Privatization of the commons

In the past 10 years, this work has returned more than $12 billion to victims of crime and to the U.S. Treasury. If he worked anywhere else, Koopman would probably be celebrated. But he’s employed by the Internal Revenue Service, the arm of government that even its commissioner, Danny Werfel, describes as “iconically unpopular.”

Lewis, Michael. Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service (p. 132). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Is there anyone besides me who likes paying his taxes? Taxes provide the resources for our governments to provide the services which we Americans need and want in common. This common well being is what holds our democracy together and promotes the quality of life for all. The opposite of this common pooling of resources for the common good is privatization which is the basis for capitalism which shifts society’s resources to the select wealthy few for personal benefit.

As a society what do we value more: the common good or personal aggrandizement? Most Americans admire and aspire to personal aggrandizement and therein lies the sickness of American society.

Fouled up broadband provision in the United States hampers online educational efforts.

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Profit for the few or the common good?

From "Meditations In An Emergency" by Asad Haider in the July, 2020 issue of The Baffler on page 6 :

THE WORLD, WE ARE TOLD, is in crisis. We hear of medical crisis, financial crisis, and crisis of leadership, suggesting that the scope of the term is almost unmanageably broad. Now these crises converge in the suspension of the everyday social order sparked by police violence and the uprisings against it. In these various converging crises, we are called upon to make decisions.

The thing to be understood is that these things are not "crises" in the sense of the unexpected or outside of human control. These crises have been human made right here in America. They are the result of deliberate and intentional policy crafted and implemented by and for the capitalistic ruling class for the purpose of financial profit. They are the consequence of the system which we all participate in most of us unconsciously.

Americans have be clear about their values. Do they prefer money and profit or the common welfare? As things are going, we can't have both.

Privatizing the commons - Commercializing spring water in Florida

From The Week September 27, 2019

Stop giving away Florida’s spring water

Michael Sainato and Chelsea Skojec

The New York Times

Nestlé is set to renew its permit to bottle freshwater from one of Florida’s bountiful springs, said Michael Sainato and Chelsea Skojec. This permit “allows Nestlé to take 1 million gallons per day at no cost, with just a one-time $115 application fee.” The arrangement to take millions of gallons from Ginnie Springs is one of many deals that Nestlé has to “take water directly from the source” in Florida. As a result, the largest concentration of freshwater springs in the world is being devastated. Some springs have already dried up, while “others have shown signs of saltwater intrusion and harmful algae blooms.” Florida is not the only state where Nestlé’s favorable bottling arrangements have rankled communities. The company pays Michigan just a $200 annual “administrative fee” to extract millions of gallons of that state’s water too. Meanwhile, residents of Flint “are faced with high bills for poisoned water and have to rely on purchased bottled water.” In California, groups are “battling Nestlé’s water-bottling operation in the San Bernardino National Forest, an area suffering from drought.” At the very least, companies like Nestlé should pay a meaningful tax that reflects the value they’re getting. Or even better, and simpler: Stop issuing extraction permits that let big companies siphon off water from our streams.
Editor's note - Water is the new oil. It is being bottled and sold. The commercializing of the commons is one of the sins of capitalism.