With Earth Day completed, I feel as if it is appropriate to discuss the growing issue of water pollution and Climate Change. The latest IPCC report is a warning that we must convert to more efficient means of power. Yet, this report will be ignored because it does not support capitalist interests.
These capitalists’ interests threaten our freshwater supply and the world itself. Some of the projects fueled by the Capitalist Agenda include oil pipelines, tourists’ industry infrastructure, fracking, mining, and many other “investments”. Indigenous peoples have been warning us for years about this growing problem and they are continuing to fight for our right to a clean Earth, yet capitalist agendas continue to push forward.
Currently, in the Great Lakes region, a pipeline has been approved that will cut out 12 miles of an existing pipeline that goes through Bad River Ojibwe reservation and lay nearly 40 miles of pipeline to go around. The problem with this proposition is that it will go through part of the Great Lakes and threatens our biggest reserve of fresh water in the United States. Other areas of the United States, such as Flint, have been experiencing issues with polluted water due to fracking and oil pipelines.
In Mexico, people and organizations from different Mexican states have created a Caravan for water and life. The primary goal of this caravan is to denounce the capitalist dispossession and plundering of our Earth and its water. It began due to the pillaging of wells and aquifers by the Bonafont company which put local people at risk because of the lack of freshwater.
The caravan has been marching through the states of Mexico since March 22nd and will end on April 24th. It is the hope of this caravan that they will raise awareness of the corruption of companies that are stealing water, land and exploiting those that rely on it.
“The death projects promoted by capitalism, when confronted by collective resistance, use the State to create decrees and send its repressive forces against those who oppose the exploitation-destruction of nature and the dispossession of the territories and community heritage of the native people”
-Caravan for Water and Life Organizers
Companies such as the Bonafont company, as well as others, exploit the land and subsequently the water that is used for everything by the people. Most of these are foreign companies from Western countries that feel as if it is their right to exploit non-western countries for profit. These western companies “buy” land from farmers, pollute the water, and heavily promote western culture in rural communities.
Why do they do this?
It is to make these communities participate in capitalism. If they don't have land and clean water, then they can’t survive, which means they have to do what these companies want. These companies want rural people in non-Western countries to work for the tourist industry, such as the Maya Train in Yucatan, mining operations, sweatshops, and various other “endeavors”. This caravan is not just marching for clean water and climate change, they are marching for the right of the people to make their own choices.
We are all victims of these companies. They force their will into our lives for profit. They do not care that our water will be poisoned, they do not care about our land, they do not care about anything but power.
They will continue to rape and plunder our Earth for profit, and millions of people who have nothing to do with their greed will suffer. The latest IPCC report is a dire warning that we must listen to. If we do not address Climate Change and those who continue to contribute to it, then the world will continue to die.
Climate Change cannot be ignored, we must resist their constant encroachment, support our brothers and sisters who protect our water, support those who’ve been victims of colonial domination, and protect our Earth.
-Pierce Rasmussen, CULTURE Society Incorporated
To learn more, visit these links:
Mexican Caravan:
English:
Spanish:
IPCC Sumarry:
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