Are people entitled to free water?

[SithCorduroy]

Yesterday The Daily Show did a segment about the Detroit water shutoffs.

Should people be given free water from the water companies if they don't pay their bills?

The show is clearly picking a side here.

It is pretty shitty that these people get shut off, but the sports corporations can go as long as they want without paying their water bills.

[Monster-64]

Silly lower class citizen, water is for the upper class.

[Zhon]

Access to water is a basic natural right. Delivery of water is a service. I don't think it's fair to shut it off for one and not another, but if you violate the terms of water delivery service you are at fault and get what you deserve.

[Tony-DarkGrave]

if you don't pay your utility bill you don't get shit , especially in Detroit of all place why people still live in that shit hole is beyond me.

[Knights]

Well, that depends: do you think people are entitled to free air?

[Maltos]

At 11/18/14 11:56 PM, SithCorduroy wrote:

The show is clearly picking a side here.

Duh if the show says (oh those water keeping bastards wont let it flow)
then all the water folks will shut off their water to make them shut up

ah yes democracy

[Bit]

Of course they are. They can collect rainwater in buckets if they don't want to pay their utility bills.

[SithCorduroy]

What's with the "affordable payment plan" stuff?

Water bills don't get high all by themselves.

Pay the bills when you get them. That's an affordable plan for everybody.

[Hoodie]

At 11/19/14 12:05 AM, Zhon wrote: Access to water is a basic natural right. Delivery of water is a service. I don't think it's fair to shut it off for one and not another, but if you violate the terms of water delivery service you are at fault and get what you deserve.

Rights don't exist. You have a sense of entitlement.

But in this grand time of ours, I guess anyone should get to live to if the person in power says it's okay.

[Zhon]

At 11/19/14 12:41 AM, K1LL80Y wrote:

At 11/19/14 12:05 AM, Zhon wrote: Access to water is a basic natural right. Delivery of water is a service. I don't think it's fair to shut it off for one and not another, but if you violate the terms of water delivery service you are at fault and get what you deserve.

Rights don't exist. You have a sense of entitlement.

But in this grand time of ours, I guess anyone should get to live to if the person in power says it's okay.

Rights do exist. Natural rights are things which should not be taken away by any person or government - i.e. access to water. You could argue that "rights" go to those who hold power, such as in the case where a wolf could deny a deer the right to drink from a lake, but the way our government functions posits water delivery as a service, not as a permission through ownership. To that end, governments also do issue and revoke rights on a regular basis. It's not entitlement - it's good lawmaking. Entitlement would be if I said "everyone deserves free water bcoz it iz nature!!11"... Anyway, that's not the point - I could talk about rights for hours.

The government is, as you say, the person in power - and they say it's not okay to live (have water) if you don't pay your bills. The underlying issue is not a question of free water, but economic hardship and the perpetual posterity of poverty. In the video they talk of payment plans to pay down their accrued debt, but all they are doing is digging a deeper trench for themselves. People who are so poor that they cannot afford to pay their meager water bill are not in any position to bounce back from a payment plan.

[Nebula]

At 11/19/14 12:11 AM, Bit wrote: Of course they are. They can collect rainwater in buckets if they don't want to pay their utility bills.

Thing is, since i had experience with lack of water (and power) at my house. It depends how much the bills are.
For me it was-not kidding here- up to 3000 dollars. So unless you make quite a lot of money you're screwed, maybe it won't be that high for all these people but for some i'm sure it is and they're more than likely out of luck.

[MrPercie]

At 11/19/14 12:07 AM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote: why people still live in that shit hole is beyond me.

Because if all the people move from detroit, nothing would change, they would still be poor, the city would still be shit and what ever city they move to would only make their lives marginally better.

If evenly distributed around the entire american nation in every major city, things would be fine, but they were obviously drawn to detroit for some reason to begin with, and that reason either faded or was a complete lie and the nation is left with a bankrupt city filled with people who can't do jack shit because theres nothing there to fucking do.

[Phobotech]

It is a human right to have access to clean, potable water...and when they are denied that, they are faced with potential death. With that pressure comes violent protests.

Though the conditions prefacing the French Revolution were severely more dire and extreme, the crowded, disease-ridden, corpse-filled, water-and-food deprived, disproportions between the Parisians and Nobility were enough to cause a very important and bloody revolution. Detroit's many combined problems could be an important seed for something more. In what way has yet to be seen...but this imbalance can't (or shouldn't) remain.

[SithCorduroy]

It's pitiful the way Detroit has been allowed to sink this low.

A story came out in September about how a Detroit fire station has to use pop cans for their alert system.

