A few months ago I wrote an essay arguing that the *only* reason water doesn't cost a fortune now is because capital doesn't yet have the control technology to survive the desperation-driven protests which would surely follow such a move.

I was reasoning from first principles but TIL that in 2015 the Irish actually did revolt against a proposed water tax:

"The movement has not withered away as the establishment hoped or expected, even in the face of Garda repression and mainstream media denunciation. There is the sense that there is always some action going on somewhere, and that protest or dissent in general has become a sort of national pastime."

This is exactly the kind of thing capital fears, and exactly the reason water doesn't cost a zillion dollars.

Irish revolt: https://libcom.org/article/water-revolt-ireland-2015

My article: https://chez-risk.in/2023/01/29/state-violence-the-diamond-water-paradox-and-an-invisible-axiom-of-classical-economics/

#Water #Ireland #IrishWatetRebellion #Capitalism #Resistance #Protest #StateViolence #Anarchism #Economics #UseValue #ExchangeValue #ParadoxOfValue #DiamondWaterParadox #Capitalism #Government #GovernmentTechnology