So I just saw Blue Gold, a 2006 documentary. It opened my eyes to the epidemics of desertification and privitization of water. Even though it is 2012 now, I want to review it or rather to spread the good information it brrought to me. I am a bit afraid I might get my facts a bit wrong, since I am no scientist.

I used to talk about empire in the United States as if we might fall someday soon and another country like China would take over. The truth is Corporations are already taking over something horrible.

In the United States of America, it is easy to forget where our water comes, what watershed we are a part of, and where our water goes after we dirty it. Did you know you cannot get drinking water in Africa outside a Dasani water bottle (that's Coke's product)? Did you know that there are companies in nearly every part of the world that OWN the water? And when people cannot pay for it, they hurt and make do. Most of the water in the world is salt water. 3 percent is fresh, and less is clean. Well, a large portion of that water is owned by companies. In parts of Latin America, there are laws that prohibit people from COLLECTING RAIN WATER. Yes, folks! It is an injustice.

Desertification, in my simplistic understanding, is the drying up of groundwater. This happens for a number of reasons. Two big ones are industrial use and agriculture. Desertification is happening all accross the world, and we have no real way of knowing to what degree because it has to do with underground aquifers.

I liked the documentary because it presented the world as elastic and durrable and said that change is possible and we can restore the world.

When a company tried to come in and offer money for control of Bolivia's water, the people put up a big enough resistance that the company gave up. Something similar happened in Uruguay.

Water is something we all need to drink and to water our food. Having access to clean and drinkable water should be a human right.

Over one fifth of the world's population lack the water that they need.

It's a personal goal to educate myself more about water this year.