World Wide Water Commons
Earth the water planet - water being common to everything
All water is local; to understand local water issues is to understand the worldwide water commons. This is one place to expand that understanding.
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Created: Mar 04, 2008
Updated: Nov 25, 2009
Membership: Open
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Topic: Water issues in Bolivia and Ecuador
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In case you have not seen this (article below) even the new Constitution in Ecuador faces challenges.
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Sent: Sun Jan 18, 2009 (11:39)
To: frankpatton
Subject: RE: democracy and its relationship to water
I am very familiar with the Water issues in Bolivia and Ecuador. As a matter of fact I helped organize the Democracy School Workshops in New Mexico in Which Tom Linzey and Richard Grossman taught. You can find more about CELDF.org at their website. Tom Linzey drafted the Ecudaor Constitution. I have a section about this in my new book that I hope to publish this year. Tom Linzey will have a book out as well.
I have been very active in water issues in New Mexico. Democracy and water or even the right to self governance is a constant struggle. WE in America have been asleep at the wheel and despite economic crisis that is upon us Unless we wise up to water conservation we will be looking at 50 million people in the Southwestern United States with out clean drinking and with very little sustenance water available due to global warming. We are slated by the US GAO to be in an area of highly potential conflict. Unless major steps are taken to retro fit homes and businesses with rain harvesting and greywater systems there will be no life boat for most people in this regions alone. Democracy is going to fly out the window when it comes to water issues in a few short years. People in many progressive areas like Santa Fe NM and many other municipalities around the country have already privatized their water systems. My opinion is that people have misplaced their trust in their government to think that they will take care of them. But when it comes to water and politics in the West it historically has been "mob rule." The Santa Fe Ring was a group of carpetbaggers that change New Mexico through land development or the lack there of it was the American West, the American New Mexico that did away with the and grants and turned over politics by corruption, peonage and retribution. Today we see that the players have become more sophisticated by t the politics are "pay to play".
I tell you this story because when we think of the Global Commons it is a million local stories with similar local common denominators. In America, there are pockets of people living like they are in a Third World country. the difference is whether this economic crisis can be headed off before more people are thrown into abject poverty. This is the truth of the situation and this is the time when we all need to step to the plate to demand of our local governments implement the vision the people want to see in the world. As I learned in Democracy School his comes form organizing communities to change ordinances, laws and policies locally to meet the challenges we are now in.
This is the defining moment for Democracy. Ecuador, Bolivia and other countries that adopt these earth first democracies are socialized. Every country must decide for themselves how they are going to marry the ideals of capitalism, Democracy and the common good of the people. the global economy is already struggling.
The American Economy is tied to China's economy on a global scale we are one. "Chinamerica" is the what we are facing Already the Chinese governments has an 800 Billion dollar stimulus package. The "Global Commons" is much more than theory, it is a realization that we are so connected together that we must find the solutions to meet them challenges together. It requires a realization first that this is how we have evolved.
In many ways this is good and hopeful sign because it means that we, as Americans, are not 'the' global power. We are only a part of the whole and only together can we solve climate change and restore the Earth's precious drinking water supply. China is running out of water too. For those who want to learn more about China's Water issues. I refer you to Elizabeth Economy's book titled, "When rivers run black."
The Global Commons is celebrating our similarities and working together to solves the issues of the day.
Best regards, Elaine Cimino
-----Original Message-----
From: frankpatton
Sent: Sat Jan 17, 2009 (10:59)
To: EarthkeeperElaine
Subject: democracy and its relationship to water
.... this is a very good article about democracy and its relationship to water....
"Like countries throughout Latin America, Bolivia is undergoing a process of constitutional reform, largely driven by the question of the right to water. In 2004, Uruguay enshrined the right to water in its constitution. In 2008, Ecuador ratified the world's first constitution that recognizes that nature itself has fundamental rights, on which human rights depend, including the right to water. Colombia and El Salvador have strong movements to include the right to water in their constitutions. And Bolivia's new constitution, drafted but not yet approved, declares water to be a right that is fundamentalisimo -- profoundly fundamental. If one wants a testament that water and democracy are linked, as Oscar Oliveria insists, this wave of constitutional reform certainly offers it."
For the complete article, here is the link....
source: http://www.wiserearth.org/resource/view/e10cb129fe6acfb105527f17a83b458f