Saturday, August 15, 2009

Leftist crank wants to end "corporate water"

"We definitely need a covenant or [an international] treaty on the right to water so as to establish once and for all that no one on earth must be denied water because of inability to pay," says Maude Barlow, a senior adviser to the President of the U.N. General Assembly, on water issues.

"We’ve got to protect water as a human right," she said, pointing out that the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva would be the most likely venue to propose such a covenant.


No, this isn't from The Onion or The People's Cube. It's from Common Dreams.

Who would be stupid enough to take these crackpot, bizarre ideas seriously? You'd be surprised.

14 comments:

  1. All I have to say;

    How the hell did Maude Barlow get that job?! The last thing I ever heard about Maude Barlow, was involving protests against George W Bush 4 or 5 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a crackpot! Trying to ensure water is available for all of Earth's citizens regardless of ability to pay!? What a moron.

    What will those crazy liberals think of next?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is water like the air we breath?

    Is it ever necessary to involve gunvernment or the dreadful UN?

    I want everyone to have water (you can't live without it) but where does the idea that government (which has been proven to kill more people than any other human institution) is best able to provide or guarantee anything come from?

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Is it ever necessary to involve gunvernment or the dreadful UN?"

    Unfortunately, unlike air, water can be a scarce resource in many areas. It's often necessary for government to intervene in order to regulate the rationing or preservation of water supplies.

    "where does the idea that government (which has been proven to kill more people than any other human institution) is best able to provide or guarantee anything come from?"

    It's not that simple. I agree that government needs to be constantly checked to prevent the invasive nature of tyranny; however, government is also necessary and serves many crucial services private industry either cannot supply or cannot compete with (see the fire department).

    The government can be your friend or your worst enemy depending on how fearful it is of its own people.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ...government is also necessary and serves many crucial services private industry either cannot supply or cannot compete with (see the fire department).

    The Fire Department? Seriously? Care to offer some argument in favor of that assertion?

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's interesting that some people so actively oppose the concept of providing the basic means of living.

    I believe it is every companies' wet dream to suck the oxygen out of the air and sell it. We shouldn't expect anything more out of companies, but that means we have to watch what they're doing.

    Libertarians are all about conspiracies... Why wouldn't companies that bottle water support the degradation of tap water (both actual and perceived loss of quality)? Why wouldn't they work to create artificial shortages?

    What's ironic is that those at SE vehemently oppose government, calling it the source of more death than anything else (they might be competing with religion on this one), but you are blaming the puppets and exalting the puppeteers. The corruption in government does not spring from thin air, but filters in through bribes by private citizens with wealth.

    The entire premise of your ideology is stunted and incomplete. Quite frankly, it's lazy in its wishful simplicity.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Trying to ensure water is available for all of Earth's citizens regardless of ability to pay!? What a moron.

    Indeed. Global price controls on purified bottled water (or whatever it is you people are demanding) would be a disaster for everyone.

    The corruption in government does not spring from thin air, but filters in through bribes by private citizens with wealth.

    The Han Dynasty was bought off by Coca Cola? News to me.

    In any case, you're making our point for us. You admit that the government is easily corrupted but want to give it more power.

    Quite frankly, it's lazy in its wishful simplicity.

    It is *your* ideology of "govmint should do it" and "free universal everything!" that is as lazy and simplistic as it gets.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm assuming you both would have signed the petition to end "corporate farming" in order to cure obesity? LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Government corruption = bad
    Corporate corruption = good

    Got it...

    Also, you think it would be simple to provide the means of living to every individual, regardless of their ability to pay? I think it's an incredibly complex, though worthwhile, undertaking. I feel we have a responsibility to work towards the minimization of suffering, even for those unable to help themselves. Obviously you disagree.

    Also, nothing is free (as I'm sure you're aware, everything the government provides for "free" is paid for by everyone), but people have the right to be provided water, food, basic healthcare, clothing, education, and security. If companies could do this without the tragic gaps in coverage, government would be obsolete.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I believe it is every companies' wet dream to suck the oxygen out of the air and sell it.

    Honestly: you should see someone about your pathological distrust of humanity.

    ...we have to watch what they're doing.

    That's true -- if someone attacked me in the (quite impossible) way you describe, I would defend myself.

    Cork, I'm rather new here; are your commenters usually this absurd? Libertarians are all about conspiracies? What on earth is Ginx talking about? He (or she) seems to hold to a preposterous caricature of libertarians (see also the "Libertarians believe in an invisible hand" comment in another thread). This is really laughable.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Corporate corruption = good

    Again with the nonsensical caricatures. Libertarians oppose the concept of a state-backed corporation, for obvious reasons. It is only with the backing of a state that a company could survive while pissing off a substantial part of the population.

    ...people have the right to be provided water, food, basic healthcare, clothing, education, and security.

    Provided by whom? These supposed simply come down to the "right" to steal. And that's setting aside the fact that the market is the most efficient means to satisfy human desires.

    If companies could do this without the tragic gaps in coverage...

    Please provide an example.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That should read "These supposed rights..."

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cork, I'm rather new here; are your commenters usually this absurd?

    Heh, I have to admit, Ginx is probably one of the more reasonable commenters here. He can at least put a coherent sentence and some form of argument (however weak) together.

    If only his fellow leftists would do the same..

    Libertarians are all about conspiracies? What on earth is Ginx talking about?

    No clue.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Government corruption = bad
    Corporate corruption = good


    Corporate corruption = bad, but almost always severely punished.

    Government corruption = extremely bad but impossible to punish. Completely unaccountable.

    Corporate corruption + government corruption = "progressivism"

    ReplyDelete

If the post you are commenting on is more than 30 days old, your comment will have to await approval before being published. Rest assured, however, that as long as it is not spam, it will be published in due time.

Related Posts with Thumbnails