Detroit Begins Cutting Off Water to 150,000 Residents, Prompting Appeal to United Nations for Help

[Magda Hassan]

Detroit Begins Cutting Off Water to 150,000 Residents, Prompting Appeal to United Nations for Help

=Detroit+Begins+Cutting+Off+Water+to+150%2C000+Residents%2C+Prompting+Appeal+to+United+Nations+for+Help&p[summary]=Desperate+calls+for+help+from+the+United+Nations+aren%E2%80%99t+just+for+war-torn+and+developing+nations+anymore.+The+city+of+Detroit%E2%80%94a+city+that+has+been+on+the+brink+in+many+ways%E2%80%94in+an+effort+to+balance+its+books,+has+begun+shutting+off+water+access+to+city+residents+behind+on+their+payments.+While...&p[ref]=sl_live&p[images][0]=http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_slatest/2014/06/23/detroit_shuts_off_water_for_residents_united_nations_asked_to_help/162579823-graffiti-covers-an-abandoned-building-february-24-2013.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg]

By Elliot Hannon

Graffiti covers an abandoned building February 24, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Photo by J.D. Pooley/Getty Images


Desperate calls for help from the United Nations aren't just for war-torn and developing nations anymore. The city of Detroita city that has been on the brink in many waysin an effort to balance its books, has begun shutting off water access to city residents behind on their payments. While that may seem like what happens to anyone when they don't pay their bills, Detroit is a unique casenearly half of the 323,900 residents who use the utility are delinquent, according to the Detroit Free Press. To make matters worse, Al Jazeera America reports, Detroit's average monthly water bill is nearly double the national average of $40. The Detroit City Council approved a 9 percent hike last week.

In response, a coalition of activist groups in the city have appealed to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights for relief. Here's what they're hoping for via Think Progress:

"We are asking the UN special rapporteur to make clear to the U.S. government that it has violated the human right to water," said Maude Barlow, the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and a key member of the coalition that put the report together. In addition to creating international pressure to stop the Detroit shutoffs, Barlow said, the UN's intervention could lead to formal consequences for the United States. "If the US government does not respond appropriately this will also impact their Universal Periodic Review," she said, "when they stand before the Human Rights Council to have their [human rights] record evaluated."

Earlier this year, to balance the department's $118 million debt, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department deployed crews to with the aim to cut some 3,000 residents' access to the water supply each week as part of an effort to shut off water to more than 150,000 delinquent customers, according to the Detroit Free Press.


http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2..._help.html

[Tracy Riddle]

An MC5 song for Detroit - "Motor City is Burning"

[Peter Lemkin]

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Bigger Implications of Detroit's Water Shut-off For Up To Half Its Population

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from Agenda 21! Detroit Families Beg UN for Help After City Cuts Off Water!
(image by YouTube)

This article takes a look at some of the not so obvious factors involved in the Detroit water shut-off. Think about predatory capitalism and the Shock Doctrine, for starters.


The city of Detroit has announced that it will be shutting off the water for customers who are $150 or two months behind in paying bills. Half of the customers fit the profile-- over 150,000 people. It's so bad that a collection of groups are appealing to the United Nations for help.

This is worst than bad. It's sick. It is also something we can expect a lot more of, on several fronts. What we have here is a city run by an un-elected mayor appointed by a right wing governor. This action is a warning for several trends we can expect from rapacious, predator capitalists.

Shock Doctrine-- break down the community, the support structures, break the unions, de-regulate and bring in outside corporations and big-money investors. Naomi Klein described it and it's been done again and again, first in third world countries where the US appointed dictators, now in a major city where a right wing Governor appoints a dictator. There is a predictable Shock Doctrine script which Naomi Klein has described. It looks alot like what's been happening to Detroit.

Privatization of resources-- we've seen this in other nations, where they attempt to privatize the commons, including water. Many are speculating that Detroit is attempting to sell its water operation to a private buyer.
Raising prices so the poor can't afford to live in prime real estate areas. The water rates in Detroit are almost double the average in the rest of the nation.

Creating predatory economies of community destruction: It happened with the housing collapse. After people lost their homes because of derivatives, corporations and the wealthy came in and bought them at bargain prices and turned them into rental properties.

Killing poor people- Let's call a spade a spade. Shutting off utilities can kill people. That's why humane cities offer special arrangements for the poor for heating. They don't shut off the heat.

Here's what Margaret Kimberley has to say about it at BlackAgendaReport.com

"Desperate Detroiters represented by the Blue Planet Project, the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Food & Water Watch and the Detroit People's Water Board, have made their case to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water. They issued a report which outlines the latest scheme to destroy Detroit as a city and as a home to poor and working people. The plan will ultimately privatize the water system and make Detroit another location for prime real estate and riches for the few.
"Very powerful people in boardrooms and government offices made decisions that turned Detroit into an Iraq in America's midst and now sneer at pleas for mercy."
President Obama and his cohorts in the Democratic and Republican parties will go to any lengths to prop up the empire, but do little to help people in need. American allies in Ukraine or Iraq and other countries receive astronomical sums of money in order to help maintain Manifest Destiny. Poor people in Detroit and the rest of the country are not so lucky. They are seen only as obstacles to putting the rule of capital firmly in place.
Iraq was invaded with soldiers, guns and bombs. Detroit was invaded by the corporate "suits" who made a fast buck for themselves. The end result is the same for Michiganders and Iraqis alike. They end up suffering in a plundered society while other people make out like the bandits that they really are."

This is not about poor people not paying bills. It is one of those "first they came for" stories. It is a foreshadowing of what the American middle class can expect-- from both Republicans and most Democrats. Just look at the three secret trade bills that President Barack Stab-the-Middle-Class-in-the-back Obama is pushing hard. They are massive betrayals of American industries and jobs, on the behalf of transnational corporations and special interests.


Detroit argues that allowing people to not pay their bills puts the costs on others. I don't buy it. This is the sociopathic, Libertarian, Ayn Rand mantra of selfishness. It is insanely psychopathic to take away a necessity of life for half the population of a city. Detroit is spending a lot to shot off water for 3000 people a month. They could be using that money to subsidize water.


I'm not saying that Detroit should allow people to have unlimited amounts of water-- to fill swimming pools. Rationing is a reasonable response. But there are more humane ways to deal with this problem.


When you see what's happening in Detroit, take action. Do something.