Saturday, December 20, 2014

Water, Water We Die of Thirst

Is it just me or does the world seem to be crazier than usual? Planes are being shot out of the sky, children are being murdered in Gaza, and men are being put into deadly choke holds for selling cigarettes.  I try to avoid the news,  but the one story that I have not been able to ignore is the move to deny water to thousands of people in Detroit.
The irony of this picture is astounding.
My conservative friends (I have two) will say that American citizens, regardless of income level, need to be held accountable for paying their bills.  I understand that, but how can individuals be expected to do something that their city and state governments have been incapable of doing?  Detroit is BANKRUPT yet the Detroit Water Department has the audacity to look at citizens, wag its finger, and say "pay your bills."  When cities and corporations struggle financially the federal government swoops in offering bailouts and debt forgiveness.  Meanwhile, citizens get empty water taps.

The latest in Detroit Fashion?
The language that is being used to justify the shut-off is paternalistic at best.  Statements about the "culture of non-payment" and homeowners who are paying their bills as soon as their water is shut off depict people as errant children who need to be taught a lesson.  I'm sure that having their water shut off does motivate people to settle their bills, but at what expense?  Are they not paying rent or car notes, buying groceries, or getting necessary medication from the pharmacy?  The job of government is not to punish people for being victims of a chronically mismanaged city by denying them the right to bathe, cook, and prepare food for their children.  The role of government is not to shame its citizens by painting blue lines in front of homes that have had their water turned off.


Everyday people's failure to pay their water bill on time is not the reason for Detroit's current economic crisis and getting people to pay their water bills isn't going to solve it.  Shit rolls downhill, not the other way around.  Detroit needs to address issues of unemployment, rebuild its tax base, and collect on overdue corporate accounts because pretty soon Poland Spring is going to be on television "giving away" gallons of water and getting free publicity.  Then I will really be disgusted.

By denying Americans something as basic as water we risk looking like fools in front of the world. It makes no sense that we have spent billions of dollars trying to build infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan when American senior citizens cannot take a hot bath at night.  Furthermore, we no longer have the moral authority to tell anyone else what they need to do in their country as long as we have American children who are unable to flush their toilets.  Perhaps, The Water Project needs to start raising money for Africans AND African-Americans.


The situation in Detroit reminds me of the dystopian world that is depicted in Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower.  In the book water is a commodity more valued than oil, people wait on long, dangerous lines at water stations, fires burn out of control, and being clean makes you a target. Is Detroit a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the country?

If there is no water, there will be fire.  Hopefully, Detroit will be able to live up to its motto Speramus Meliora; Resurget CineribusWe hope for better days; it shall rise from the ashes.  

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