Position Paper
Jamie Rice
BMGT 496
Professor Susan Barranca
12/3/2017
"Water is not a right for all humans and; therefore, can become the property of a business."
Introduction
Over the past several years, there has been an ongoing debate of whether water should be controlled by corporations, or whether it should be treated as a human right. This has shown to be a prevalent ethical dilemma in society, since there are arguments for both sides and there does not seem to be an ethical solution for the matter. This ethical dilemma is important because water is a necessity for humans to live, and cannot be replaced with anything else, such as crops. Privatizing water would give corporations the control, as they would have the water in their possession. However, leaving water as a natural resource and treating it as a basic human right, would grant all humans access to this necessity of life. This writing assignment will argue the idea that water is a basic human right, and should not be privatized, or controlled by businesses.
Counter Argument
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When making a decision for the company, corporate boards tend to make a decision that will impress their stockholders since capitalism is their priority, rather than the public (Water Privatization: Facts and Figures, 2016). This oftentimes can stray their ideals away from what is best for the environment. Although board members appear to be fighting against water scarcity, the ironically begin cherry-picking service areas. This means that lower income communities are negatively affected, since these areas are known for low water usage and recurring bill collections; both of which are things that would interfere with profits for corporations (Water Privatization: Facts and Figures, 2016). Their mission to combat water scarcity is not feasible, considering that capitalism does not sustain the appropriate