stating that Tony Blair is part of a socialist conspiracy (such fools do exist believe me), remember he is actually part of a corporate conspiracy to screw as many people as possible and harvest the financial rewards. He truly is the rightful heir to Thatcher.