Why are we forced to pay for electricity and water?

Originally posted by 4nsicphd

Originally posted by sligtlyskeptical
It is absurd that we pay PROFITS for these services. I realize they can't be free but I do not think that profit should be a part fo the equation. I would add food staples and basic telecommunications to the list as well.

Then pack your bags and move somewhere where the electricity provider is either a non-profit co-op or non profit municipal system. Then dig a well and buy a mule and plow to grow your own food. Or move to a fully communist nation where the "necessities" are provided by the government. Have fun.
Or wait, maybe you really believe we should take the money from investors to build the power plants and not give them anything in return. Now that's wealth redistribution you can believe in.

I actually think the government should fund the building of neccesary infrastructure on a non-profit basis. Pretty much every country that has the government do this enjoys more reliability and a higher level of advanced services than we recieve and at a much better price. Our system actually ensures we get less because not all beneficial services can be profitable. Thus simple things that could help ease the life of all of us, are not ever undertaken.

Let's be honest. With all things the same except the difference in price, no one in their right mind would choose to buy electricity from companies in business for profit rather than one who is run on a non-profit basis. That goes for all essential items in a 21st century life. Eliminate profit on neccesities and concentrate profiteering onto non essential items.

Originally posted by AlreadyGone
Starting to see the root of many views here.... profits vs entitlements.

The reason so many things have been invented and man has advanced is profit. Edison invented the light bulb so that man could advance out of the dark...no, he made money. Ford advanced the automobile for the goodness of man...no, he did it for profit. Tang was made to provide Vitamin c to poor nations...no, to make money.

In stead of complaining like a small child, many should go out, find a need, and make a profit.

I cut and sell firewood... in 3 hours i can cut, bust, and load a pick up truckload and be on the way to your house... for $60.00. the wood comes off my land... minus gas for delivery and chainsaw maintainance..I walk away with about 50 bucks...profit.

The reason electric COMPANIES succeed is profit... for their shareholders and investors. Also, differentiate between gross profit and net profit.

See, someone or some group saw a need...invested some money, put together a plan, built and developed and maintained a business to provide electricity. You as a customer, decided to purchase their product... electricity. If you do not want their product... then decline it or move or seek other alternatives.

This is BS. These guys invented this stuff because they loved it. If government had undertaken the manufacturing and sale they would have gladly given up the rights in return for a sum that would make them secure. Stifling innovation is just a bs talking point. Bill Gates still would have created his operating system profit system or not. I can also guarantee that if it wasn't in the profit system Windows would be much more useful.

You cutting firewood is not profit. It is a wage for your labor. Would you not still do it, if instead of money you recieved the goods that you require to mantain your lifestyle? I would think the answer is yes for most people. Wages and earnings are not profit, they are compensation. I am all for compensating those who create advancements, I just have an issue with ongoing windfall profits.

reply to post by ldyserenity

The ideal way to do this would be communal, no trade, no barter, certain people just do certain tasks to benefit the unit. It's give and take and the sick the young and the elderly are all provided for also by the unit.

I think you are dead-on, Idyserenity! Of course this is the way it should be, the way it was intended to be. If man weren't so corrupt and greedy, that's the way it could be now.

Edit to add: The only way this could work is if "Every one loved others as much as they loved themselves" That's why it'll never happen.

[edit on 9/2/10 by jennybee35]

reply to post by Dermo


Who is paying for it then? There is a lot involved, people have to be employed, equipment maintained, water cleaned and delivered. It isn't free.

reply to post by NightGypsy


I agree with you. The Electrical and Water Companies have been allowed to become monopolies. They also have strong lobbyists / pull in Washington.

Now, start researching on how many people have come up with free, clean, plentiful energy that have been shut down and or murdered.

The current oil, electric, nuclear and now water companies (hey water was free and clean a couple hundred years ago here in America).........have got us by the throat and are squeezing.

Some people will reply back, well we need to have our water cleaned.

My reply: Didn't have to until the big corporations started dumping their toxins into our water supply.

And I don't drink my city's water without having to filter it. I didn't ask them to put floride and bleach in my water. Who knows what else they are putting in our water?

There seems to be a lot of glassy eyed compliant people walking around without questioning anything so I'm beginning to wonder about the water myself.

These power companies are owned by a small handful of rich and elite families, where as (and here I'm going to don my flame suit) SHOULD BE OWNED BY THE PUBLIC, THE PEOPLE.

Now go to my thread NightGypsy and ask yourself why we have to pay to live on a planet we were born on?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Water, air, land was put here for all of us, not just the select few to horde and make everyone pay for what should be shared by all.

Water for cris sake. But, the smart PTB decided if they took an abundant necessity and polluted it, the common man would HAVE TO pay to have it cleaned.

Water was pure and drinkable originally. The companies that polluted it should be the ones paying for the cleaning of it.

As far as sewage, well you should never poop and drink out of the same water hole, any moron knows that - we need to think outside the box and do things differently.

We all need to stop accepting things as they are and think of better ways of doing stuff to benefit everyone not just a select few that really don't do the work.

Good post Night..............your like me, asking the right questions!


[edit on 2-9-2010 by ofhumandescent]

Are you willing to fix the pipes yourself when they break?
Are you willing to look after the electricity grid yourself?

Nobody is forcing you to pay for any of this.
Want free water? Pump it yourself.
Want free electricity? Generate your own.

You're paying for the luxury of them being delivered to your home on a silver platter.

I tell ya, these "necessary" services are a racket! They have you exactly where they want you. Just the other day, our neighbors electric was temporarily shut off due to lack of payment. The guy runs a business from home, that because of the economy, is lacking. To beat all, he'd just gotten a contract from a major local company and was rendering over 40 hours of CG images! It was a major deal for him, and of course, when the electric was shut off, the computer was dead. The file was never completed on time, and he lost the account as well as a great reference for his resume. It was all over less than $100! What he would have made from the would have set him for the next couple of months, too.