Water not a human right!?

[Dodo]

Link

OTTAWA — The Harper government can declare victory after a United Nations meeting rejected calls for water to be recognized as a basic human right.

Instead, a special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain at the UN human rights council was stripped of references that recognized access to water as a human right. The countries also chose to scrap the idea of creating an international watchdog to investigate the issue, choosing instead to appoint a new consultant that would make recommendations over the next three years.

Federal officials in Canada said last week that the government wanted to ensure the meeting’s outcome reflected the fact that access to water is not formally recognized as a human right in international law. But a social advocacy group said that the position was designed to protect the right to sell water under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Clearly (the Harper government is) happy with the status quo: They’re not going to be an agent for change, and they’re not going to support the right to water,” said Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians. “About every eight seconds, a child somewhere in the world is dying from dirty water, and it’s just shocking that our government has taken this position.”

This stuff makes me angry.
Discuss.

-dodo

 

[Raziaar]

That's atrocious. Humans need water to sustain life. All life needs water to sustain itself. This is a simple, fundamental fact. Denying people the right to water, is denying the right to life, and without human life, there is no place for human rights.

I will never live to see it, but it would be the happiest day of my life probably when man is able to easily harness the water of the ocean for human consumption such that everybody has as much water as they'll ever need to grow food and keep themselves nourished. So that no company could ever again, except through great totalitarian difficulty, monopolize water and treat it as a product like any other that people must buy to possess.


Some people might say, "But you do buy your water already, with taxes and a water bill!". I see that as being somewhat different though. Drinkable water is of such great abundance in this country that even our hobos are able to go around and find water to drink and not die of thirst. Whether it be from a hose, a public drinking fountain or whatever. We're not in any dire shortage, at least not yet. With that great abundance I can see some legitimacy to taxing it or selling it, so that companies who provide it can continue to provide it and cities will have money for public projects.

 

[CptStern]

**** harper:

But a social advocacy group said that the position was designed to protect the right to sell water under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

I hope he chokes on his overpriced bottled water.

 

[Krynn72]

No, water isnt human. Right?

 

[Maturin]

Doesn't the UN view practically everything from education to access to nail polish as a human right?

Or is that just the Declaration that no one follows...

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Doesn't the UN view practically everything from education to access to nail polish as a human right?

Or is that just the Declaration that no one follows...

That's what i was thinking. I keep hearing how loads things are infringing Human Rights yet water is not even a human right. I don't understand the logic behind these sometimes.

 

[Emporius]

Harper is a robot, water would short out his circuits.

 

[Warped]

if i were a World Leader i'd allow the torture of people who come up with stupid ideas like human water is not a human right. You need food clothing and shelter and water is a food source necessary for life. you can go weeks without food but only 2-4 days without water. also thousands of gallons are lost every second due to global warming which end up into the ocean eventually. we should be tapping into that instead of just studying that glacial melt. Also desalination plants should be created for free along all coasts.

 

[Officer Combine]

if i were a World Leader i'd allow the torture of people who come up with stupid ideas like human water is not a human right. You need food clothing and shelter and water is a food source necessary for life. you can go weeks without food but only 2-4 days without water. also thousands of gallons are lost every second due to global warming which end up into the ocean eventually. we should be tapping into that instead of just studying that glacial melt. Also desalination plants should be created for free along all coasts.

And yet your avatar is Abraham Lincoln.

 

[Warped]

i was never a world leader, at the time our country was very weak and fighting itself

our country is shit now

 

[Eejit]

also thousands of gallons are lost every second due to global warming which end up into the ocean eventually.

I laughed.

 

[swan_song1973]

that doesnt seem correct...

 

[Wanted Bob]

Yay, hating harper on an international scale!

Our politics frankly have become a joke...

 

[Mr Stabby]

Explain to me how a commodity is a human right. So if there is a drought and the government runs out of clean drinking water, it is abusing your human rights?

 

[Raziaar]

Explain to me how a commodity is a human right. So if there is a drought and the government runs out of clean drinking water, it is abusing your human rights?

If they run out of clean drinking water, then they ran out of clean drinking water. It's not like they'd be purposefully withholding it, they simply don't have any anymore.

 

[Mr Stabby]

A right means that you are obligated to get it ie habeas corpus, if a resource is a right then the government must provide that resources or is not upholding your rights.

 

[Eejit]

And yet:

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Why should water specifically not be added to that list?

 

[Mr Stabby]

housing and medical care are far more expensive than water, it makes even less sense to consider them rights.

 

[Eejit]

And they already are. So why not add water?

