In today’s society, the lack of water seems almost impossible. In the United States, water is considered to be a medical fluid, and denying someone of that right could potentially hinder their health. It is pertinent to understand that water is precious, and the ability to provide pure and safe drinking water is slowly diminishing. In Benjamin Warner’s Thirst, the protagonist, Eddie, and his neighborhood, are stranded without water or any type of power. Being put in this position, they were stripped of their basic needs, requiring them to give up certain luxuries that pertained to their life. Furthermore, the lack of water in this suburban neighborhood fostered the corruption of privatized outlets, allowing for a reduced control in local and public affairs. Global corporations are expeditiously buying out local water supplies; therefore, rendering them useless, and with no control of their water supplies. In Warner’s novel, the construction of a post-apocalyptic setting highlights humanities biggest fear; the need to survive.
The effect of globalization in this society was very visible. It offered many systematic environmental impacts that eventually led to the lack of popular health. In Warner’s novel, Thirst, the depletion of resources, degradation of land a water, and ecosystem disturbances was evident. Due to the contamination of the water, the local’s basic needs were stripped, causing them to be placed at the bottom tier of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Before one can be self-actualized, one must obtain all physiological aspects to life. These include, but are not limited to, breathing, sleep, food, and water. Without these basic human rights, one cannot continue to exist within society. This created a sense of urgency within the novel, causing crime and death rates to be heightened. A similar instance recently occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina, as residents get their drinking water from a river that has being tainted with chemical byproducts of decades. As these new discoveries are being made, humans are becoming more and more fearful of what they put into their own bodies, causing a loss in governmental impact among U.S. states. As the effects of globalization are becoming more visible, most people are confused as to what the future holds. As companies become larger, their main goal is to maximize their profits in order to grow their business. This process does not work in the best interest of the community. As freshwater sources are becoming privately owned, companies are under no obligation to provide water when it is defined as a marketable commodity rather than a human right. By making water sources unreachable to the public, we have no control over what will happen to us in the future.
In 2025, more than two-thirds of the population will not have safe drinking water. The privatization of personal water sources is fostering corruption. The spiraling collapse of our economy is not only making the government weaker, but it is intensifying the need for private investments among the public sector. The concept of democracy itself is being challenged by these multi-million-dollar corporations that only strive to reduce local control and make a big buck. The water market reaches everyone in existence; therefore, if you are in control of this precious resource, then you are in control of everyone. About 85 percent of people receive their water from public utility departments, making water infrastructure, a prime target for privatization. To drive their agenda, water industry lobbyists have consistently opposed federal aid for public water agencies, hoping that federal cutbacks would drive market expansion. As a result, governments are strategically trying to discover out how to make up the difference without a politically unpopular rate of increase. A growing number politicians, are turning to the industry’s designated solution: privatization, which cannot be the answer. Providing clean, accessible, affordable water is not only the most basic need, but throughout history, control of water has defined the power structure. If we, as citizens lose control of our water, what do we really control? In the novel, Thirst, Warner revisits what it means to be a human. He emphasizes how far humans are willing to go in order to survive. Most of the citizens in Warner’s post-apocalyptic suburban town went to the lengths of death, whether it be through natural causes, or murder. In many ways, Warner’s idea emphasized the failures of humans, and who we really are as a species is tested. In the Book of Genesis, Moses writes “When the Lord saw that man had done much evil on Earth, and that his thoughts and inclinations were always evil, he was sorry that he made man on Earth, and he was grieved at heart. He said: ‘This race of man whom I have created, I will wipe them off the face of the Earth’”. As humans continue to live in this world, our resources are being wasted through non-beneficial acts that continuously destroy our being. As new corporations are becoming a larger threat to society, we, as a species, must learn to give up opportunities in order to protect the lives of the future. Furthermore, a theme of good versus evil was incorporated within this novel. In the wake of this catastrophic event, there seems to be no good left, as everyone is stealing and murdering in order to live, but there is some good. The protagonists in this novel; Eddie and Laura, make sure to protect the elderly and children that have nobody to help them. In the seemingly destroyed world there will always be some good. For instance, in 2014 Flint, Michigan was left to face an unprecedented water crisis. During this time the contiguous United States offered their help and support amidst this terrible drought for Flint’s citizens. It is pertinent that humans band together in order to defeat the rising loss of water in order to contain peace and prevent disaster.
Warner, the American author of Thirst chooses to play on the worlds fear of survival. Thirst mirrors the anxiety so many people feel about modern life, and the complexity of humanity. Many characters in this novel offer a new outlook on what it means to survive, and what it means to thrive. All United States citizens are offered the opportunity to basic human needs, that are often taken for granted. When what we believe, are to be rights are exterminated from our lives we ponder at how to return them to lives, and many people take them for granted, for they always seem to be available to us whenever we want or need to use them. While most countries are committed to increasing access to safe water and thereby reducing child mortality, there is little consensus on how to actually improve water services.
In 2008, seven teens changed that for the lives of people living in underdeveloped countries. The Thirst Project is one global organization that has a sole purpose of providing safe drinking water to everyone with no profit. While traveling the world, the build ground water wells, in order to have fresh running water in the midst of a desert town. These people have the same problems as the character in Thirst. They have to walk miles upon miles in order to obtain a drink, and when water is not available, they have to find alternatives in order to not be plagued with death. When the fear of death approaches, man is exposed to the thoughts of hatred and angst over the future and are willing to do everything it takes in order to avoid it.
As global corporations are becoming more dominant in society, it is important to prevent the loss of control of our resources. In Thirst, the community’s actions emphasized the catalyst to this resistance. The corruption of our rights as humans are becoming all too familiar in this decade, and to reach the Millennial Development Goal of sustainable water for everyone will be almost impossible to achieve with privatization. While a solution seems too far away, it is possible to complete. We, as a society must press our government and international agencies in order to regulate climate change, and competition over suitable water. While global corporations are the main defendant to this scheme, climate change is also a big factor in water pollution, but the blame still falls on us to protect our resources. It is pertinent to listen to everyone, as lower-class individuals can sense how corruption restricts their access to water. While pinpointing the source of corruption is difficult, we as a society can aim to protect all aspects we have control over, leaving privatized businesses in order to observe what is actually occurring within the pipes.
Finally, we must enforce the regulations of international agreements to strengthen the regulation of water management. By enforcing these rules, governments can help safeguard water sources for the future, and solutions to these problems can spread amongst countries within the Union. Furthermore, this novel depicted a sense of urgency within the reader, that fostered a need to reduce the use of harmful manmade objects that depletes the environment. As a society we must learn to obtain our resources in order to protect them from outside corporations, that will not only limit our usage, but could permanently exterminate them from our lives forever, leaving us in no control over our basic human rights.