Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
i only heard about this 2 months ago. its been 3 years????
Remember this started because Snyder switched Flint from a freshwater mountain lake to the polluted Flint River simply to allow his wife’s company to use the lake for bottling instead. This is a manufactured crisis of corruption and capitalism.
Also remember that the pipes corroded because they refused to pay for the chemical used to make the water less acidic.
Remember that when the first E. coli outbreak from the water popped up, the city hall was given water coolers by the state, free of charge, all while denying that the water could be unsafe to drink.
Remember that, despite having a huge budget surplus and a “rainy day fund,” set aside that could easily cover the cost of relocating the residents by buying their houses/paying their debt, or could cover a large chunk of the cost of replacing the pipes, the state has decided to continue to only put in the minimal amount of effort.
Remember that flint is majority POC, majority impoverished, and is still being faced with crippling water bills from the Detroit water supply company, where they are often charged $50 a month just to use the service, on top of the cost of their water bill.
Remember that there will now be an entire generation of children who will now be damaged by lead poisoning and damage from the multitude of neurotoxins.
Remember that this is what privatized natural resources looks like. Remember that these people are being punished for having the audacity to dare to be poor in an economy that won’t let them be anything but.
At every level, this has not been a mistake.
The State and City are most upset that people know its happening and are resisting nation-wide.
But if we lose focus they lose even the small amount of aid they’ve managed to get.
This is how they do it. It’s a siege on the public empathy. Eventually we become numb to the problem and despair. Or something bigger happens.
A pastor says donations of bottled water to his Flint church have dried up in the past month.
Donations poured in from across the nation in the weeks and months after it was learned that Flint’s drinking water was contaminated with lead. At times, the response nearly overwhelmed the effort to distribute water to Flint residents.
Bishop Roger Lee Jones’ north side church parking lot used to be filled with pallets of water, but now the flood of donations has slowed to a trickle.
Having what someone else wants can go a long way — especially if it’s a major corporation that wants it. The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group just sent 41,000 water bottles to Flint, on the demands of Michigan resident Diana Hussein. All she had to give them in exchange was a Twitter account the beverage maker desperately wanted.
look i know it’s basically a meme at this point but holy living fuck destroy capitalism
Ready to be mad about Flint all over again? An EPA official argued in a September email against using state money to resolve the crisis saying the city may not be the community “to go out on a limb for.” The rest of the email explains why it would “set a bad precedent.”
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder testified this Thursday at a Flint congressional hearing over the water crisis. Snyder, who oversaw the state while its residents were being poisoned by the bacteria and lead-infested water, was the subject of harsh criticism from Congressmen Matt Cartwright who believes that the governor knew more than what he is saying about the tainted water supply.
Roasted.
Thank you, Rep. Cartwright. It was thoroughly enjoyable to watch this criminal be told he’s a phony and a liar to his face. Snyder’s led a privileged life where he’s never been in a position to be chastised by anyone, and he certainly deserved this one given that 100,000 people were poisoned under his watch. #Hate it!
