The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World: Fourth Edition, revised and updated by Joni Seager
For most Americans and other industrialized countries, when we want water we simply go and turn on the tap. There are not many worries about what is coming out and if it is safe, not to mention running out of water. Of course there are places that come into droughts or have sanitatoin problems but for the most part we have no worries. Water to the industralized world is still seen as if it is a renewable resource like we once viewed oil and gold.
According to the reading, Americas use the most water at a huge amount of 585 liters per day. Comparing this to europeans at say around 300 on average, this is a huge difference between two industrialized countries or groups of countries. So my question is, where is all this water going to? This is not even to mention some of the poorest people in the world who only use between five and thirty liters per day, and most of them have to walk miles and miles a day to get it from a watering hole, or if they are lucky, a local pump.
I feel that since water is a non renewable resource and probably the most important necessity to survive that water should be payed for. But, because not everyone can pay for water and it is necessary, like I said to survive, the United Nations and World Bank should look greatly into finding the amount of water necessary in liters per person, per day for a person to live compfortably. Once they found this number, everyone should be aloud to have that amount of water for free, and if you feel you need more then you pay a fee for it. I know that something like this is not realisitic but as our aquifers and rivers are drying up I hope that we as a whole group of people could come to an agreement like this.
We constantly hear that history is taught so that we learn from our mistakes. Well, as you can see that doesn't happen very often. One example of this would be the people that lived in the
Mesa Verde Valley. They were an advanced people that were able to settle down. What happened though, was that they were not careful in using their resources and were forced to move out of the valley or starve. Today, this is happening around the world and we still don't see it, the biggest example now being with oil. We are constantly repeating the pattern of using resources until they are no longer available, rather then looking for alternative ways that are renewable.
I feel that we really need to be careful and aware especially as a leading nation that people look to, it becomes our responsibilty. We are going to use up all the water before people in Africa even have safe access for everyone. So my question is I suppose, is when are we as a nation going to wake up and in a sense stop killing ourselves slowly?
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Isn't it tough to look at our (Americans/Industrilized Nations) consumption and not feel like an arrogant person! Americans are essentially destroying the Earth through our environmental pollution and destruction, through our control/extortion of 'less developed' nations, and especially our thoughtless consumption of our natural resources.
ReplyDeleteHow, as a people, as young educated citizens, can we change the path of our nation?
I think that a lot of what is going on in the world is unknown to us as Americans. Partly because the media only shows us a small window of what is happening, and also partly I think because we are taught to work, and thats our first priority. It seems that our culture as a whole has become about making money, as a first priority to things like freedom. Maybe this comes from having a capalist soceity, I am not sure.
ReplyDeleteYou can see around you that we grow up at least in urban white socities knowing that we need to go to school so that we can get a good job, therefor making money. This is why I think my answer to your question of, "How, as a people, as young educated citizens, can we change the path of our nation?" is through awareness. It's time for us as citizens, and leading citizens of the world to wake up to what's going on.
I have heard people use the excuse that we look at our own culture first. That we should have to worry about other cultures, we were meant to be seperate. Maybe we are suppose to have different cultures and not intermingle, but it's to late for that. Since the world has become and is becoming more and more global everyday, we do have to open our eyes to conflict and power.