Saturday, August 16, 2008

Thank Goodness for Bottled Water!

I've heard plenty of people complain about consumerism in the United States. We're a consumerist cuture. Is that really all that bad though?
The main example I usually hear is the selling of bottled water. "Why should water be sold? It should be free!" "It's a precious resource God gave to us!" "We need it to survive, something so valuble shouldn't have a price."
And yet food is sold. Isn't it also valuble and necessary for survival? Tap water certainly isn't free since you have to pay the government for it. So, it's morally wrong to give a corporation money for water, but it's fine for the government to charge for it? Of course, I forgot, most people worship the state, so the state is the final arbiter on morals (assuming someone from your preferred political party is in office).
So, the only bad thing about bottled water seems to be a fuzzy moral line.
What is the good that is always overlooked?
Well, it helps in droughts, right?
And during disasters, it'll be there long after water stops flowing and you run out of emergency water.
While jogging, you could pick up a bottle.
Flavored water is always good if your tap supply happens to taste really bad. Or even when it tastes good.
No need to worry about terrorists doing anything funny to the water
Buying in bulk usually is much cheaper, so it's good for picnics.

Of course, there's plenty of other uses for bottled water, but these are the ones off the top of my head.

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