Blue gold: water resources and global economics

Blue Gold

Blue is the new black, according to the filmmakers of Blue Gold. Blue Gold is a documentary about how water is becoming a scarce commodity, and that it will become the reason for wars in the future unless something critical is done about it on political, economic, and public policy levels. This is an important film, because the issues impact all persons on the planet. Rich or poor, male or female, black, white, or brown, water is necessary to sustain life. Without water, human beings die. The problem is that water management issues are embroiled in serious entanglements. Water that should be used for drinking is diverted to use in big agribusiness sectors, which are themselves problematic for their inhumane and polluting practices. Similarly, water that should be used for drinking is being diverted for use in manufacturing sectors. While human beings do need both manufacturing and farming industries, the scale of these industries has become out of hand and disproportionate to the benefits gained. The filmmakers of Blue Gold show that sustainable development includes sustainable water management, and urges viewers to take action.

Sam Bozzo, the director of Blue Gold, also discusses and shows the environmental impacts of poor water management practices. The imagery of drought-affected areas of the planet including in the United States is shocking to the viewer. History has taught nothing to the people who do not consider that situations like the "dust bowl" have happened because of human intervention in water dispersion, and that the changes that take place in the local ecosystems and environment only take a generation or two to manifest. This means that within a few generations, some parts of the globe could face serious crises, not just in terms of not having enough drinking water for the people but also not enough food for the people. Without drinking water, there can also be no agriculture. Even small-scale farms need irrigation for crops. If water is diverted to large scale farms and factories, then small scale farms and individual homes do not have a chance to survive.

The imagery of the natural world being destroyed by misuse of natural resources is also compelling from an animal and eco-rights perspective. Animals will die without water, and so too will plants. The entire ecosystem of the globe is thrown out of balance due to water being misused and diverted.

Bozzo depicts some of the main culprits in the poor water management model, which include governments and businesses. However, governments and businesses are run by ordinary people that just happen to be in positions of power. Therefore, each individual person has the opportunity to do something about water management issues in his or her area. It is important to understand the long-term implications of the issue of water management, as well as the short-term implications. Working on a small-scale local level could have meaningful impacts on the global or regional water supply, which is an important thing to consider. This is why the filmmakers of Blue Gold include many interviews with various activists and stakeholders: to show that each person can make a difference.

It seems as if there is nothing that can be done, but there are things that can be done. For example, Bozzo discusses the ways that companies are marketing bottled water as a way of privatizing all water systems eventually. If consumers are duped into thinking that public drinking water is automatically unsafe or unhealthy to drink, they will start shifting their purchases to bottled water. Bottled water is not necessarily better than tap water, at least in developed countries. Bozzo and his interview subjects explain that this is true, and yet many consumers are duped by the marketing schemes developed by beverage industry and other special interest groups. The most frightening thing about privatized water is that it has the potential to transform the entire social system and structure. People will not longer be in control of their own water supply, which should remain public. If private companies control water, people will not be able to drink for free, and it will raise issues related to income disparity and even race-related disparities throughout the world. Thus, massive social unrest is immanent if water privatization is permitted.

Unfortunately, water privatization is a scheme that is already being force-fed to millions of people around the world. It is especially problematic in places where the people have the least economic, social, and political power: that is, in developing nations. In Brazil, India, and other places that already need more clean drinking water, not less, companies like Coca Cola and other beverage industry conglomerates are trying to sell the idea that privatization is good. However, people are not buying it. Grassroots movements are being used to stand up to these major corporations and the governments that support them. In some cases, as Bazzo shows in Blue Gold, companies have so much power that they are effectively forcing governments to transform their water systems into privatized ones.