Popular Resistance - On April 1, Baltimore started turning off water to 150 households a day. The city plans to turn off 25,000 residences in total. There are commercial and public entities in Baltimore that owe $15 million, but they are not losing their access to water.
Baltimore has a history of overcharging residents. This resulted in a $4.2 million refund to about 38,000 residents in 2012.
Beginning in July 2013, Baltimore is raising water rates by 42% over a three year period.
Residents of Baltimore are concerned about the water shut offs for a number of reasons. Questions have been raised about whether this is a move to privatize the city’s water system and whether the shut offs are related to gentrification efforts.
4 comments:
Sounds like a future war zone, sadly.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/27/us/baltimore-unrest/index.html
Just about a hour ago....
The common news is not talking about the water shut offs. The rioters are throwing bottles at news media. This may get to a middle east kind of ugly.
Some thoughts in progress, some old thoughts rehashed. It seems to me that a middle east kind of situation is forming up in many western republics. The case of Baltimore and water, profits, poverty, power and control. INFORMATION control in particular. Elite run divide and rule media verses media with other slants.
The water system in Baltimore needs updating, who is going to pay for it? The answer is no one wants to pay for it, maybe no one can, it is a third world kind of problem. Elites have endless greed and meanness, going to make the masses pay, maybe no other choice and why not make some money. Maybe private water companies are more efficient anyway?
A similar problem in the middle east, power and control, profits who is going to pay for what? If the masses give too much trouble then maybe create a terrorist group with cash ( Via local despot), the population has a choice between two evils. Maybe the lessor evil is the local despot with connections, old games, same old results. More chaos spreading everywhere like wildfire in the middle east.
Total information control has been lost by any kind of elite type in these modern times. Yes the elites have much power, endless printed fiat cash for information control, and to buy other control etc. But still in modern society the starving masses have more personal information/communication control than ever before in history. A situation that is starting to shape up everywhere is a condition of never ending chaos and revolution. Maybe everywhere we will have third world nations with unclear control over information, masses verses groups, gangs, despots, governments, leaders all battling it out in endless information battles leading to physical wars, chaos.
Of course there have always been despots and starving masses in third world conditions, groups, gangs etc battling and coming revolutions. In the past it just took centuries then in time decades until now it is maybe a few years until the next cycle of revolution. Today it can be next week or next year rather than decades before major strife, third world living is intolerable and with eroded information control protest is easier. Third world living conditions coupled with unclear information control means a new kind of dark age is forming up as it stands now.
What happens in Baltimore in the future can indicate a lot on how these forces will play out in the USA, hopefully much better than the case in many other nations. Elites beware, what you do in the near future will decide the fate of the USA.
There will be a struggle for information space by the rioters/people in Baltimore verses "you know who" that does divide and rule media.
Sadly in a third world nation or areas in a nation most everything is difficult to impossible, no wealth. The water infrastructure needs fixed, and it takes money.
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