Should water be considered a public good (not privatized)?

Topic:
Health Debates

18 Contributors
in this discussion.

Yes
78% of users

  • Water is a basic human need, and it should be a public utility run by local government entities.

    Water is necessary for survival. A private company might be tempted to raise prices, because they have a monopoly on the needed product. Privatization does not fit with monopolies. Government should run monopolies for the good of the public consumer.

    Yes ddeathnote

  • Water is too important to be controlled by private interests.

    Since water is vital for life and all human beings, as well as for the environment, this resource should be controlled in a democratic way in which everyone affected has a voice. If water were privatized, the people controlling the resources would not be acting in the public interest, and might not consider everyone's needs in resource allocation.

    Yes BrokenMarvin34

  • Water should not be privatized, because allowing a few people to profit off such an important resource is obscenely unfair.

    Water should not be privatized. If a few greedy people are allowed to monopolize the world's fresh water, it will cause widespread death and misery to those who are too poor to pay for it. There is only so much fresh water on the planet. And, it's not like the rich people of the world had any hand in creating that water, or maintaining it. No group of people should be allowed to profit off of such an important and limited resource.

    Yes tagapps

  • Water should be a public good, because it's safety and availability must be guaranteed.

    If water is not a public good, then how will everyone be guaranteed clean and safe water? How will the cost, safety, and quantity of water be safely regulated? If public water was not considered a public good, and was all of a sudden privatized, how would we make sure that contaminates were removed, or at a safe level, before offered to their buyers?

    Yes AmuckRory54

  • Water is essential to all life, and therefore should be a public good, not privatized.

    Water is not only essential to human society and human life, but also all life on this planet. The privatization of this resource benefits those who capitalize on it in the short term, and harms not only all others who become consumers by limiting availability, but also the longer term needs of all earthly life.

    Yes P03tPoId

  • Water is a necessity to survive; therefore, accessibility to water should not be difficult.

    Essentials needed to survive should not be privatized. They should be protected from human mistreatment, but not closed off from public use. To give a monopoly on an item which is a necessity to survive to a small group of people could create a full out revolution. Naturally, it would be wrong to control a natural resource which should be available to everyone. We should never get to a point where we have to worry about where we will find water to survive.

    Yes taintedhues

  • Yes, because water needs to be controlled and protected for the public good, because it is the essence of life.

    Where there is private/for-profit control of lakes and rivers, the owners are able to create dams that cut off or limit vital water flow to people living nearby.

    Yes R0m4nticHamm

  • I agree that water is a public good; it is not something meant to be bought or sold.

    Plants need water. Animals need water. People need water. We need water like we need air - it should be free, or at the very least, at cost. Nobody holds the right to charge others for water - nobody has the right to make a profit off of peoples' needs in order to live. It would be like charging people to breathe air.

    Yes 54ndDavi

  • Yes, I agree that water should be considered a public good.

    All essentials for the existence of life such as air and water cannot be made one's own property. Moreover they are available in abundance naturally and does not need anyone's effort or investment. They just need to be safeguarded from extreme human exploitation, hence water should not be privatized and must be considered as public good.

    Yes SaroM0vi3

  • Water should be considered a public good because it belongs to all people.

    If water is privatised, it will be controlled in the hands of few people. They might charge huge amounts of money for something that occurs naturally and is a basic right of each and every individual. So water should be considered as a public good.

    Yes danoneeno

  • Water should be considered to be a public good because it is a necessity for all living beings.

    I totally agree that that the water should be considered as public good and not privatized into the hands of few people. Water is the natural resource which is very necessary for all living beings. Making it privatized could create a monopoly in the market which is not really good for all living creatures. Water is one of the basic elements for the survival of human beings, so making it privatized would mean denial of a basic necessity. We should not privatize the water and it should be considered as a public good.

    Yes I0rFashion

  • Privatization of water is a ridiculous idea.

    Talk about great ways to eventually start a war or rebellion. Water is a resource that unlike many others, including oil, is one that is required for life. Luckily it is a very renewable resource, but privatization of anything can get a little dicey. If for some reason water became hard to come by, you would not want it in the hands of private groups.

    Yes 5h035Bow

  • Water is an essential resource for life and should not be limited by a corporation.

    There are two reasons why water should not be limited. Firstly, it's a dangerous precedence because the corporation now has the ability to limit a vital resource to citizens, which in the worst case scenario could mean that it has the ability to choose whether a citizen lives or dies by providing water or not. Secondly, the water is sent through pipes that were originally created and maintained by municipal funds so a corporation shouldn't be able to use those for free.

    Yes P3rEver

  • I do believe that water should be considered a public good, no one should own water it is for everyone to enjoy.

    Water should not be a commodity, it should be available to all people. You should be able to dig a well if you wanted and get water. When private companies control a natural resource the basically control the people. Lets free up our resources and let people have the basic necessities that should be afforded to them. We shouldn't get to a point where we are begging for things like water. Or paying tons of money to have water.

    Yes C0ImEIite
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No
22% of users

  • Water on public lands should be considered a public good, but water on private lands that is bottled and offered at the expense of private individuals or companies should be rightfully privatized.

    No one is stopping the general public from gathering water via rain or from public water sources. That said, I do not think that all water should be considered a public good, since much of it is collected from sources that are on private land. Furthermore, companies that spend money to collect, clean, bottle and advertise water should be able to profit off of their efforts.

    No ToughEfrain26

  • No, while water itself is free, the actual services required to maintain, run, and transport it are not free.

    While water itself is everywhere and in abundance, the services should not be privatized, and should not be handed out freely, because someone needs to transport the water, pump the water, filter it, and build a filter for it. There is a whole industry based around water, so making it free would destroy this industry, put people out of jobs, and severely decrease water quality and availability.

    No R4yAnych

  • Rainwater is a public good, tap water isn't.

    I don't need to argue it, that's simply what the term "public good" actually means! There is no discussion about that. Tap water is a private good, by defintion: it is privately produced and then traded, not given away for free.

    No Anonymous

  • Water should not be considered a public good because it could lead to even further waste

    Water should not be considered a public good because it could create even further inefficiencies in how water is distributed. People currently waste and take for granted water supplies. It exacerbated the drought situation in California. If water is considered a public good, it could mean less efficient distribution of water based on regional need and resources.

    No SandDari
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Should water be considered a public good (not privatized)?
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