 

[Tyguy]

money comes before human rights...it always has and always will

 

[Raziaar]

A right means that you are obligated to get it ie habeas corpus, if a resource is a right then the government must provide that resources or is not upholding your rights.

A government that is out of water and is unable to acquire more is just as much shit out of luck as the rest of the population, since it's made up from the population.

 

[Mr Stabby]

Rights aren't circumstantial. If it's your right to water or housing etc. then government is obligated to provide regardless of it's abiity too or it is infringing on your rights.

 

[Eejit]

When my sister was studying international law and human rights she told me that all but two of the human rights can be ignored under certain circumstances (marriage and freedom from torture).

 

[Raziaar]

Rights aren't circumstantial. If it's your right to water or housing etc. then government is obligated to provide regardless of it's abiity too or it is infringing on your rights.

Okay, let's say that's true.

Government has no water. Has no means to get water for some untold reason.

Who is going to go out and spend their time blaming the government? The government is going to collapse as members are dying of thirst, and the people are going to die of thirst. Spending time blaming the government for an infringement of rights in that scenario is absolutely ridiculous!

What's going to happen? Is some third country going to come in and charge members of that government for violating the basic human rights of its citizens? And what of the fact that the members of that government are also being denied their human right to water. Who's going to be charged for that? Themselves once again, simply because they are members of that government that is unable to provide for its citizens, and by association themselves?

It's a silly scenario I know, and likely never to happen, but my point is that 'that' human right in that situation is pointless to argue about and complain about or anything, since nothing will come of it.

When my sister was studying international law and human rights she told me that all but two of the human rights can be ignored under certain circumstances (marriage and freedom from torture).

Marriage... that's a stupid human right. :|

 

[Mr Stabby]

If it can be ignored then it is a right only in name.

Okay, let's say that's true.

Government has no water. Has no means to get water for some untold reason.

Who is going to go out and spend their time blaming the government? The government is going to collapse as members are dying of thirst, and the people are going to die of thirst. Spending time blaming the government for an infringement of rights in that scenario is absolutely ridiculous!

What's going to happen? Is some third country going to come in and charge members of that government for violating the basic human rights of its citizens? And what of the fact that the members of that government are also being denied their human right to water. Who's going to be charged for that? Themselves once again, simply because they are members of that government that is unable to provide for its citizens, and by association themselves?

It's a silly scenario I know, and likely never to happen, but my point is that 'that' human right in that situation is pointless to argue about and complain about or anything, since nothing will come of it.

You have a very different defination of a right then I do.

It would be stupid to blame the government in that situation, but in my view it's equally stupid to call water a right. If you believe something is a right then surely it means people should be guaranteed it no matter what.

 

[Eejit]

If it can be ignored then it is a right only in name.

Well it's under certain circumstances. Obviously when a country declares war they're going to be violating people's right to life. At other times internment or martial law may be introduced, temporarily overriding other rights.

Also:

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

These are rights we are supposed to TRY to achieve and maintain, not rights that cannot be abrogated.

 

[nurizeko]

Water is the most vital substance to human life beyond even basic sustenance and rudimentary shelter from the elements.


It matters not if the UN says it is or isn't, the fact is that it is our right by nature of our existence, it is an non-negotiable requirement for human life.

 

[lefty]

Why drink water when you can drink coca-cola?

 

[nurizeko]

Why drink water when you can drink coca-cola?

I don't drink water, I drink Coca-Cola.


But most of Coca-Cola is in fact water.

:imu:

 

[lefty]

Yes, but they don't know that.

 

[Vegeta897]

I keep reading this thread title as "Water not a human, right!?"

 

[Raziaar]

Water is the most vital substance to human life beyond even basic sustenance and rudimentary shelter from the elements.


It matters not if the UN says it is or isn't, the fact is that it is our right by nature of our existence, it is an non-negotiable requirement for human life.

Yep, that was basically my argument on the first page.

 

[Ennui]

If I was Supreme Leader of the entire world, some things would change.

 

[Maturin]

money comes before human rights...it always has and always will

And survival (water, food, and shelter) comes before peace, society, and the rule of law. So anyone who plays that game should make sure they know what they're getting into. Just ask the Niger Delta.

 

[nurizeko]

Yep, that was basically my argument on the first page.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.





Not in this case though.

 

[Robert-]

/facepalm.

Goddamnit, Harper..

 

[MultiVaC]

When my sister was studying international law and human rights she told me that all but two of the human rights can be ignored under certain circumstances (marriage and freedom from torture).

Hasn't the US violated both of those rights during the past 8 years?

 

[Eejit]

They're the only ones they can't be excused for suspending, under any circumstances. But yes.

 

[G(ordon)-man]

Jeez, what idiots. I hope they get thrown to Africa.