Andrew Chase
Opinions Editor
In this current age of highly-developed and efficient technology, there is a surprising lack of infrastructure in many countries around the world. I feel that there is one thing to address due to its sheer absurdness: the need to constantly pay for basic living necessities. Unfortunately, one of the main reasons behind this ludicrous issue is there are businesses who capitalize off of these necessities.
One of the most disgusting examples of companies capitalizing off of a basic necessity is the sale of water. The fact that water is a pillar of allowing life to survive and thrive should be enough ground to prohibit the companies from profiting off of water. As of May of 2021, the price of a single 20 oz. bottle of Aquafina or Dasani water in the United State is $1.99 according to Target.com. While according to Walmart.com, the price of the same bottle of Aquafina or Dasani water is $1.78. I absolutely believe that fresh and clean water should be a free and easily accessible resource for all.
Another pillar of life that I think should be either free or significantly cheaper for all is basic foods that the human body needs to survive. According to MyPlate.gov, the five basic types of foods that everyone needs to stay alive and healthy are fruits, grains, vegetables, protein and dairy. I firmly believe that some items within these food groups should be significantly cheaper because many of these products are very expensive for no good reason. Some examples of food products that should be cheaper are many basic vegetables. Although I will say that I do not think that vegetables or any food products that required someone else to do all of the work shouldn’t be completely free because of the fact that someone else had to do all of the labor to produce that product.
Something else that I firmly believe should be absolutely free everywhere is access to the internet. I feel that in the current age of technology where nearly everyone has some sort of electronic device, having access to the internet is a crucial part of daily life that shouldn’t be monetized. Since nearly all modern electronic devices require some sort of connection to the internet to function properly, the ‘pay to access’ aspect of using the internet shouldn’t exist.
While I understand the issue of having to pay people to repair and troubleshoot issues regarding the implementation of internet routers and cables and such, I still feel like the government should be able to pay for these costs. When considering the fact that the internet holds an entire lifetime of knowledge within its millions of different websites and programs, I genuinely see that there is no reason as to why someone should have to pay for a specific internet provider to access something that should be free for all.
I firmly believe that there are a ton of basic human necessities that should be completely free for everyone to access because of how crucial they are to living.
Andrew Chase can be contacted at:
opinions@kscequinox.com
