Privatization is Absurd

One of the most absurd concepts of capitalism is privatization. Essentially, privatization is the center of capitalism, the premise that resources must be owned by someone and that you must pay in order to own it. Whoever owns a resource, controls it. Everything in capitalism is considered a "resource". Trees are not living beings. They are "resources". Cows are not living beings. They are "resources". Humans are not living beings. They are "resources". That's why companies have departments called "Human Resources", a department specialized in controlling humans. Another department that specializes in controlling humans is the "Marketing" department. The tools that the marketing department use to control humans are called "advertisement". When a company lays off workers, that is called "downsizing". It doesn't matter that they are human beings and that they may suffer from the consequences of downsizing, because, after all, they are just resources.

One of the most bizarre kinds of privatization is the privatization of the commons. The "commons" are, basically, natural resources that are essential for our survival. Those include land and animals, but specially, water and air. While land and animals have been privatized for a long time, historically, water and air are very modern. The problem with privatizing water and air is that those resources are absolutely essential. Imagine if you had to pay every time you have to take a sip, or every time you have to breathe. What happens when you don't have money? You can't drink or breathe? Food has already been a huge issue in the history of mankind. Privatizing water and air would, quite obviously, have a tremendous negative effect on the poor. Reminds me of a movie. "Total Recall", starring the governor of California. Talk about absurd.....!

From all the horror stories about privatization, one stands out in my mind as the most absurd one- the privatization of rainfall in Bolivia. Yes, you heard it right. In the year 2000, the government of Bolivia auctioned the water supply of the country. The Bechtel Corporation bought it, with several agreements, condoned by the World Bank and the IMF. One of such agreements was the increase of the rates to $20 a month, or 25% of the minimum wage in the country. Another one was the criminalization of rain water collection. The result was obvious. Nobody could buy water, so instead of dying of thirst, everyone protested. In the end, everyone fought, a few died, and the citizens conquered.

Sadly, no matter how absurd privatization is, it is rampant in our planet. This is a very important time in our history. We must talk about those issues. If we let corporations control the planet, what will happen to us and our children? Will our children have to pay for all water like the people from Bolivia? Will our children have to pay to breathe, like the people in the movie "Total Recall"? Don't settle for such absurdity. Talk about it. The more people talk about it, the more aware people will be and the greater will be our chances of actually not destroying our own species.

Read more:
Corporations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corporation
Privatization in Bolivia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba_protests_of_2000
Tragedy of the Commons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Total Recall: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Recall