Water is not a human right

For the past few months, I've been detained on a project allowing me virtually zero Internet access.

More to the point, I was away from home as well, meaning a number of bills I didn't have set up to automatically be paid via credit card or my bank account went unpaid.

Upon returning home, a sizable phone bill remained unpaid, meaning my cell phone provider had turned off the service.

If you tried to call me before July 19, you'd have received a message from the provider my cell phone wasn't working or receiving message ("the wireless account you are trying to reach is not answering at this time …").

Unless you have access to an Obama phone, every person with a contract for cell-phone service must pay their bill to ensure the service remains connected.

The delivery of cell-phone service has a cost that must be paid by the end-user, meaning those not carrying around an Obama phone in their pocket must pony up a monthly fee for the right to continue having cell coverage.

Every service has a cost (for those with Obama phones, the cost is redistributed to those who actually pay their cell phone bills and taxpayer money): garbage, electricity, gas and water.

Failure to pay your garbage, electricity, gas or water bill means the company delivering this service can cease performing its end of the deal until payment is rendered.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the situation in Detroit, the hamlet of hopelessness found in Michigan, the protest of citizens there rising up over both unpaid water bills and turnoffs by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, or DWSD.

The primary mindset behind those with unpaid, delinquent water bills was, as CBS Detroit reported, "The majority of our customers (who) are in delinquency status, they just built a culture of, 'You're not making me pay – I am not going to pay."

My phone service was disconnected until the bill was paid in full. This was clearly delineated in the contract I signed when I purchased the phone and upon payment of the bill, full cell service was restored.

But not until payment for the service had cleared my account.

Read Rocker's firsthand account of his public battle with the PC thought police: "Scars and Strikes," at the WND Superstore

If the citizens in Detroit can't comprehend that water delivery has a cost and must be paid by those who get the service, then the water should be turned off.

Keep the United Nations out of it, keep the Obama administration out of it, and keep do-gooding crusading liberals out of it; as an individual, pay your water bill and have the service restored.

This is called being a responsible, productive member of society.

Something in short supply though in this bluest of blue cities, where a mindset of entitlement has covered the decaying infrastructure of the city like the dew covers Dixie.

While most people were following the madness down at the "border" between Mexico and the United States and wondering when President Obama would intervene on behalf of performing his oath to protect not just the U.S. Constitution's integrity but the sovereignty of the American people, a mass protest erupted in Detroit over the unpaid water bills.

Carrying signs reading "Water is a Human Right," "Protect our Health: Water = Life" and, most crudely, "Where do you expect us to sh--?," many of those in the mass protest against personal responsibility even wore matching shirts reading, "Stop the Shutoffs! Water is a Human Right: Detroit 2014."

So some organization was able to print hundreds of these shirts, yet they couldn't donate money to each of those protesting to work out some sort of payment plan with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to get their water service restored?

You have 80,000 past-due accounts (out of 1,750,000 active residential water accounts), to the tune of $43 million, due to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.

These individuals who have failed to pay their water bills, but in the warped mind of the liberal, this has become a community issue, a human rights issue for which the United Nations must intervene; and people wonder why Detroit is bankrupt?

Societal responsibility is in short supply in the Motor City, with the penchant for marching and demanding a shield from personal accountability the hallmark of the city's decline.

As vile as the sign was, the person carrying the "Where do you expect us to sh--?," poster at the "I'm not going to pay my water bill" rally should have been told this: In the bed you have made, that's where.

Liberals seeks to protect people from the consequences of their individual actions, finding a receptive community in Detroit who has soaked up every word of the Democratic Party for decades.

And now, this mindset has reached such a state of mental paralysis; liberals have helped ensure the faucets of nearly half of Detroit's citizen remain dry.

Nolan Finley, the editorial page director at the Detroit News, wrote, "Water is not a human right. It's a human need."

He continued:

"Ever since Adam and Eve got booted out of Eden, people have devoted most of their energy and labor to meeting the basic needs of food, water, clothing and shelter. It's the origin of work – you're hungry, you're thirsty, you need some decent threads and a roof over your head, you have to get up in the morning and do something constructive."

Finley slyly noted in his column, "[U]p to two-thirds of city residents pay to keep their cable or satellite television service current. And 72 percent do the same to maintain their cellphones."

My phone service was disconnected, because the balance on the bill was unpaid while I was on an extended trip.

Once I paid the bill, the service was restored.

But in Detroit, multiple generations of individuals have been raised to believe not only is water a human right, but that if they march, they'll shame the provider of this service into forgiving the debt; yet they still pay their cable bill and cell phone bills.

Having cable or a cell phone is a luxury, not a need.

Water is a need, but to the entitled masses in Detroit, it's a luxury to know that marching and protesting at the United Nations will enable them to keep it flowing – for free.

Liberalism seeks to liberate individuals from the consequences of their actions and free them from personal responsibility. The mess found in bankrupt Detroit and the water bill fiasco are reminders of the results of liberalism.

Media wishing to interview John Rocker, please contact [email protected].