UN Declares Water a Fundamental Human Right -- U.S. Abstains from Voting on Resolution

The United Nations General Assembly has declared for the first time that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. In a historic vote Wednesday, 122 countries supported the resolution, and over forty countries abstained from voting, including the United States, Canada and several European and other industrialized countries. There were no votes against the resolution.

Source: www.alternet.org...

WTF is wrong with the industrialized countries? Access to water is essential to life. Of course, they want to be able to charge for it, and screw the people we laid off last week! It sickens me. Corporate interests is rotting our society from the inside.

Do you really want the gov regulating who gets water and how much? Do you want to be fined for collecting rainwater? This bill, like many others, has a serious problem of mission creep. Which means that it is meant to be a feel good foot in the door.

www.naturalnews.com...

Colorado and Washington also have rainwater collection restrictions that limit the free use of rainwater,

This is just a way to restrict peoples water and have yet more control over the people.

reply to post by gagol

The United Nations General Assembly has declared for the first time that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. In a historic vote Wednesday, 122 countries supported the resolution, and over forty countries abstained from voting, including the United States, Canada and several European and other industrialized countries. There were no votes against the resolution.

I'm sad to say this doesn't surprise me in the slightest.


www.bbc.co.uk...

Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and Botswana were among the countries which abstained from voting.

Shame on you Australia. Every person has a right to water & you pricks want to profit. Rot in hell you money-grubbing bastards.

[edit on 2-8-2010 by acrux]

Do you really corporations tell you how much water you can get and at which price?

What it is is a moral statement, a guiding principle, of the countries of the world—and basically the UN is the closest thing we have to a global parliament—that they have taken a step in a direction of saying that water is a human right and a public trust and that no one should be dying for lack of water, and they shouldn’t have to watch their children die a horrible death for lack of water because they cannot pay.

From the article: www.alternet.org...

Wow...I can't believe it but I am behind the UN on this one. It's not a foot in the door, cause if it were in line w/ TPTB's grand plan the US would have voted twice for the measure!

Fact is, others are correct: The US and other industrialized nations are bought and paid for by Dasani (Coke), Vivendi, Suez, and a host of other for-profit water treatment operators. Look into Bolivia, they privatized the water treatment/distribution. Prices skyrocketed, services were cut, and the people rioted. It almost toppled the Bolivian government. I doubt there is anything that will start the revolution faster than strangling a population's water.

And don't think water isn't on the minds of TPTB:
Bush's SA water grab
www.counterpunch.org...


Looming SW water crisis
www.enn.com...

Looming World Water Crisis (And a GREAT primer on the issue)
www.fpif.org...

Near the end of that last link, it speaks about "Blue Covenant", that is a worldwide promise regarding water rights. If anything, the UN resolution is step towards that. And If anything like it comes up in your local government, speak loudly and often in support of it!

Thank you Canada.

We'll keep our water thank you very much. The UN should keep it's nose out of other countries resources.

People should not have abused their water ways and perhaps there would be some left.

I blame the corporations though ofcourse, not the people.

I don't want them to start selling our precious lake water in bottles or pumping it down in the states through NAFTA so they can sell it back to us at a higher price.

~Keeper

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Thank you Canada.

I don't want them to start selling our precious lake water in bottles or pumping it down in the states through NAFTA so they can sell it back to us at a higher price.

~Keeper

I agree with you...but you are gonna see that happen. Canada is positioned to be a superpower in the future due to it's vast freshwater supplies. Right now you guys are holding the third largest freshwater supply in the world.
Canada isn't exporting very much at all right now.

As water supplies dry up in the US SWest specifically, the prices will go up, as will the desperation. At that point Canada can name it's price, and you guys will become a very wealthy nation.

Talk about rubbing it our faces, you guys are even trying to increase your water supplies as we speak!

import-export.suite101.com...

[edit on 2-8-2010 by blamethegreys]

Originally posted by ohioriver
Do you really want the gov regulating who gets water and how much? Do you want to be fined for collecting rainwater? This bill, like many others, has a serious problem of mission creep. Which means that it is meant to be a feel good foot in the door.

I want local government in charge of local water, for every city/county in the world! It has worked for generations here in the states. People pay a fair rate, and get potable water.

The rainwater collection laws are a throwback to original water rights. When the government told farmers to stop damming the creek, people said, "Well I'll just dam up all the rainfall". Which lowered the water levels, which cut out the folks downstream, which caused shootouts. It was the old west after all.

This article puts the issue into perspective:
green.blogs.nytimes.com...

reply to post by blamethegreys


Two words in your post are key. “Right now you guys are holding the third largest freshwater supply in the world”.

I would like some left for my children and grandchildren 20-60 years from now, please. Or in the event I don’t have children and grandchildren I would like it left for my family and friends children and grandchildren.

The United States has what, 10 times as many people as Canada. Which means they need at least 10 times as much water I am guessing.

I dread the time when we hear from the south or anywhere for that matter “But you have so much water and aren't using it for anything. You must give it to us because we have more people and no clean water and we want to use it”.

That may seem horrible.... but I can see it happening and I don’t like it.

ETA

It scares me. I do not trust that we(or anyone) would get a fair price for it. How do you put a price on clean, fresh water?

[edit on 2-8-2010 by worlds_away]

reply to post by gagol


This is just another feel good, meaningless UN measure. What does it mean? How does it really impact anybody, other than create more justification for yet another group within the UN to waste time and drive the UN further into the red.

How exactly does the UN expect to be able to provide water to Sub-Saharan Africa? Oh, I get it. Have the industrial nations dump a lot of cash into a "fund" that will be plundered by a bunch of functionarys and corrupt leaders in various hell-holes around the world.

It would be nice for the UN to actually accomplish something rather than continue to issue more banal pronouncements.

How about the UN do something about the killing in Darfur? Once they stop the genocide there, perhaps they can focus on getting those folks some clean water.

The UN will only do what the proeminent member states want the UN to do. The UN have no power in itself only the power given by the member states.

I wish, one day, an american friend explains to me why they are convinced the UN are working to take away their freedom when the rest of the world thinks the UN are american-controlled and a tool for american hegemony.

The vote was not restrictive, a mere declaration with no commitments but that was already too much for the civilised world apparently.

Originally posted by worlds_away
reply to post by blamethegreys

 

Two words in your post are key. “Right now you guys are holding the third largest freshwater supply in the world”...
...The United States has what, 10 times as many people as Canada. Which means they need at least 10 times as much water I am guessing...
...It scares me. I do not trust that we(or anyone) would get a fair price for it. How do you put a price on clean, fresh water?

[edit on 2-8-2010 by worlds_away]

I understand your concerns completely, and I agree with you. America is squandering it's water resources. And the concern for your community first is natural and right in line with rational human thought.

BUT...there's always a "but", huh? If you look at the big picture of human existence, ignore boundaries, get a real anthropological point of view...Humans will migrate based upon needs. In America, we are seeing this happened based on economics (Mexicans migrating north in order to provide for their families). How much faster, and more dramatic, would migrations be if, say, the Ogallala Aquifer en.wikipedia.org... dried up tomorrow?

Where do you guys want us to put Phoenix? Saskatchewan looks like it's got the room...

So in answer to what price do you put on clean, fresh water: Somewhere there's a balance between hoarding the most vital resource for humanity, and overselling yourselves into the same boat.