Since I began posting to this blog almost two years ago, we have seen much happen in the world of water. We have seen the steady decline of water safety and democracy worldwide with glacier melt threatening the water supplies of millions becoming more prevalent. Drought is an affliction that has now enveloped close to 40% of our planet. We have seen the effects of ethanol production as it now is revealed to be nothing more than a corporate/political scam set upon us to deplete our food and water sources which has caused riots in many developed areas of the world. Corporatization of our public trust is increasing, with political power looking to gain control over world water resources as they did oil. The outlook after seeing all of this may seem bleak.
However, we have seen some positive things come about as well. More people than ever are becoming aware of the global water crisis and water justice movement. More are standing up to the bottled water interests and demanding not only accountability but boycotting the bottle and they are feeling the pinch. The effects of citizen activism are being felt worldwide as information and truth seeps its way across the Internet to the hearts and minds of people who are now more awakened and empowered to take action to preserve this planet and our precious resources.
And that must continue, for the task before us is monumental. For times are bleak across much of the world particularly in Africa and Asia where water resources becomes scarcer due to corruption, mismanagement, climate change, and pollution, and where the ability to speak out against it is but a dream. Therefore, caring about water and its future is a global duty.
It is incumbant upon all of us as citizens of the world to ask questions, research, demand accountability, and work for water justice. That includes clean, safe, healthy sources that seek to bring not only health but peace to areas of the world where running water is the greatest gift they could have to sustain their bodies, their minds and their souls, which is true freedom.
So while I look out on the landscape of the planet and see an encroaching crisis, I also see an unprecedented opportunity for the human race to find within itself the will and courage to save itself. And the continued flow of information, truth, and opportunity will surely aid in that goal.
However, we have seen some positive things come about as well. More people than ever are becoming aware of the global water crisis and water justice movement. More are standing up to the bottled water interests and demanding not only accountability but boycotting the bottle and they are feeling the pinch. The effects of citizen activism are being felt worldwide as information and truth seeps its way across the Internet to the hearts and minds of people who are now more awakened and empowered to take action to preserve this planet and our precious resources.
And that must continue, for the task before us is monumental. For times are bleak across much of the world particularly in Africa and Asia where water resources becomes scarcer due to corruption, mismanagement, climate change, and pollution, and where the ability to speak out against it is but a dream. Therefore, caring about water and its future is a global duty.
It is incumbant upon all of us as citizens of the world to ask questions, research, demand accountability, and work for water justice. That includes clean, safe, healthy sources that seek to bring not only health but peace to areas of the world where running water is the greatest gift they could have to sustain their bodies, their minds and their souls, which is true freedom.
So while I look out on the landscape of the planet and see an encroaching crisis, I also see an unprecedented opportunity for the human race to find within itself the will and courage to save itself. And the continued flow of information, truth, and opportunity will surely aid in that goal.
We must not relent in seeing an international convention on water declaring it a human right and setting the standards for addressing this right and fulfilling the goals and obligations that will lead to true water justice.
As Maude Barlow states here, "the right to water is an idea whose time has come."
That time is now.
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