Too Much Like Right

Last week one of my fellow UROP Interns posted a blog about the Detroit Water Department shutting off the water of Detroit residents with past due bills. The blog included an article from the LA Times that intrigued me on the subject of water politics in Detroit.  Although, I had hear something about this particular instance dealing with water, I hadn’t looked into.

Thus, in this blog I’ll be discussing this subject based on this article from Al Jazerra titled: Detroit’s fight for public water is also the nation’s.

When thinking about water in Detroit, I think about the discourse around Detroit bankruptcy. The almost ubiquitous talk about Detroit bankruptcy has create a perception which complies with the “by hook or crook” mentality that officials have about saving and gaining money in Detroit. The “hook” part is demonstrated by eliminating the efficiency and structure of the public service or by simply doing away with the public service completely. The “crook” part is where privatization is presented and implemented as the solution to the declining or nonexistent public service.  And, so is the story of Detroit water. First the hook, then the crook.

The “hook” phase seems to be reaching its end and the crooks seem to be coming to feast. Of course, the Detroit Water and Sewer Dept. is not privatized (yet), but with this dramatic wave of water shut off (the elimination of the public service) the crooks can’t be too far behind. Of course, majority of Detroit residents won’t be opposed to a private water sector after the public department has eliminated their services -or there is a strong possibility that they could (hook).

However, there is a larger scheme at play, a large discourse that should be considered. Water is a human right thus, really no one should own It because everyone will use it. Water cannot be regarded in terms of supply and demand or profit. So why at all is privatization an option?

It is really not an option if it is presented as the only solution. There is no such thing as choice when there is one option: you either don’t have water service with public water or you do have service with private water. Thus, there is no such thing as public water service.

The Al Jazeera article explains that less and less state and federal money is being invested in local water municipalities and local governments are flipping the bill. It is irrational that people are paying taxes for the government to say that carrying out public service is too hard and too expensive. Its absurd that Detroit residents are paying the government to divest them of their stake in Detroit by disbanding the democratic structure and eliminating access to and governance of public goods.

Of course, keeping water a public good and making its price economical through subsidization with state or federal money is too much like right for Detroit.