Bechtel, Bechtel Everywhere

On wednesday I saw a film about water privatization, called "Thirst". It was about how communitites in California, in Bolivia, in India are resisting privatization of their water supply-that is, the handing over the control of water to Multinational Corporations, like Coca-Cola, Bechtel, Pepsi, Nestle.

In Bolivia, where the government privatized the water without asking the people, the people actually rose up and drove out Bectel, the giant firm responsible for Boston's Big Dig. Why didn't the people want the great services that privatized water could offer-the reliable service, the clean water quality? Simply because the residents couldn't afford it after Bechtel raised rates 300%. So it was a matter of rise up or die of thirst.

Boston recently conducted a blind taste test with the Mayor, the owner of Sam Adams brewery and a couple of professional wine and beer taste testers to see who could tell the difference between municipal water (do you know where your water comes from in Boston?) and Aquafina, Dasani, Poland Spring. The participants couldn't tell the difference between bottled water and tap water, quality wise. Tests show there is no significant water quality difference between bottled and municipal. Why do we buy bottled water that is 1000 times the price of municipal water?

The only conclusion I can think of is we've been duped into it. Corporations spend a lot on advertising to convince us not only to pay 1000 times more for what is free (and necessary to life), but also to normalize that habit; to convince us that it is right for us to pay for that water, and that really, we're not owed water as a matter of being human beings. After all, food isn't free, why should water be? And shit, why shouldn't you have to pay for clean air too?

This is another part in the process of chipping away at the idea of a social good, of privatizing and commodifying everything on the earth.

Mass Global Action is a good resource to use to educate about water privatization. Public Citizen has a report on the history of water privatizations that have taken place.

And there will be another showing of Thirst at the Somerville Library November 3rd at 7pm.