> Ed,
>
> Perhaps so. You said:
>
> "I will give you access to my water provided that you labour for me."
>
> The real question is how did it become "his" water?
>
> Harry
Hi Harry,
It's an interesting question. I hope you don't mind me putting it on the FW
list.
I would suggest that it became "his water" when water became a clearly
recognized scarce resource. Probably, that would have happened when people
made the transition from hunting and gathering to farming or pastoralism, or
when an area that had been used by hunters and gatherers became converted to
agricultural use. I recall seeing old movies which focused on fights over
the water hole by feuding ranchers. There is priceless scene in the movie
"Lawrence of Arabia" in which one tribesman shoots another simply because
the latter drank from his well. Hunters and gatherers did not need much
water; farmers and pastoralists did.
The point is that proprietary rights are imposed on resources when they
become scarce. In some cases, they would have been imposed equitably and
fairly, in others autocratically by a dominant tribe or family.
Almost everything that, if people thought about it at all, was once regarded
as a free good has now become a scarce resource with an exchange value or
"price" on it and proprietary rights attached to it. Thought has become
"intellectual property". Given that it must now be a sink for pollutants as
well as something we have always had to breath to stay alive, air is
becoming a scarce resource with an exchange value. Even the climate is now
entering that arena, as in the costs of global warming or the costs of
keeping it down to moderate levels.
This is where we have arrived after many thousands of years of population
growth, innovation and social change. Many people, including some on this
list, have argued that the end result will be cataclysmic. It may be, but I
don't think it has to be. What would seem necessary is that we stop
behaving like cowboys at the waterhole or tribesmen shooting rather than
sharing, and begin paying attention to the full costs of what we are doing
to ourselves and our environment. There has been some movement in that
direction, but judging from the extent to which commitments made in Kyoto a
few years ago have been honoured, we still have a long way to go.
Best regards,
Ed Weick
Visit my rebuilt website at:
http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/
> ___________________________________________________________
>
> Ed wrote:
>
> >I don't think that it's profit orientation that's at the heart of the
> >matter. It's more general than that, something I would call
"exploitative
> >relations." A very long time ago, when we lived in small groups as
hunters
> >and gatherers, we probably did not exploit each other partly because
there
> >was no need for it and partly because we had to work too hard just to
stay
> >alive. As population grew, and access to resources became an increasing
> >problem, proprietary rights and concepts of who could access what
developed.
> >Systems of exchange, whether monetary or in-kind appeared -- "I will give
> >you access to my water provided that you labour for me." From such
> >exploitative relations, classes appeared and consolidated themselves. It
> >would be nice if it could be otherwise, and it may still be otherwise for
> >some isolated groups, but I'm afraid we've gone much much too far down
the
> >path we're on.
> >
> >Ed Weick
> >
> >Visit my rebuilt website at:
> >http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/
> >
> > > Oh, I'm well aware of the terrible burden on artists and others who do
not
> >make
> > > money a priority. My remarks were intended to be directed toward the
> > > possibilities if we did not live in a profit-oriented society.
> > >
> > > Selma Singer
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > r h wrote:
> > >
> > > > Selma,
> > > >
> > > > Money is a necessity but so is work. The problem for me is that I
work
> > > > whether I am paid or not. I work to accomplish an artistic goal.
> >But I
> > > > do need money and will only live as long as I have it to do my work.
> >They
> > > > reason for life is accomplishment and anyone who does so merely for
> >money is
> > > > beyond my experience.
> > > >
> > > > Ray Evans Harrell
>
> ***************************************
> Harry Pollard
> Henry George School of Los Angeles
> Box 655
> Tujunga CA 91042
> (818) 352-4141 -- Fax: 818 353-2242
> ***************************************
>
