It’s almost time again for Blog Action Day, and this year, the topic, suggested by bloggers far more than any other, is Water. Here at Feminist Philosophers I’ll be blogging about water and the disproportionate impact that the availability of water has on women worldwide. Feel free to join our discussion or start your own on other blogs, especially those that don’t take part or seem aware of the lives of women!
Sometimes internet activity is just slacktivism, but other times, a number of people can accomplish a cultural shift in awareness. Here’s hoping, anyway.
Feminist Philosophers 
Great idea profbigK! Looking forward to joining in!
This might be tangentially relevant to what you want to blog about:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11435522
Whoa, thanks, Logoskaieros! Clicking between the radio buttons for “natural” and “managed” on the map is mind-blowing.
What’s up with the statement under the first heading? UN declares water a human right over objection from the US?
Was that declaration made during the Bush years? I can’t see anybody from the current administration objecting to something so obvious.
No, this objection was made more recently: “In abstaining from the vote on the Resolution, the representative of the United States asserted that there was no “right to water and sanitation” in an international legal sense, as described by the Resolution.” [from http://www.globalgovernancewatch.org/spotlight_on_sovereignty/un-general-assembly-invents-a-right-to-water-and-sanitation%5D
But for a more charitable interpretation of the US objection, see here:
http://www.internationalwaterlaw.org/blog/?p=284
Thanks profbigk, I get the objections now. Water is something I take for granted. If somebody were to come to me begging for water, I’d give it to them, and then ask if they’d consider psychiatric services as well. It’s not like that everywhere.
But ethically, it should be a right. It’s a shame that the practical ramifications are so complicated.
Making people pay for water rubs me the wrong way too, but I guess it’s better than selling them weapons so they can kill each other for food and water.
Weren’t we going to see a post on water here on Blog Action Day? I didn’t see it.