[NeonSpider]

They need to at least be consistent. Gonna keep the water on for the hugely indebted sports organizations? Then turn the water back on for the indebted people.

Or if they're going to cut the water off for the people they also need to cut it off for those sports organizations, at least until debts are paid up. Fair is fair.

Of course if they do choose to keep the water cut off from the poorer people, they shouldn't be surprised if those people riot or retaliate in some way if they get desperate enough.

As to why would people want to live there, I'm going to guess many of them didn't really have much of a choice. They were probably born there, grew up there, all their family is there, and are poor because they've always been poor. This really seems like a case where the government should step in and do something if you have mass amounts of people without any means of obtaining basic necessities such as water.

Isn't that the exact sort of thing welfare is supposed to address? I mean I have no clue about specifics, but it seems like basic access to clean water, some kind of minimal shelter, some kind of minimal food, some kind of minimal clothing should be provided in that, yeah? Otherwise where is all that welfare money going if people can't even get basics like water?

[Damien]

With all the debt the US has, I'm surprised you guys still have water to distribute.

[PriusRepellent]

At 11/19/14 05:28 AM, Damien wrote: With all the debt the US has, I'm surprised you guys still have water to distribute.

That's because the US isn't a third world country...

[Cordyceps]

Water treatment and distribution costs a lot of money. Aside from the water and wastewater treatment, the distribution system has to go to every building and has huge maintenance costs.

People shouldn't be entitled to these services for free. However, there shouldn't be anything stopping anyone from going to a body of water and taking as much as they need with no encumbrances.

[Captain-Slugworth]

Does this apply to fish?

[Damien]

At 11/19/14 10:00 AM, PriusRepellent wrote:

At 11/19/14 05:28 AM, Damien wrote: With all the debt the US has, I'm surprised you guys still have water to distribute.

That's because the US isn't a third world country...

Oh I beg to differ.

[Shauna]

At 11/19/14 02:28 AM, Phobotech wrote: It is a human right to have access to clean, potable water...and when they are denied that, they are faced with potential death. With that pressure comes violent protests.

I'm going to be very honest with you sir. If all of Detroit died, I would not care.

[SithCorduroy]

At 11/19/14 10:40 AM, Shauna wrote:

At 11/19/14 02:28 AM, Phobotech wrote: It is a human right to have access to clean, potable water...and when they are denied that, they are faced with potential death. With that pressure comes violent protests.

I'm going to be very honest with you sir. If all of Detroit died, I would not care.

Why? Because Detroit is full of blacks?

[DragonBallDavid]

THey wanted Affordable water, not free water

[MrPercie]

At 11/19/14 10:40 AM, Shauna wrote: I'm going to be very honest with you sir. If all of Detroit died, I would not care.

are you done now with being edgy, because were not here to discuss how much of a cunt you are, as eager as you are to tell us all about it.

[je171]

Water is a Commodity just like everything else. It's free until someone either owns where you're taking it from, or owns the entire supply in the world. It's not stealing if nobody owns it. If someone owns the land you take it from, and you do not reimburse them for it somehow, then it's not yours to take. You can always take it by force, that's the basest rule of War. There will always be people arguing about what's right vs wrong, calling it stealing as well. It's not rocket science, it's common sense.

[i-am-ghey]

Ideally, people should have access to water for free because water is a basic necessity, right?
Okay, pretty soon electricity needs to be supplier for free because it is a basic necessity.
And after that, food needs to be free of charge too because no one can survive without it.
College education needs to be free because everyone deserves the right to receive education.
...

No it does not work that way. Everything, no matter how trivial or inexpensive, has a cost. There are costs associated with water storage, distribution and maintenance of the delivery system. There are also staff costs and equipment costs. And since you are the one using the service, you are partly liable to these essential expense.

Still don't want to pay the water bill, collect water by yourself.

[FinaLee]

Revelation 21:6

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

[satanbrain]

Water is free. Water tunneling is not. Those who can't pay can dig it out of the nearest well

[Voltage]

At 11/19/14 05:28 AM, Damien wrote: With all the debt the US has, I'm surprised you guys still have water to distribute.

water is the cheapest commodity in some areas, a water bill in Maine where I live has:
- no annual flat rate
- $33.60 for every 1200 cubic feet
1 cubic ft = 28 liters

in other words, you pay $33.60 for 33900 liters of water every "quarter" (every 3 months), but you are billed based on your usage and not all areas are the same

[Zerodecoole]

At 11/19/14 12:08 AM, Knights wrote: Well, that depends: do you think people are entitled to free air?

No.

Only if you pay your air bills.