Eric Taite April 29, 2012 Current Event #3 On February 1st, there was an article written on Yes!

Magazine, about a woman who is leading a fight for clean water. Jennifer Real is a mother in Texas who is completely aware of the toxins that contaminate water. She claimed that her mother-in-law had died of contaminated water, and she is leading a fight against contaminated water distribution. A permit to drill for oil has been granted near the Gulf Coast Aquifier, which could essentially leak industrial waste. The Gulf Coast Aquifier distributes water to 54 counties. The fact is that for the profits and revenue from large scale companies and corporations, consideration of others health and well being means almost nothing. If there is a loophole in any health regulation law, these corporations will find them. In these circumstances, it is up to the people to find the problem, and fight for a solution. As Leslie Feinberg said, we need to organize together and struggle on each others behalf (Feinberg, 168). In order to find a solution that is effective longerterm, we need to come together. There will be resistance, but if there wasnt, then there would probably be no reason to fight for that specific cause in the first place. Trying to work on a solution alone is not impossible, but making the solution effective in our society is very improbable. That is one of the reasons groups are more likely to be taken seriously than a single person. There are more people involved, more people bothered, more people willing to take a stance against something that is unjust. It is easier for a government to ignore a single person. It becomes difficult when many people are fighting for a same cause. Allan Johnson said that working with people is one of the most important principles of participating in change (Johnson, 150). He goes on to explain how alliances across difference can be used to amplify the outcome. Working with different people also brings more to the table. Person number 1 may have one way to handle an issue, where person number 2 has another way. If a group works well together, both ideas can be combined into one impressive solution. Assuming that the group is not self distructive, more change can be made with many people than a single person. Apparently, the campaign to save the water supply has been going on for over five years. With the new permit to drill near the supply, Jennifer Real is not about to give up. Yes! Magazine claims that Real and her neighbors are going to unite and appeal the decision. Johnson also wrote that in order to make change, people should be seen, stand up, volunteer, speak out, write letters, sign petitions, show up (Johnson, 144). Basically, even though there is a group of people, the group wont mean anything unless their voice is heard. The more noise you make, the more people will notice you. If they notice you, they may even join you. And even if these hypothetical people dont join you, you may have changed the direction in which they were headed. Overall, Jennifer Real may have great success in appealing the decision to drill near the water supply based on her longterm action against it, and the people involved to help her fight. People in her town call her a, mom on a mission. This goes to show that people already recognize that there is a problem, and an organization to join to fight for the solution that an entire community will benefit from.

Works Cited Johnson, Allan (2006). Privilige, Power, And Difference NY: McGraw Hill Kaye, Jennifer (2012) Jennifer Real: Protecting Clean Water Yes!Media Spring, pp. 1. Feinberg, Leslie unknown We are all Works in Progress pp. 164-168.