[Peace-discuss] More about the corporate shock doctrine techniques in Detroit

Wed Jul 16 23:51:04 EDT 2014

      Water, Dispossession and Resistance By Shea Howell -- Week 62 of
      the occupation

June 13, 2014 in Thinking for Ourselves 
<http://conversationsthatyouwillneverfinish.wordpress.com/category/thinking-for-ourselves/>

Thinking for ourselves
By Shea Howell

Water, Dispossession and Resistance
Week 62 of the occupation
shea25 
<http://conversationsthatyouwillneverfinish.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/shea252.jpg>Water 
is a basic human right. That was the strong message sent to the Detroit 
Works/Detroit Future project during the environmental session held as 
part of their community conversations. These are the orchestrated 
conversations that Detroit Future claims give it legitimacy to reshape 
our city. The message that water is a human right was ignored. Neither 
the subsequent "Strategic Framework" nor current practices reflect this 
deeply held community value.

The failure of Detroit Future, the Blight Elimination Task Force, or any 
of our elected officials to demand a moratorium on water shut offs 
reveals their complicity in the effort to remove people from their 
homes. They do not challenge the takeover of our city by corporate powers.

Let's be clear. These water shut offs are not about unpaid bills. This 
is about dispossession of the people. These shutoffs are intended to 
drive people from their homes. Water is the wedge. People are being 
targeted at the rate of 1500 to 3000 homes a week.

One of the ways we know this is not about unpaid bills is the glaring 
contradiction between the treatment of homeowners and corporate clients. 
DPS, under its emergency manger, owes $2.2 million in outstanding bills. 
Palmer Park Golf Club owes $200,000, Joe Louis Arena/Red Wings Hockey 
owes $80,000 and Ford Field $55,000. The struggling city of Highland 
Park, also under emergency management, owes $17.4 million.

Last month, Flint severed its connection to DWSD. Under its Emergency 
Manager it is constructing a new pipeline, to be placed right next to 
the DWSD pipeline, to get water from Lake Huron, 65 miles away. The 
Karegnondi Water Authority was established with the blessings of the 
State Legislature in 2010 to carry out this unnecessary, 
quarter-billion-dollar project. It is a loss of $22 million for Detroit, 
annually.

Most likely the water shut offs would have happened quietly, except that 
"aggressive action" was required to convince suburban powers and private 
speculators that the Detroit Water System is a viable asset. Viability 
in this case required making a public show of shut offs. This aggressive 
action is a source of money making for yet another corporation. The 
Board of Water Commissioners has signed a two year contract with 
Homrich, a favorite of Dan Gilbert, for $5.6 million to accelerate shut 
offs.

The response on the part of the people has been swift. Community 
meetings are springing up as homes, churches, and small businesses face 
shut offs. People are teaching each other how to turn water on. Some are 
parking cars over shut off valves. Environmental activist Charity Hicks 
was arrested for having the audacity to ask that people be allowed to 
fill up water jugs before the turn off. International water rights 
activist Maud Barlow was in town and is taking a human rights charge 
against the city to the United Nations. Clergy nationally are lending 
support to this effort.

These water shut offs are coming on the heels of a less publicized but 
equally inhuman series of shut offs of heat and light. Between January 
and September of 2013 DTE and Consumer Energy disconnected 169,407 
households. These shut offs were before the worst winter on record.

For more than a decade community groups and thoughtful public officials 
have moved the city toward policies and practices that assure access to 
the essentials of life. Rates based on ability to pay, not usage, are 
the foundation of this shift. Programs like THAW have long held that 
access to protect people, public health, and safety is our primary 
value. In 2005 a more conscious City Council passed resolutions 
extending this principle to water.

The Emergency Manger and corporate powers are using water bills to 
accelerate the dispossession of those who stand in theway.
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