Milagro Beanfield War

Water: The Source of Life
Does the world really need another golf course? Multi­ million dollar Corporations and booming industries have taken over the simplicity of small communities and businesses.
Throughout time the importance of traditional values and morality have dwindled dramatically, creating an industry with its focus on short­term gain and material benefit (VanOverbeke). The goal of global commercialization of everything and everybody has created devastating effects on the environment and developing countries around the world (VanOverbeke). One of the most well known cases of privatization occurred in Bolivia and shares striking comparisons to the movie Milagro Beanfield War.
Both of these scenarios display the theory of Ostrum taking place in the small communities while
Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons only occurs when the industry takes over. Through a sense of community we can maintain sustainability but it is when the personal connection between humanity and resource is lost that degradation happens.
As seen in the movie Milagro Beanfield War and the events that took place in the water privatization protests in Bolivia, By destroying a sense of community we are doomed to experience the tragedy of the commons.
Although it may seem as if the plot of the movie Milagro Beanfield War is based off the events that took place during the privatization of water in Bolivia, to many people’s surprise the movie was made 11 years prior to when the water privatization began. In the fairy tale of Milagro Beanfield War,
Ladd Devine the very wealthy owner of a posh development and controller of local water rights, is planning to build a brand new resort. The only only problem is the location of this development is right on top of the small hispanic town of Milagro. At first the people of Milagro are fooled into believing this

development will bring them prosperity through the new available jobs unaware that their community will eventually be displaced.
Similar to this, the private water industry, dominated by a handful of multinational corporations is the “Ladd Devine” of Bolivia. These corporations abused their power over the water source in
Bolivia and raised the price of water so high that people were forced to decide between food or water, while the industry benefited greatly (VanOverbeke). Private sectors argued that they could deliver basic goods and services more efficiently and at lower costs than the public sector (Water Privatization). But like the corporation in Milagro Beanfield war, the private sectors in Bolivia acted very shady. There is little evidence to support the argument that privatization actually benefits customers by improving access and lowering costs (Water Privatization).
Quite often, water prices increase and quality decreases due to privatization (Water Privatization).
In both scenarios the government does nothing to protect its people, its the perseverance of the communities that brings them to justice.The main character and hero of Milagro Beanfield war, Joe
Mondragon, protests this development by providing “free” water to his bean field and exposing his community to the ugly truth of this development. Enraged at possibility that there will be no development, the governor sent out a team to beat up Joe. The government in Bolivia was just as evil.
During peaceful protests, police officers arrested activists, killed protesters, and censored media
(VanOverbeke). In both cases the determination of the people made them victorious. Joe Mondragon and his community fought off the development and the people of Bolivia had their water rights restored and both lived happily ever after.
The theories of Hardin and Ostrom are demonstrated through the communities and the corporations in both of these scenarios. The communities demonstrate the theories of Ostrom.
The

people all depend on, and look for out for one another and display very cooperative human nature.
They live very simply and do not take more “commons” than they need. If the world was still run like these communities, degradation of natural capital would not even be an issue. Instead, industry and corporations have taken over the globe. As consumers we have gotten further and further from the source of our resources and do not understand the value of of these commons. Industries have a very greedy and competitive human nature, which instills the selfish idea that you must provide for yourself only. Industries and corporations have made the world so robotic that we have lost our sympathy for humanity. As a nation we have begun to ignore hereditary rights and directed our focus to much on rule and proof of ownership. In the movie for example, the development corporation was going to take over the land and homes of people that had lived there for centuries because they believed their money entitled them to it. The private water sectors in Bolivia had a similar view. Water is a commons and should not be owned as private property and sold as a commodity (VanOverbeke). How can these big corporations justify the starvation and dehydration of other people yet waste billions of gallons of water on a golf course in New Mexico? If people continue to do things with only their own well being in mind and not that common good then we are doomed to experience a tragedy of the commons.