Flint's Water Crisis

We've all seen the pictures of the brown turd-like water from Flint, Michigan, but what really happened there?

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was elected into office in 2011, and he immediately gave multi-billion dollar tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. It's too long of a story to explain how this neoclassical theory, or "trickle down economics," or "neoliberalism" doesn't work, but basically cutting taxes for the rich does not benefit the poor or middle classes. There's 40 years of data of this failed economic policy. (If you're interested in this topic I suggested the book "The History of Neoliberalism" by David Harvey.) Anyways, if the state government cuts taxes for the wealthy, that's a loss of revenue, therefore, the government must compensate by cutting benefits, programs, and other "cost saving" methods that essentially affect the poor and middle classes. Wanna guess what one of these "cost saving" ideas were?

You guessed it! Switching Flint's fresh drinking water from Lake Huron to the toxic Flint River. All of this could have be prevented by following the federal law of adding an additive that protects the water from lead pipes so that lead won't be leaked into the water, but the governor didn't want to spend $9,000.

This switch happened in April 2014 and the media is barely picking up on the story with limited details. The effects of lead and other toxic elements for humans have already caused deaths in Flint. If you want to know more about the effects and epidemic of America's water crisis (how Flint is only the beginning), watch Erin Brockovich explain it in this video.

It's also interesting to note that Governor Snyder's chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, has a wife Deb Muchmore, who is the spokesperson for the Nestle Company in Michigan. Nestle has also been sucking Lake Huron dry.

For more information of this water crisis, read Michael Moore's article. He's also a Flint native.