http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7908910.stm

Jim S

Your point is interesting, and summarized by your following line..a line that tells a lot of things

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capitalism works with rule of law and regulation to maintain equilibrium.
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I am afraid to witness that ideologies have been used in many world cases, as an excuse to start a competition for the best one, and in a way or another, failures do exist

Time to buy a huge blender..analyze which part of each ideology worked...put that part in the blender and get a final MIX of the Best

No such a thing in a huge globalized experience, as the individual recognized as such..only at a small and local level, we can embrace that formula..we can keep it under our possibility of being part of it..

Recent experiences, proved that the larger a system is, the hardest is to verify what they do and the meltdown of an entire financial and economic system happened at the highest level, the most disconnected from the local reachable space

Privatization of energy resources is one of the biggest scandals Europe faces. It is not just Italy. France and England also sold off chunks of vital parts of the nation's assets to enable a few corporations to make money for their directors and shareholders.
There should be a demand that all the energy companies be returned to the public sector, water, gas and electricity. And why not roads. How can private operators be allowed to rob motorists like highwaymen from using parts of their land to move around the country?

I think water should be controlled,of course, but the government should never ever give the right to private companies to own it. This is just sick.

The use of water and its availability is something we in developed countries have take for granted for far too long. The way in which we use water has to be drastically changed or we may face a future were water is valued like gold or oil. The statistic on how much water is needed to produce food and goods in developed countries is staggering, for instance, it takes an estimated 8000 liters of water to produce a single pair of leather shoes, buy a kilogram of steak and you are responsible for using up to 16,000 liters of water, a cup of coffee up to 140 liters of water, eating an apple about 70 liters. These figures were taken from a global study of the "water footprints of nations", by international water experts Arjen Hoekstra and A. K. Chapagain.
I live in Australia one of the driest continents on the planet. Here water has become a very big issue both politically and socially. Over the last six years we have learnt very quickly how important water is. Dams suppling water to all our major cities are at critically low levels, most dams are under 50%. This is due to drought and poor water management. Water restrictions and water conservation measures have been put in place. Water tanks are mandatory for every new home built as with water saving toilets, shower heads, dishwashers and washing machines, all these items are subsidised with rebates from local council, sate and federal government. Watering our gardens and washing our cars with a hose is restricted to certain times of the week and also depends on how much water your household uses, a target for my city is currently set at 170 litres of water per person per day, other cities and towns have even lower targets, these target levels are not mandatory however strongly encouraged by councils and government. Fines apply to those who are caught using excessive water, ranging from $200 to $1400. Business and industry must continue to use water efficiently by operating in accordance with Water Efficiency Management Plans, retrofitting with water efficient devices and following best practice guidelines. Governments on all levels are funding desalinization and water recycling projects, to aleviate the water shortage, which are costing millions if not billions of dollars, not to mention the environmental impact these will have, some studies have shown that running one desalinization plant for one year will put the equivalent Co2 into the atmosphere as 50,000 cars. This is a far cry from when water was used inefficiently and wastefully, but we still have a long way to go. YES we do pay for our water, $148.12 per year plus a tiered water consumption charges ranging from $0.59 per kilolitre/year to $1.12, based on consumption, the more you use the more you pay. Italy on the other hand is a country, from what I have seen, which has no shortage of water and the arguments put forward are true, water should not end up in the hands of private enterprise but as in Australia run and administrated by local councils. Every town in Italy has fontane e pompe running continuously with water, but remember what is here today may not be here tomorrow. We need to use water wisely not by turning it into a commodity but by educating people in how to use it sensibly, water is for everyone.

Beppe you are doing an amazing job keep up the good work and keep fighting the good fight.

Next they will be selling fresh air.

First and foremost, I disagree with privatizing of water. I feel government ought to provide this service along with the other infrastructure necessities and nothing more.

In rebuttal to Louis:
Your analysis is correct but one error. It is not the fault of capitalism. Unlike the coercing of the individual in socialistic and communistic States; capitalism works with rule of law and regulation to maintain equilibrium. Not much so like socialism or communism where the State controls everything for the 'greatest good for the greatest number.' In capitalism, you have opportunity and individuality whereas it is the exact opposite with socialism and communism. I prefer the earlier. So it is not the fault of capitalism for this devised "economic crisis," but rather government not maintaining and enforcing the law. Blame cannot be pointed to the government alone, much is on the hands of the elitists too.

Privatization of water means privatization of life. What happens when a family can't afford to pay for water? Will they cut off water for poor families? They sure will. I thought those people practiced the "culture of life". Obviously, "culture of life" is a slogan of convenience. They will endanger the lives of poor people. But I guess that's all right. There is nothing in the Bible that says they can't. Wherever water is privatized rates doubled or tripled while profits for corporations shot up 150%. In some towns, inadequate and less frequent inspections (to save money) have resulted in epidemics. They will argue that water privatization is more efficient and cheaper. It's bullshit. Water privatization endangers the health of citizens. Corporations are in business to make money and they will do anything to make money. Look what full blown capitalism has done to the economy. They didn't care how they made money as long they were making money. Now, how can they be trusted with our water.