The impoverished communities of Middlesboro and Clinton,
Ky., are experiencing a real unemployment rate of around 30 percent and a per
capita income of $13,189 annually. In the midst of this capitalist crisis, the
state of Kentucky is so strapped for cash that half of the residents who
qualify for unemployment will not actually receive that help.
Now, the 12,000 people living in Middlesboro and Clinton have
a new load to bear. After receiving $80 billion in taxpayer funds, the
financial giant AIG “acquired” Utilities Inc. and, consequently, the water
supply of these small towns. AIG then announced a rate hike of 50.8 percent.
The rate hike will give AIG an extra $1 million in profits, and leave many
people choosing—literally—between water and food.
Once again, the working class is carrying the full load of
the capitalist economic crisis. Giant corporations like AIG are bailed out by
public funds, then use those funds to wring every last cent from working
people. While the ruling class sits and reaps the fruit of our exploitation,
more and more people are starving and homeless.
