As we all know, the people of Flint, Michigan are suffering lead poisoning in their water supply system. Between six and 12 thousand children drank this contaminated water with these higher level of lead, causing health problems, both physically and mentally, especially mentally. Their development slows down, sometimes permanently and they also develop behavioral problems.
Today, the people of Flint are relying on bottled water, many donated from the outside, for all their needs, from cooking, to washing, to drinking. Even though it has faded from the news, the crisis has not ended.
How did this come to pass?
The entire piping system in Flint, both residential and industrial, was installed between 1901 and 1920. In those days, cast iron water pipe were used, and iron was the general element used. Lead pipes were used to pipe water into the home, because they were cheaper. I’m sure they knew that the leaching of lead would occur, but back then, it was considered acceptable. They knew little of the adverse effects back then.
In 1967, water treatment plants considered a certain amount of the leaching of leading into drinking water acceptable. Today, no amount is acceptable, because we now know what happens when even small amounts of lead is absorbed into the human body.
Now to the present. Before this present problem started, the water source for Flint was Lake Huron. The water was treated and able to flow through Flint’s present piping system uncontaminated. There was an idea in the city council for the City of Flint to save $5 million over two years, so it was decided to switch the water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. So, in April, 2014, that is what the city did, with disastrous results.
The water from the Flint River was contaminated, and corrosive to metal pipes. Pipes, especially lead pipes, corroded, and more lead seeped into the drinking water, and the residents drank it, unwittingly poisoning themselves, and their children.
The city council knew about this early, but did nothing. They even covered it up for two years. This news reached all the way to Governor Rick Snyder. They did nothing.
When the news broke, all hell broke loose. The scandal made national news, the residents found out they were poisoned, and the whole city reverted to drinking bottled water. Naturally, a lot of anger fill the air, and rightly so. Many of these residents are poor and are unable to leave the city for any amount of time.
There have been proposals to coat the lead pipes, and repair the old system. But we know what’s really involved. People don’t want to spend a huge amount of money to replace its piping system.
The entire piping system in Flint, and the outskirts, has to be replaced, and it will cost billions of dollars. High quality water pipes must be installed, old pipes need to be removed, and there is no other solution to this problem.
The problem is money. City, state, and federal funds are low, one no one entity can pay for the entire process of ripping out old pipes and replacing them with new ones, including all pipes to lead to each individual house. We can no longer borrow the money, from anyone or anything, to finance this massive project.
Who is going to pay for it? Where are we going to get the money? The job HAS to be done!
May I suggest the extreme wealthy? Those who have made money off of Wall Street, those who have an excessive amount of money they can’t even begin to spend, stored in a vault in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands?! There are also movie stars, sports figures, rock musicians, and CEOs. All those who are rich, but especially those who live in the Flint area, or anywhere in Michigan.
Now to speak directly to them.
The City of Flint needs your help!
If you have all that money, money that you will never spend, what do you plan on doing with it? Do not spoil your children, for they will end up becoming lazy and non-productive, with nothing to show for it but empty lives.
You don’t seem to pay taxes on it.
Why not put that wealth somewhere where it can do humanity some good. Do America some good, since it was this country that provided you with the freedom and opportunity to produce all your wealth.
Give back to your community! Give back to your country.
The U.S. government, because of its massive debt, can no longer afford to rebuilt the entire infrastructure: Bridges that need to be replaced; Tunnels that need to be reenforced; Roads that need to be repaired; an electrical grid that needs to be upgraded, to a new, and smart grid; Railroads need to be improved; and piping systems in cities that need to be replaced, completely.
The piping system in Flint, Michigan is one place to start. All pipes need to be replaced with stronger and safer pipes for water. If the City of Flint, or the State of Michigan, or even the United States cannot afford to do so, I suggest that the very rich come in and help pay for a brand new piping system. We ask all of you to DONATE money to replace it.
Especially those who live either in Flint, or near the city, or even in Michigan proper, can anyone with a huge amount of money step in and donate the money to completely replace the piping system?
What I suggest is that any one individual, or even group of individuals, go to Flint City Hall and talk to the Mayor and the City Council about this. After that, go to the state capitol in Lansing to announced it to the governor and the state senate and representatives about funding, or sponsoring a project such as this.
The results will be phenomenal, with many others inspired to do the same thing in other places. If a rich person lives in a small town, and the town’s bridge needs to be replaced, or roads need to be repaired, perhaps that person can step in and offer to pay for a new bridge or to fix the roads, saving both the save and federal government money. Jobs would also be created, though they be temporary in some cases.
This also applies to cities like New York, that need tunnels, bridges, railways, and roads to be replaced. There are enough of the rich living in New York alone to collaborate on the financial aspects of a project such as this.
This could be a way to help rebuild the country, by setting off a positive chain reaction in the wealthy helping to rebuild their localities all over the U.S.
In the early 1900s, Andrew Carnegie, founder of Carnegie Steel (renamed U.S. Steel) wrote “The Gospel of Wealth.” In it, he wrote that when one has acquired a massive fortune, he should give it away, to help benefit humanity. If one were to keep it, they would indulge and overindulge in it, basking oneself in luxury, drinking, and drugs, and, as previously mentioned, spoil their children.
Neither Carnegie nor myself are Socialists, and this is not a socialist doctrine. We are not saying to give one’s wealth to anyone on the street who has their hands out, for they would spend it on drugs and alcohol to their own detriment. No, one uses it to benefit society by going to the right places, building libraries, schools, theaters, parks, and, with the problems we have now in the 21st century, help rebuild our infrastructure.
A word of caution: beware on scam artists, for they may find ways to take advantage of this by setting up dummy organizations (corporations, charities, etc.). There is that side of the coin, so go into places like city hall and state capitols and talk to the right officials.
Also, one does not have to give ALL their money away, just the excess amount that they will never spend or even invest. Use the bulk that just sits in a bank, doing nothing and benefitting no one. One can still keep a sizable chunk of their fortune to live comfortably, have a home in an exotic part of the world, and enjoy life, doing what one likes to do.
This is the problem with America’s wealth. We may have economic problems, with the deficit and massive debts, but the U.S. remains the richest country in the world. The problem is that our wealth sits in a bank somewhere, either in the U.S., or in offshore banks such as the Cayman Islands or Switzerland, doing nothing, benefitting no one, with no plans for it in the future.
If we were to reinvest all that money into not only infrastructure, but new industries, technologies, and medicines, to name a few, the U.S. and its people, of all classes, would get out of the rut we are all in, economically and otherwise, and soar to new heights of prosperity, competing with countries like Germany, Japan, China, and South Korea, giving them all a run for their money.
All I’m saying is to take your excess wealth stashed away and put it to good use, serving your community, state, and country.
You (We) can start with Flint, Michigan. You will be honored greatly by the people of Flint, and be remembered with greatness, for saving a town and the lives of its people.
I’ll end with a quote by John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Alastair Browne
Alastair Browne
