Detroit: Water Held Hostage
By Maureen Taylor Editor's note: Maureen Taylor, at right, chairperson of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, made the speech below at the "Water for People Not for Profit" workshop at the 2004 World Social Forum in Boston. Maureen discusses Michigan's struggle against the privatization of water. She is available to speak through Speakers for a New America. Call 800-691-6888 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Production is what fuels society. It has always been that way. From the cotton gin, to the steam engines, electric engines, gas engines, gas generators, every kind of technology has moved society ahead. Society organizes around technology's ability to feed, house, clothe, provide healthcare, to provide the things that people need. Things changed in the early 1970s with the computer chip. The chip replaced labor. We got laid off because there was technology that could do our job. The paradigm says, "You work, you get a check, you buy, you consume, when your money is gone you go to work again." That's the cycle. Now you're laid off. You will get upset and not take this madness lying down. So they create an entire propaganda to say that there is something wrong with you. You lost your opportunity because of something you did. Then, we say, hey "Liz lost her job. Oh. I heard she was drinking. Oh, that's why she lost her job." So, we don't say anything when we clearly know there's a problem. This is why poor people are so passive. Everything and anything can happen to us. We know it is wrong, but we're the last voice to talk about it. Rather than complain and organize, fight and resist, we take a second job or a third. We allow our water to be cut off. We get tubes and hoses and run them from my neighbor's house to my house. We do anything rather than say, "Damn it, I'm one of God's children. I'm not giving into this mess. We're going to have water for everybody, or nobody will have water. But, whether it is the Patriot Act, the Sixth Fleet, or police brutality - all kinds of things are put out to convince us that the easiest thing to do is to suffer. In Detroit, between June 1 of 2001 and June 1 . . . full: http://www.lrna.org/league/PT/PT.2005.2/PT.2005.2.5.html _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
