Pepsico, Nestlé, Coca Cola, and several other major suppliers have frequently
been caught bottling tap water and selling it back to the public under
exotic and appealing monikers such as Ice Mountain Water, Aquafina,
and Dasani.
Then there's the former Nestlé CEO, Peter Brabeck making the surreal claim
that water isn't a human right but a foodstuff, claiming it's just another
item we must purchase from corporate profiteers, like padded bras
and tennis rackets.
Why did this selfish, narrow-minded corporate manikin even get air time to spout
this sort of self-serving nonsense? Why wasn't he viciously mocked? Why
wasn't he discredited and shamed into hiding so we never have to look
at his tanned, country club face as he explains how every aspect of
human life must serve rampaging corporate greed?
The drive by corporations to own and monopolize everything is a classic case of . . .
To a hammer everything looks like a nail.
To a corporate CEO, everything is a commodity and an opportunity to make money.
So several giant multinational corporations have
unilaterally decided that H2O, which happens to cover 75% of the
Earth's surface and comprises about 67% of the human body, is just
another item in their catalog of products.
The heads of these monolithic corporate monsters, who are willing to cannibalize
their own species just to make a buck, seem to have forgotten __ or
probably never learned __ that in a self-determining system of
government, if we decide that everyone has a right to water, then it's everyone's right!
Thus, many groups are actively fighting back.
The corporations, naturally, are putting a friendly face on their attempt at absolute
control over the Earth's most abundant single resource. They talk about spearheading
and funding conservation efforts, trying to achieve minimum quality standards worldwide,
and so on.
They promise profound improvements in the standard of living and the quality of life.
They always do, don't they?
Corporations can spin it however they want, but having a corporation's first
priority __ the bottom line __ trump every facet, even the most fundamental aspects,
of human habitation of the planet is an indisputable recipe for species extinction __ ours.
What can we expect if the corporate coup is tolerated __ even lionized as it is in today's
business press __ and we accept their dysmorphic portrayal of progress?
Will Monsanto file a patent claim on breast milk and every time a new mother wants
to nurse her baby, she has to ante up?
Will Pantene trademark hair? So unless you are 100% bald every place on your body,
you have to pay a licensing fee for your body hair?
Will GlaxoSmithKline convince the FDA that air should be a prescription item, so that
if we don't wish to suffocate, we'll have to buy breathing tanks from our local pharmacy?
Will they put a meter on my peter, so that every time I take a wiz or make love to my wife,
I have to pay a users fee?
[ This originated at the author's personal page . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
