CMV: Water, as a human right, should be a basic, free, service of municipalities.

You're argument is confusing a right wit something that would just be nice for everyone to have. No one can have a fundamental right to a good, service, or object. A right has to be either 1. an idea, for instance a right to religious freedom or 2. a critique to a process that involves goods, services, or objects. An example of #2 would be the right to a fair trial. You're not guaranteed to be provided a free trial if you just request one, without committing a crime. But if society is going to spend the resources to arrest you, then it is your right that they handle the arrest in a specific way.

A right is something that is undeniable, and that your government has to provide to you no matter what - regardless of whether the government has the money or not. It has to provide you things that are rights.

Therefore, for a good, service, or object to be a right, then you must fundamentally believe that the government should have the power to use compulsory labor in order to provide that right. If the entire economy as we knew it came crashing to a halt overnight and the government lost all forms of tax revenue, it would still be compelled to provide citizens their fundamental rights. And thus would be required to conscript compulsory labor to provide access to water.

I agree with you that it would be nice if all humans were guaranteed access to free clean water. But it is absolutely not a right and should not be one unless you sincerely believe that it should be preserved with conscripted labor.

/r/changemyview Thread