Copying a previous comment of mine, because this is an important issue and also not a surprise to anyone who's been paying a modicum of attention (the comment w

Copying a previous comment of mine, because this is an important issue and also not a surprise to anyone who's been paying a modicum of attention (the comment was originally in response to someone who characterized those who have their water turned off in the US as "choosing to live a lifestyle" beyond their means): They really don't choose to "live a different lifestyle". It is simply the case that water, one of the basic necessities for life, is not readily available to many low-income Americans. Water access is routinely turned off or simply not available [0, 1, 2, 3] for those who can't pay or who are unlucky enough to live in certain areas. It is another example of the rampant wealth inequality [4] and degradation of social support [5] that been worsening in the US for decades [6, 7, 8] [0] https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/.. https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/.... [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52384622 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52384622 [2] https://time.com/longform/clean-water-access-united-states/ https://time.com/longform/clean-water-access-united-states/ [3] https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/4/17/21223565/coronaviru.. https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/4/17/21223565/coronaviru.... [4] https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-soc-0.. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-soc-0.... [5] https://people.umass.edu/crotty/Austerity_War.pdf https://people.umass.edu/crotty/Austerity_War.pdf [6] https://www.nber.org/chapters/c7443.pdf https://www.nber.org/chapters/c7443.pdf [7] http://www.macrohistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HSCF_.. http://www.macrohistory.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HSCF_.... [8] https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/708815 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/708815