Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle • Hacker News Board

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#141

Post by gldalmaso » Fri, Sep 15, 2017, 11:44 AM UTC

mrleiter wrote: post #12

As this thread will ultimately will end up discussing the corporate evil that Nestlé apparently is, I want to, for the sake of the discussion, point out the reasonableness of the CEOs statement regarding water as a human right: He argues water should have a market value so that it is treated more like a resource that should be well managed. Of course a state can also do this and in my opinion should, but of course as…

Water can be treated as a market asset and companies will pump as much as they can depleting the supply for everyone else in the region (this is already the case some places).

In order for it to work out there needs to be a ton of regulations in that market, but once the market is set, they will just lobby it for decades until regulations are essentially gone.

People like the CEO say that it should have market value, because they are the ones that can only see value in markets. The rest of the world does not need to but a price tag in something to see value in it. Also, habitats all around include millions of plants and animals without a dime to spend, a water market will see no value in catering to them, we should just trust these companies with abysmal track record to ensure habitats are maintained?

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#142

Post by ionised » Fri, Sep 15, 2017, 1:16 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #124

manachar wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using your definition, there's no such thing as human rights. Life, liberty, and property are all things that are only guaranteed by societal standards and enforcement. Murder, theft, and enslavement is the norm where the rule of law and enshrinement of rights are absent. Much of the US enslaved human beings for hundreds of years - liberty is clearly only something we get by being a member of a specific society.

You've got it backwards. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness are inherent in being human. Governments can only take them away, they do not confer them.

I agree that they are inherent, but it's not just governments that take them away, it's other people in general.

You could live in a totally government-free society and somebody, somewhere will eventually come along and fuck your shit up. Then you are just fighting to keep your rights, which for many might be preferable than trusting a government to do it for you.

The question is are you more likely to retain those rights under a government than without one? If so, what kind of government?

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#143

Post by cwkoss » Sat, Sep 16, 2017, 6:31 AM UTC

njarboe wrote: post #133

cwkoss wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the key point of contention is about rainwater harvesting. Making rainwater harvesting illegal (and thus forcing people to overpay a monopolized water system) is arguably a violation of human rights. It is a prohibition of what you are 'free to do for yourself', that forces people to pay for something they need to survive (and could otherwise get for free). However, I agree on the haziness around the issue. M…

In the US people have mineral rights to the earth under the surface of their property. This can be separated from the surface rights and sold off. If one buys just the surface rights, then the entity that has the mineral rights can, in most cases, access your surface to extract their minerals. Not reading the fine print on your title and having someone want to exercise their mineral rights is a serious issue in the U…

Apparently it's technically illegal in Nevada. Thankfully, sounds like it isn't practically enforced. http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/05/26/ask-rgj-can-nevadan...

I believe are some serious injustices around water privatization in South America, however.

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#144

Post by diogenescynic » Sat, Sep 16, 2017, 11:37 PM UTC

grrrtttt wrote: post #71

While many of us do recall soundbites of the former Chairman and CEO of Nestlé about water, it should probably be noted that he is no longer in either role and is not a member of their Board of Directors. The new CEO (Mark Schneider) was brought in as an 'outsider' and while he also remains under some activist investor pressure is making some effort to clean shop and modernize their business. I'm interested to see wh…

This is the first comment you've ever made and it's basically PR handwaving away Nestle's history of human rights atrocities. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a shill account.