Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everyone!
Now if you readers looking at this blog are anything like me you've at times looked back on things done by people in the past and thought "boy was that ridiculous/stupid", and most of us have had some times had that reaction answered by an elder with something to the effect of "Well 200 years from now people will probably look at a lot of things we do now as ridiculous/stupid." And perhaps you set to wondering what some of those things might be.
Now in some of my posts, I'm going to propose some distinct possibilities. And before getting heavy, I'm going to start with something that so many people consider part of their daily lives and even a necessity.
Bottled Water. Now as a science fiction bug who grew up in the 80's, I have a pretty high tolerance for suspension of disbelief in this arena. I've entertained stories of Fremen riding giants worm wearing stillsuits designed to recycle the water from their sweat and waste products, Charlton Heston as a cop who steal luxuries like soap, beefs, and jam in a world that looks like a cross between "Thx-1138" and The Warsaw Ghetto, the last of earth's forests surviving in spaceship tended by the inspiration for R2-D2 and a seriously creepy hippie guy, Chicago mothers calling to their children to come inside and get some fresh air, and more.
But somehow it still seems that bottled water takes the cake. It is an industry that can survive only in a climate of extreme corporate hubris and widespread public ignorance of history, environmental law, and even the most basic facts about how modern infrastructure works. It is a situation that can exist in a society that for all the increasing environmental awareness, by and large, does not understand anything approaching a genuine water ethic.
Many people buy bottled water on the assumption that it is simply safer, cleaner and healthier without asking some very basic questions.
If public water is so dangerous how does this water magically become safe?
How are tap and bottled water sources regulated?
If tap water is a hazard why is it OK for me to brush my teeth, and shower in it? Eat food not only cooked in it, but also grown with water that is after all from the same planet and perhaps even the same watershed?
And perhaps the more importantly:
Is it moral to use something like bottled water as a solution to problems with the tap water? If I can't drink my tap water shouldn't I be raising hell or at least looking for answers rather than just buying water?
Why do I trust the Coca Cola (Dasani) and Pepsi (Aquafina) companies more than I do my municipal government? How can I find out if this belief is correct or not? What about my role as a "consumer" in creating the former, vs. any power as a Citizen to influence the latter?
In case I have either scared you or seem to have put forth a very steep challenge, I can start out by telling that tap water which is under the EPA's jurisdiction is much more carefully regulated and regularly tested than bottled water which was sort of grandfathered into being regulated by the FDA as an "occasional beverage". Basically it was assumed prior to the creation of the EPA in 1972, and a series of events such as Love Canal that bottled water was a sort of rich man's affectation or a health conscious alternative to a soda or alcoholic drink, and basically in the same category as Tab (Hi Mom!).
The issue has been extensively reported by The Natural Resources Defense Council, E Magazine, and other respected environmental researchers. (So this isn't just a matter of believing what "they" tell you.)
One of the things I'd like to get across in this post is just how strange a concept the bottled water truly is. Through most of history water sellers were as hated as predatory lenders and thieves, and viewed as a lynch-pin of social injustice if not tyranny, in nearly every society where they existed. And most such societies were not only in very scarce environments, but also were characterized by massive social inequity, little investment in the public good, a predatory mercentile class, and a leadership who saw its role in terms of absolute entitlement over its subjects rather than responsibility for a just and humane society.
Yet here we are in the modern developed world with its well developed water system, unthinkable to most of the preindustrial world with a few possible exceptions like Ancient Rome, with so much scientific know how and publlic oversight, and typically a mission statement for the public good. And more and more of the population looks upon these bottled water brands not only as benevolent but even hip and trendy.
What is the moral of this post? That is beyond bottled water?
To question the conventional wisdom. Question what you think you know about the problems our world faces. And about what is right in your immediate surroundings.
See you next post! And
Say Goodnight readers!
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