WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

THE STRUGGLE FOR WATER 3
We citizens of the “civilised” western world have an unimpaired
relationship to water because we enjoy round-the-clock access to a
clean and high-quality supply of it. We are able to quench our thirst at
all times – at least we have been up to now! The future, however, does
not look good. The world is running short of drinking water resources,
not only because of the ever-growing demands made by agribusiness,
industry and domestic households, but also because our ground water
and surface water are becoming more and more polluted.
There is also a political dimension to the problem. A ruthless,
profit-orientated, global elitist clique is getting ready to plunder the
entire planet. It is no longer simply a case of trading in those raw
materials traditionally used in the manufacture of consumer goods
but, increasingly, the commercial exploitation of vital resources
indispensable to our human survival. Included on the shopping lists
of big multinational companies are gas, electricity and drinking water
supplies, public transport, roads, rivers and lakes, telecommunications
and postal services, refuse disposal, schools and museums,
administration, social services, sponsorship of cultural activities and
many other items. In German, the term “Daseinsvorsorge” (translated
in a legal dictionary as “provision for elementary requirements”, in
other words “providing for our basic, day-to-day human needs”,
translated here, however, as “provision of essential public services” or
simply “essential public services”) covers a large number of the areas
mentioned above, i.e. those systems and institutions which ensure that
all citizens have access to the same essential services.
Article 28 of the German constitution places these public services
under the democratic control of local authorities, a practice which has
a long tradition. As globalisation and liberalisation continue to spread,
however, the principle of self-administration is being increasingly
repressed. More and more frequently, those public services affected
in the process are being targeted by multinational consortiums, whose
aim it is to make huge profits by operating individual or multiple
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