By Ashwin September
Nothing New Under the Sun
Raping the earth for fun and profit.
PICTURE: moillusions.com
“The meek shall inherit the Earth but not its mineral rights.” J. Paul Getty
We all love the sun - whether it is a thin ray of sunlight that shines through the clouds or a 34°C heat wave that causes us to claim that we hate summer. The primary benefit we enjoy from the sun is solar energy. And it is available in such copious amounts in Spain that it is exported.
But a dark cloud is descending over Spain. The country has issued a ‘royal decree’ that taxes people who gather sunlight. Yes… the sun has been privatised in Spain. Anyone collecting sunlight illegally can be fined as much as £30 million.
The tax imposed is just high enough to ensure that people cannot gather and store solar energy more cheaply than state-sponsored providers. Spain’s debt is deep, reaching the double digits of billions. It seems the only way to reduce this huge debt is by s#*tting on the little guy (there really is nothing new under the sun). Rely on capitalists to make a profit on anything. Communism’s looking pretty good now, right?
Freedom is deemed less important than profit - that is the law of this wretched system. Natural resources should not be expected to be free for long. We’re not far from reaching a point where governments will redefine water as a product of sale rather than a resource that every person has a right to.
A gentleman from Oregon was sentenced to 30 days in jail with a $1500 fine for collecting rainwater and snow run-off on three reservoirs he had on his property. How covetous should one be to forbid people from obtaining something natural?
The issue is the sense of entitlement people who are in a position of power have over things that the majority of people need. You need food? You pay. You need water? You pay. Next they will claim rights to air and make us pay for oxygen (as if living is not hard enough already). An example of this lies with Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the owner of Nestle, who made a public statement: “Access to water should not be a public right.” Sickening.
Natural resources should be free and equal to all, regardless of wealth, position or title.