Originally published in The Independent at NEIU under the title Detroit and the Crisis of World Water Rights on September 9th 2014. I’ve since lightly edited the piece here and there, most notably adding (lol) after a certain sentence near the end.
There is no greater affront and no greater threat to human rights than water deprivation and privatization. Say what you will about terrorist threats, oil tycoons, militarized police, surveillance or big government—there is no substitute for water—and whoever controls water has unprecedented power over the populace at large.
