Thirst (To be broadcast on P.O.B. on PBS, everyone needs to watch)

[acmavm]

<snip>

FILM SYNOPSIS

Population growth, pollution, and scarcity are turning water into "blue gold," the oil of the 21st century. Global corporations are rushing to gain control of this dwindling natural resource, producing intense conflict in the US and worldwide where people are dying in battles over control of water.

As revealed in "Thirst," the world is poised on the brink of epochal changes in how water is stored, used, and valued. Will these changes provide clean water to the billions of people who need it? Or save the child who dies every eight seconds from contaminated water? Examining water conflicts on three continents, "Thirst" shows that popular opposition to the privatization of water sparks remarkable coalitions that cross partisan lines. When it comes to water, many people demand local control and fear the arrival of multinational corporations with large lobbying budgets and little local loyalty.

<snip>
In Stockton, California, citizens campaign for a public vote when the city council moves to outsource the city's water system, long considered one of the best-run utilities in the nation, to a German-led multi-national. In Rajasthan, India, a charismatic local "Ghandi" is leading a poor people's movement for water conservation that has revived rural life. But it's an achievement that would be swept away by government plans, again under pressure from international financial institutions, to build large hydroelectric dams and privatize communal water sources.

<snip>

"Water is essential to life," Kaufman says. "In many parts of the world, it's a matter of life and death. We're living at a time when everything is up for sale, where the market is God, but with water, people are saying enough is enough. This is where we draw the line."

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I don't know if what channels you watch PBS on so I can only provide the links to where I do. On the home page of the PBS website you can find the channel and time where it is on in your area.

This will soon be one of the biggest issues facing people on this planet. This is also one that I think about a lot because my dad once said that more wars have started over water than anything else in this world since the beginning of time. I don't know how true that is, but to me it certainly seems logical.

What truly worries me is that with the current regime in power, and their love of corporatizing everything that sustains human life, it's just a matter of time before wide-spread corporatization of all out water supply is in the hands of a relatively few people. For those that have control of the water, it's way worth more than the oil in the Iraqi oil fields.

LINK:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/thirst/about.html

[theivoryqueen]

1. suh-weet. glad the tale is to be told!

this title and action seems familiar - was it a trailer in F911 theater showings?

[acmavm]

2. I don't think so. I saw the preview tonight after watching a movie on PBS.

I LOVE PBS. I could live without cable because of the great shows there.

[cprise]

3. This is "third way" economics at work

The Democrats and New Labor are as guilty as anyone when it comes to making poor countries privatize.