Maude Barlow’s “Water Incorporated: The Commodification of the World’s Water” gives a voice to a very real but vastly unknown issue: the privatization of water. I refer to it as vastly unknown because it wasn’t until this article that I was even aware such a power struggle existed. Barlow first introduces startling statistics, meant to grab the attention of its reader. Once she has your attention, she introduces the “new generation of trade and investment agreements.” (306) This includes referencing many different acronyms such as, FTAA, NAFTA, GTAA and WWF. FTAA, NAFTA, and GTAA are the villains of this story. Simply put, the privatization of water would end in socioeconomic turmoil and dehydration worldwide.
First, let me explain what privatization and commodification of water actually refers to. Privatization is transfer of ownership from a local company to a private economic body. Water privatization gives private entities control over water and its systems. Barlow believes ownership over water is a breach of human rights.
This article does two things successfully; it raises awareness of an important problem and communicates exactly how the problem will affect the world. Barlow’s argument uses pathos and logos to push her ideals on her audience. However, while her use of appeals stimulates, it fails to finish with a final solution to solve the previously posed problem.
Admittedly, 2/3 of the world’s population living with water shortages is a scary enough statistic to send a shiver up the spine. Barlow doesn’t stop there however; she goes on to say that only 2 % of the U.S. rivers and wetlands remain untouched. What does that mean for the creatures that lived there? Covered that too, “37% of freshwater fish are at risk of ...
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...t education and the enlargement of knowledge base, but with something as serious as the privatization of water a little more finality is needed.
Barlow does well labeling who the major players are in the privatization and commodification of water systems, as well as identifying why exactly the public should not be okay with it. However, she falls flat in delivering a universally understandable argument and posing a solution to any of the problems. I would suggest the addition of a solution at the end of the article, some call-to-action that sparks a movement. Before that however; there should be an attempt to slightly alter the language used and make it more accessible to those who may not have Ph. D. in economics. This is important because the younger generations are going to be responsible for our future. How can they help if they can’t get past the first page?
The effect of the Everglades in water supply is wildlife. One effect of this is, the water is dirty and unclean with mercury, phosphorus, and other hazardous waste. As a result of that, the water is killing the animals. In passage one it states,”Quantity and diversity of the wetlands wildlife
Texas, with its abundances of natural resources, is facing a new demon, one that doesn’t even seem possible, a shortage of water. Water, without it nothing can survive. Texas is the second largest state for landmass in the nation and ninth for water square miles. Within the borders of Texas are more than 100 lakes, 14 major rivers, and 23 aquifers, so why has water become such an important issue for the state? Politicians and conservationists all agree that without a new working water plan, the state could be facing one of the most damaging environmental disasters they have ever seen. The issues that shape the states positions are population growth, current drought conditions, and who actually owns the water.
As global temperatures and ocean levels rise, the water levels of the Great Lakes continues to fall. As the lakes hit their all time lowest level in global history in 2012, society remains ignorant to the imposing doom that lurks ahead. Since the Great Lakes make up the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth and are responsible for approximately 21% of the Earth’s fresh water supply, this issue is becoming one of the largest environmental and economical issues our modern world faces. The effects of this issue include destroying animal habitats and a major economic market; shipping. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been dropping for the past fourteen years, but it wasn’t until boats were scraping the bottom of Lake Huron that people began to take notice. This terrible environmental issue has been dubbed a long term cycle of over evaporation and not enough precipitation to replenish the Lakes. Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit has been monitoring this issue for a decade and has made startling discoveries, such as in 2012, he discovered Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s water levels only rose four inches after winter, whereas the Lakes have been regularly recorded as gaining a foot of water after the winter season had ended. This amount of water added is not enough to maintain a proper water level during the dry, hot summer seasons that evaporate much water from the Great Lakes. While some scientists say that this is just a cycle that will adjust itself naturally, most experts that have been studying this phenomenon, such as Kompoltwicz, would agree that the issue has gone to far
Cynthia Barnett and Peter H. Gleick both address the business behind the bottled water industry. In “Business in a Bottle”, Barnett explains how the bottled water industry started, how the industry is struggling with the law regarding drawing its water from natural resources, and how it uses its marketing to imply the false location on where they got the water (128-138). Barnett then concludes that the bottled water industry helps economy with the job opportunities they provided and that consumers do not really care about the content of their bottled water because all they care about are the “convenience, the packaging, and the price” (141). On the other hand, in “Selling Bottled Water: The Modern Medicine Show”, Gleick
“Last Call at the Oasis” is a documentary about our world’s water crisis. The film discusses how many large cities in America are getting closer to use up their available water, how many areas across the globe do not have access to drinking water and are forced to drink contaminated water, how water shortages are causing acts of violence and are causing stress to agricultural communities, and a possible solution of using recycle water to stop us from wasting so much water. The film goes around the globe to talk to scientists who are studying contaminated water, people who have become very sick due to this water, and to the agricultural community in Australia where, unfortunately, some farmers have take their own lives due to water shortages.
