The end is nigh
I was shocked by the statement of Scott Edwards that, "Drinking water is not a human right ... if it costs somebody else money to provide it to you" ("Water Rights," HCN, 6/24/13). Even the Declaration of Independence states that we are endowed by our "Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Forgetting the last one, which is getting harder to obtain, and the second, which is being lost in the courts, the right to life means having water to drink and some food to eat. One might also assume it means clean water fit to drink. But as some might say, the Declaration is not the law of the land but a statement by a bunch of rebels.
This conflict is about money, and the lack of enough of it to support basic needs. However, we've reached the end of civilized society when we deny potable water and food to all of our citizens in order to grow the profits of businesses, the rich and self-serving government bureaucracies.
Keith Roe
Vestal, New York
