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1. Embed this notice
   :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad: (eiregoat@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:54 JST :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad:

   • mushroom_soup
   As much as I hate him he is correct: Any resource that costs human labour is not a "right." Someone has to work for my food, why shouldn't it be me? Same goes for water.
   
   The big issue with what nestle were doing in California is that they were abusing government power to gain access to a scarce resource and profit off of it.
   • Embed this notice
     :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad: (eiregoat@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:44 JST :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad:

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar
     • WilhelmIII
     It used to be considered an honour for wealthy men to contribute to their community by funding a public resource like an aquaduct or even a sewer. It was considered a good way to preserve your name for posterity if there weren't any good wars to die in.
     
     Nowadays we have this weird idea that any infrastructure worth investing in *must* be paid for by the state or something's wrong. The most people pay for is a park bench.
     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Dagnar (dagnar@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:45 JST Dagnar

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • WilhelmIII
     I'm definitely in the NatSoc camp when it comes to stuff like that. Pay for a garbage man, sure, because no one is entitled to a man's labors. But when they start owning the resources and charging for what eventually becomes a shitty service, then yes I have a problem. They would tax the air, the water, hell even the ground .. although I think property tax sort of falls into that.
   • Embed this notice
     Dagnar (dagnar@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:46 JST Dagnar

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • WilhelmIII
     > pay taxes for municipal water
     > get shitty water
     > dig well
     > get good water
   • Embed this notice
     :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad: (eiregoat@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:46 JST :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad:

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar
     • WilhelmIII
     Venice used to have a system where every square had a huge hollow under it filled with sand so it'd gradually filter water for public use. Then they had a well in the middle.
     
     Public fountains originally had the same purpose.
     
     Retvrn to tradition
   • Embed this notice
     WilhelmIII (wilhelmiii@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:47 JST WilhelmIII

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar

     I have a nalgene bottle of water on my desk right now.

     I refill it from my tap because I'm on a well and not the county's terrible water system.

     That was the norm for city water for a very long time too.

     Back when we were a real country.

   • Embed this notice
     WilhelmIII (wilhelmiii@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:48 JST WilhelmIII

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar

     Bottled water is the product of bad government to begin with.

     If municipal water systems weren't so terrible everyone would still be drinking tap water.

   • Embed this notice
     :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad: (eiregoat@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:48 JST :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad:

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar
     • WilhelmIII
     Well, there's usually luxury and convenience markets for bottled water, but yes that does add to it.
     
     Come to think of it... I wonder if they deliberately tried to turn it into a "water should be free vs. pay up commie" argument just to get rid of the subtleties. Evil genius move if so.
   • Embed this notice
     WilhelmIII (wilhelmiii@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:49 JST WilhelmIII

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar

     Lefties

     free

     no one should be allowed to sell it except the government.

     Pretty much every collectivist argument ever.

   • Embed this notice
     :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad: (eiregoat@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:49 JST :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad:

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar
     • WilhelmIII
     There were problems with what nestle were doing, but it was a lot more subtle than "selling water is bad."
     
     Specifically it was in CA in an area with an already low water table. There were all kinds of state restrictions in place for local businesses and residents to stop any one person from hoovering up all the water and causing problems for everyone else.
     
     But like most western states a good chunk of the land is federal, so nestle went around the restrictions by obtaining a licence to bottle water on federal land, thus making huge profits from a resource everyone else has very restricted access to.
   • Embed this notice
     :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad: (eiregoat@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:50 JST :spinnenrad: Eiregoat :spinnenrad:

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar
     From what I recall the context was discussing the morality of nestle bottling spring water and selling it.
     
     Lefties were arguing that water should be free and no one should be allowed to sell it except the government.
   • Embed this notice
     Dagnar (dagnar@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:31:53 JST Dagnar

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     According to what he's saying, you cannot drink from a stream or collect rainwater because that's free access to drinking water.
   • Embed this notice
     KeepTakingTheSoma (keeptakingthesoma@spinster.xyz)'s status on Thursday, 24-Apr-2025 03:35:50 JST KeepTakingTheSoma

     in reply to

     • mushroom_soup
     • Dagnar
     • WilhelmIII
     @Eiregoat @Dagnar @WilhelmIII @mushroom_soup Infrastructure, when paid for by the *state* (ie those who pay tax) can be a fabulous grift for those working within the state and their family and friends. There are projects to put out to tender, consultancies, contracts, overspend etc etc - all ways for those with snouts in the trough to trough a bit more and enlarge the trough for the recipients they deem worthy. That way we get public resources that go over budget, that fail to live up to their purpose and that nobody wanted.