Privatise Water?

Discussion in 'Markets & Economies' started by JulieW, Apr 19, 2013.

  1. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Further, the popularised view of the evil private owner going all Total Recall on people and turning off the air is not a part of valid contracts when Libertarians talk about this sort of privatisation of essential services. It's unconscionable under common law because it's immoral and any contracts are invalid.
     
  2. southerncross

    southerncross Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Your neglecting the needs of a good 70% of the planet that does not receive their water through a tap there M8. It will end up with a company owning the rivers, streams and lakes, the rainfall that lands in the catchments and also on private land. We currently get pristine water straight from a river fed by a mountain catchment and springs and use about a millionth or our yearly right if that.

    Making people who have nothing as it is and who collect water with a bucket pay for it is totally F*&ked and they are not by any means a case of taking the fruits of another's labour. You can quibble with the details but once you start giving Company's the ownership of water people will suffer. Sure if they want to invest in distributing the supply of water go ahead but I'm pretty sure that if ownership of the actual supply was not involved they would not be interested.

    Edited for clarity.
     
  3. southerncross

    southerncross Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    I understand where your coming from but it really is a case of give them an inch and they will take a mile when it comes down to this sort of thing, water is an essential just as air is. Privatising an essential is just a licence to print money and some evil FU($er will see it as such.
     
  4. alor

    alor Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    :lol:
    [​IMG]

    once drank, all need would become rawdoglet audiance :lol:
     
  5. ShinyStuff

    ShinyStuff New Member

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    I am not saying you are wrong..... But... When i was there working with drs without borders.... They advised women to breast feed for six months and then move to formula... It reduced the incidence of passing hiv to infants. So, it gave "breast is best" for the crucial months, and then it allowed a safer alternative. I agree 100% with breastfeeding babies... But in the case of hiv+ mother and negative baby, i like the formula to give better long term survival. But you are right about lack of clean water and incorrect mixture of formula, let alone non-sterile bottles and the like.

    Shiny
     
  6. Big A.D.

    Big A.D. Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    They're not inconsiderate, they simply don't have the benefit of an education and Nestl sends their sales reps into the maternity wards to market their infant formula directly to the mothers and the hospital staff. The reps load them up with free samples and since lactation works on a "use it or lose it" basis, the mothers can't produce enough breast milk after they've burned through the free samples. They're stuck paying for the formula because they've lost the ability to breast feed.

    This isn't put-a-billboard-up-and-maybe-someone-will-pay-attention stuff. This is a considered corporate strategy that Nestl has put in place to mislead and misinform people who are susceptible to their quasi-scientific direct marketing.

    It's the same tactics people who sell crack use, except there are presumably some crack dealers out there who won't risk a newborn's life trying to sell junk to it's mother.

    Nestl has been doing this since the 1970s. Please, go read up on them before you listen to a word their CEO says about the ethics of food supply.
     
  7. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    :lol: And yet again I'm suprised by how fast the seemingly free market advocates buckle under a non-issue. Even a couple of our biggest anarchists are shown to be wishy-washy.

    Just because you can dream up a situation or have seen a movie that dramatises someone else's story doesn't mean anyone'll ever be in that situation. Short term sh*tty issues will only happen if the transition from our current system is corrupted by governments misallocating or fraudulently transferring existing property rights. Importantly, it'll be short term and the problem is with the corrupt government not the privatised market itself.

    Google it on the various libertarian sites and read up on how it would all work so that you can regain your confidence :)
     
  8. Kawa

    Kawa New Member

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    In essence we have private water in Oz.

    Look at your water bill?

    Do you drink bottled water ?

    He is right you just don't like his accent.

    I think this guy is awesome as he actually does stuff and produces.
     
  9. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    ...knowingly ignoring the experience of the people around them. Mothers groups and gossip are so frickin natural it's not funny. There's way more to the story than an evil corporation pushing drugs on dumb, inconsiderate mums. Seriously, I know a lot of 3rd world mums are thick as two bricks but "Damn, dude" you have no respect for them whatsoever.
     
  10. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    And looky here, the true complexity compared to evil multinational baby killing executives starts to come out :)
     
  11. Kawa

    Kawa New Member

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    Just a side note.My family have been blessed with the chance to fund children with World Vision contributions now for some time.Alot of this money goes to basic things like water supply in a village.
    Its easy to say only 10 % gets through however I think thats OK.

    Water is a food and has a price.

    I recommend World Vision sponsorship to all .
     
  12. southerncross

    southerncross Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    bord, do you honestly think for a moment that the likes of Nestl are a true representation of a free market economy?

    Kawa, do you honestly think this bloke works for a living ?

    Seriously think about it for a minute or two, Privatisation of Water.
     
  13. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Absolutely, no doubt about it. I currently pay for every single litre now, with the majority of that simply being flushed down the drain. I can't see why you think there is an issue. Do you want people slaving away cleaning, treating and transporting water for free? Don't you want farming areas with scarce natural supplies to be able to trade them to their highest value use?
     
  14. Big A.D.

    Big A.D. Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    We don't need to Google what some libertarian philosophers reckon would happen, we can see what does happen when rights to water have been privatized because it's been tried in Latin America and the experiment went so horribly wrong that several countries re-wrote their constitutions to stop it from happening again.
     
  15. Kawa

    Kawa New Member

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    I own a farm that has underground irrigation and the supply is administered from Sunwater (For profit org) that charge a fixed fee quarterly enough to buy a small second hand car.On top of that I pay usage /Megl each quarter.

    When I drive to the farm in the rental car I normally have bottled water in the console that is produced by Coca Cola Amatil.

    Then when I fly back and have to use my toilet at home after a hard day.The flush is being added to my domestic water bill.

    We already have private water supply that has a real price on all levels.
     
  16. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    ...and if also search for lat. america they'll also tell you what really happened and how to avoid the same mistakes. :)
     
  17. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Anyway. It's all moot because Australia is one of the enlightened regions embracing water pricing and given its successes it's going to increase if and when necessary. Countries with scarce water that don't put in pricing and markets will be the ones to experience the most pain.
     
  18. Kawa

    Kawa New Member

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    Pricing only works where there is the infrastructure to deliver at an economical price and the customers can pay.In Oz we are so far ahead of the rest of the world with our infrastructure.

    Many places in the third world don't have this infrastructure ( channels/pumps/dams etc) and water pricing becomes impossible.

    I truely believe that we have an obligation to assist these countries with basic water supply issues.

    Indivual families can donate to assist.

    Wil get off my soap box now.
     
  19. FullMetalFever

    FullMetalFever Member

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    Doesn't that happen already?

    If you install a water tank, you get a rebate from the gubmint, then they charge you ongoing for the water you collect. (Personally I didn't claim my rebate or notify that I had installed one)

    Also on my bush property, where there is no house and no services for town water or sewage, I am charged yearly water rates simply because it rains on my property and it is in a catchment area. This one in particular gives me the runs ....
     
  20. bordsilver

    bordsilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Fully agree (except obligation is too strong a word). It's definitely one of my favourite things to donate to.
     

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