Paying the Water Bill

There are a lot of ways to pay your water bill. Things become more testy when there is a drought. There seems to be a looming drought in North Carolina. Droughts are interesting, because they are the only thing that jolts America into the realization we are failing at conservation. In the l970’s we had an Energy Crisis. Most Americans today do not know what it is like to have an energy crisis. Then “gas lines” were backed up around the corner. There were government imposed regulations determining WHEN you could buy gasoline. Odd and even days, etc. There were even lines backed up at the License Bureau, where you had to go to get license plates, really a payment of taxes. Lines were common to the people of the former Soviet Union. Bread lines. Toilet paper lines. Vodka lines. This was a way of life for the Russian people, one thing that influenced the ending of the Cold War. When faced with standing in line for such things, democracy seems appealing. Shelves stocked with food. Multiple brands of every conceivable product ripe for the buying. Russians were tempted with the “idea” of democracy, although the scenario probably should have been better represented by the idea of a “free market.” America’s system of economy is Capitalism, the selling of a product on the free market produced by a privately owned source utilizing an employed labor force. That labor force was paid a negotiated wage that had nothing to do with the success or failure of the selling of the product. Therefore any gains that were notable were absorbed by private owners. Communism by definition predicates a classless, stateless, social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production. Evidently the “means of production” was unable to provide for the needs of the Russian people. Whether this was from mismanagement, corruption, or irresponsibility is inconsequential. Hungry stomachs see no borders. The lure of Globalization, the prospect of economic prosperity for a challenged and now impoverished Union, made way for the fall of the Cold War. Whether this has been fruitful for the former Soviet Union is yet to be seen. Similarly when approaching an end to the Iraq Conflict, that will be the question asked, "If the attempt to democratize a mostly Islam country in the Middle East was successful." Luckily a global set of human values seems to supercede military might. This is what prompted Mikhail Gorbachev to make the concessions he did to the West. In accordance with the reform policies of glasnost and perestroika, Gorbachev consciously relaxed central Communist control of the former Soviet Union giving birth to fifteen separate states. In December of l989, Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush officially announced the end of the Cold War. While the necessity of the end of the Cold War can be quantified by the economic needs of themselves and other Warsaw Pact nations, it has yet to be seen if the process has been economically and socially beneficial to the Russians. Capitalism, while the foundation of North America and others, may not be the socio-economic system of choice for Eastern Europe. That has been the beauty of the grift between the United States and Russia. There has been an almost “checks and balances” system in effect regulating global power. With the end of the Cold War Era could it have been America was too ripe to abuse the privileges of globalization? On December 21st, l994 Mexican President Ernest Zedillo announced the devaluation of the Mexican peso without unveiling a plan to counter the economic impact. American investors, who had been contributing two billion dollars a month to Mexican interests, began to dump stock. The peso’s value dropped more proving the process of globalization would become a sizeable opponent. The lost promises offered by the North American Free Trade Agreement were becoming known, a denouement to the economic result of the fall of the Cold War. Is Globalization a practical idea? It is proving to be not, as mainstream, American, middleclass jobs are being outsourced to both China and India. Can you blame manufacturers for wanting to buy labor at a fraction of the cost of American workers? It depends for whom you are looking out. It is lucrative for Big Business to hire cheaper foreign labor, but the common American is seeing middleclass jobs evaporate, our native land inundated with illegal immigration, lack of focus and subsequent funding of domestic social programs, and a malaise over the current state of federal government. In Fayetteville, North Carolina a group of investors and landowners lobbied the city to ban the use of recreational wheeled vehicles in historic downtown. In a misguided attempt to promote business, they have callously begun to alienate the very activity that could bring people to their businesses. It is almost like the hard sell you get at some stores, when the clerk demands you buy something before you can even look! “We want you to come here, but do it the way we want.” It’s like not getting kissed before you get @#%^ed! Disregard the notion that you may not know what you want to buy, and that the clerk is supposed to help you learn about and decide what to buy. That would mean the store cared about you and are not just trying to make a buck. China’s current economic policy is to invest in their Middleclass. They believe, like America once did, these people will be the infrastructure of their country. “Invest in these workers and they will provide our socio-economic support mechanism.” Here in the United States a contingency of the wealthy are attempting to “socially cleanse” the Middleclass. While it may not be a business/political wave as great as the tsunami of mass genocide in Darfur, Sudan, Americans should be aware. Is Uncle Sam really looking out for you? The Second Amendment of the Constitution declares a well regulated militia as "being necessary to the security of a free State," and prohibits Congress from infringement of "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Until watching Mel Gibson’s telling film “The Patriot,” I did not fully understand the concept of “the right to bear arms.” It seems a contingent of common Americans may be called upon to defend the very things WE hold dear. Called “The Militia,” they became an invaluable tool in defeating General Cornwallis in the Revolutionary War against Great Britain. It was widely recognized in a foundling America the world was often corrupt and unChristian. The right to bear arms, instead of promoting gang violence or teenage school shootings, is supposed to assure us no one will come and kill our families. We maintain the responsibility for our own rights, not our Armed Forces or police. This clears any gray area and clarifies what we want as Americans is in our own hands. We astutely should understand these rights and be aware of how easily they can become infringed upon. While comparing a group of influential investors in Fayetteville, North Carolina to the Crown Prince of England may be extreme, the right to ride a bicycle in one’s downtown is certainly not an act of rebellious, antagonistic, business aggression. Any state, county, or city ordinance banning the use of a bicycle is unconstitutional. When I pay my water bill I am outraged. It used to be Uncle Sam thought clean water was important. Somebody decided it was better to bottle water and sell it to the American people. Now there is row after row of mineral water, distilled water, naturally-carbonated water, flavored water, or spring water. I know what kind of water I like, and this grocery store decided to discontinue the availability of a case in lieu of separate six-packs. The result? The price rises $3.50 overnight. When once we had clean, cold drinking water at our taps in America, now we must spend our cold hard cash to receive the nutrition we need. Living in America now means "Paying Your Water Bill."