Can We Fix the Water Supply states that the increasing farming and drainage of the Everglades wetlands has eroded the original wetlands by 50%. This may cause bad drinking water for people in and around the Everglades. Can We Fix the Water Supply states, “the water running in the other faucets in the house contains phosphorus, mercury, and other hazardous elements, making the water polluted and undrinkable.” According to Can We Fix the Water Supply, this is a nightmare for the Everglades, and the people living in and around them. Can We Fix the Water Supply states, “Imagine, that after a long afternoon spent working in the hot sun, you rush inside to pour yourself a nice crisp glass of water. Upon turning on the faucet, nothing comes out. No bother, you’ll just try another faucet in the house.” Then it talks about how all of the faucets in the house contain hazardous elements like phosphorus and mercury. These can be very bad for water. According to Can We Fix the Water Supply, the Everglades provides water to nearly 7 million people living in Florida, and it has had three really big droughts in the last ten years. This was another reason about how the water supply effects the
In the documentary, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, it follows several people and countries world-wide in their fight for fresh water. The film exposes giant corporations as they bully poorer developing countries to privatize their own supply of fresh water. As a result of the privatization, corporations make a hefty profit while the developing countries remain poor. Blue Gold: World Water Wars also highlights the fact that Wall Street investors are going after the desalination process and mass water export schemes. This documentary also shows how people in more developed nations are treating the water with much disregard, and not taking care of our finite supply. We are polluting, damming, and simply wasting our restricted supply of fresh water at an alarming speed. The movie also recognizes that our quick overdevelopment of housing and agriculture puts a large strain on our water supply and it results in desertification throughout the entire earth. The film shows how people in more industrialized nations typically take water for granted, while others in less industrialized nations have to fight for every drop.
Have you ever wondered if different authors writing about the same topic had different points of view. Comparing points of view of the authors of for the World's Poor ,Drinking Water can kill and After Pollution in Flint, Some finds Tap Waterś Benefits Hard to Swallow is the purpose of this response. In these pieces, there are many facts presented about the water crisis. The points of view represented in these two texts had more commonalities than variances. These readings explore the topic of water crisis.
The ecosystem in Middleton, PA is heavily dependent upon the water quality of the Susquehanna River and Swatara Creek. The Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources indicated that one of the main concerns in these watersheds is chemical pollution from point and non-point sources. The species of primary concern include plants, animals and aquatic species. Nesting Bald Eagles, peregrine falcons and osprey, in the Susquehanna area would be benefited by the conservation of buffer areas from development and pollution sources. Pollution, including temperature change of the water source, threatens the waterpod, a native mussel. The flat stemmed spike rush, white trout lily and Virginia mallow are plant species impacted by the water quality in these sources. Maintaining and improving the water quality must be a priority for these species and the ecosystem of the area. The area is primarily agricultural in nature. Studies have indicated that after the disaster in 1979, pets, w...
“How can you buy or sell the sky-the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time” (Chief Seattle: 1855). In the Documentary “Flow – for the love of water” it visualizes the global crisis we face on Mother’s Earth as it pertains to the diminishing of fresh water. The Documentary portrays along with the help of experts that this global crises is affecting each and every one of us in today’s society including animals. The film shows us that water is constantly being wasted, polluted, and privatized by big co operations. Prime examples of these greedy companies were mentioned in the film such as Nestle, Thames, Suez, Vivendi, Coca Cola and Pepsi.
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
... drinking water such as Bolivia and Ghana. In the documentary, Flow the experience of poor Bolivians was shown. The water corporations provided unclean drinking water that was full of pollutants. The water cost more than the poor could afford. As a result the citizens rioted and protested against the private water company.
...cts us and everything around us, and what it takes to get clean drinking water. In addition I have also given examples of organizations that raise money to help people obtain clean water. We can’t take clean water for granted, because everything around us including us, needs clean water in order to survive and to work. I have talked about how if we are able to end the clean water crisis, we are able to focus on other global problems such as world hunger and economic problems. Once we are able to focus on other things we may be able to work on technology that will allow us to make more water in to clean drinking water to accumulate to our increasingly growing population. In conclusion clean drinking water and clean water in general is a very vital part of our lives and our world. We would not be here if it wasn’t for water, and we need to keep our water clean.
One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...
Rogers, Peter. 2008. "Facing the Freshwater CRISIS. (Cover story)." Scientific American 299, no. 2: 46-53. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2010).