An article entitled 'The Religion of Water' was published in The Straits Times on 7 July 2011. In the article, it was mentioned that ' within countries, there is debate over whether water should be treated as a human right or as a commodity, access to which is determined by the market.' Please read the article.
Is there a difference between treating water as a human right and as a commodity? In your opinion, should water be treated as a human right or as a commodity?
Post your 300 word response on your blog.
Should water be treated as a human right or a commodity? The article states that the Universal Declaration on Human Rights does not mention water explicitly as the nurturing of water resources were not as pressing as it was back in 1948 as it is today. There is a stark difference between water as a human right and as a commodity because water as a human right means that water is free for all while water as a commodity means that water is exclusive for the rich. However in my opinion, water should be treated as a human right which everyone has access to.
If water was a commodity, those with money will survive while those who are poor will die. It is oblivious ridiculous as water is essential for human survival. If water is commodity, People will be dying every now and then. If that is the case, this means plants and animals have to buy water too? What do they pay with then? Their own parts? Therefore, water should be treated as a human right which everyone has access to.
Also, if water becomes a commodity, riots will erupt when there is a shortage of water. The cost of water will also rise at an alarming rate. In the worst scenario, countries may go to war just to get water. Will you want WWIII? Nobody wants it. Therefore, water should be treated as a human right which everyone has access to.
If water becomes a commodity, many people will think that we will treasure it more. However that is wrong. The rich people will not bother treasuring it as they can afford it. Only the poor and the less wealthy ones will find ways to conserve water. But once u develop a habit of wasting water, it is quite hard to change. Therefore, water should be treated as a human right which everyone has access to.
In conclusion, i feel that after what u have read, u will agree with me that water should be treated as a human right which everyone has access to and not commodity.
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