Making a Case for The Water Party

The whole thing began on a Vagabonzai-type road trip down Highway 101 on the Pacific Coast right in the middle of what would come to be an unforgettable summer. The route covered most of what the storied old highway has to offer: from the rocky shores of Puget Sound down to the bright, smog-filled skies of Los Angeles. It was quite possibly the most carefree version of life that I had experienced up to that point, and it seemed the same held true for my two comrades that were making the voyage with me. It was a Keruoacian kind of meditative state where I wasn’t concerned with much outside of the present moment and the next destination. There was, and I think often is in such a state, an unspoken, almost subconscious awareness, that something so pure would not last forever but should be appreciated to the fullest extent possible while it does. Perhaps it was a consequence of this underlying sentiment or something else entirely, but somewhere along the way we developed a sort of catchphrase, an inside joke with no outsiders to wonder or feel excluded, that never really existed outside that prolonged moment of near-absolute freedom. It seemed, in a way, a feeble attempt to memorialize our own little eutopia — if not for eternity, just a little longer would have to suffice. And a few words might do the trick.

At that point water went from being a key part of our platform, in a conversational sense at least, as evidenced by our pro-water stance, to becoming the pillar with the establishment of the Water Party. Now keep in mind that I don’t mean established in any formal sense of the word, but it is at least when the idea was born. It probably comes as no surprise but is worth noting that the Water Party began as something less than serious — somewhere between a joke and an undeveloped concept with good intentions. Over time it has morphed into something that is, at least somewhat, more serious and more developed. The basic premise of the Water Party is one that, to many, likely seems an obvious moral obligation, and yet it runs contrary to the vast majority of all western economic and environmental practices. It is essentially this: the role of both people and government should be to meet the most immediate needs of all prior to any contribution to the less immediate needs of any. The name stems from the fact that water must, of course, be the most immediate priority for all. The prioritization, however, does not stop there. There is, as there must be, room for debate about the order and inclusion of certain resources, but it is the unshakeable foundation of the Water Party that the following are inalienable: water, food, shelter, and medicine.

At its heart, the platform of the Water Party is a simple philosophy based in empathy with some expectation of efficacy and efficiency. And while it would undoubtedly require a significant shift in culture and public discourse, not to mention potential material sacrifices for some, it’s difficult to imagine that the net result would be less beautiful, and less fulfilling, than our current collective experience. In fact, it increasingly seems that some version of the Water Party may be our only real choice. The longer we wait, the more polluted and arid our backyards become, and the more likely it is that there won’t be enough water to go around.

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