Introduction
‘Fluoride and Mercury – The Dumbing Down of our Population’ is a documentary that commences with assessing the ethical principles behind environmental degradation emanating from government services as well as from privatization of its services.
Blaylock highlights that the government takes little concern while carrying out functions related to environmental issues, as evidenced by lack of ethical principle in explosive devices, medical practices, water supply, and lack of providing adequate information concerning unsafe environmental conditions. This inference has been drawn from qualitative and quantitative data based on a number of case studies in the documentary.
Reflection
This documentary is characterized by intense debate that is able to provide an overall judgment of government affairs and its privatization services with regard to environmental issues.
It reaffirms that when a government privatizes its operations, such as vaccination and water supply services, it becomes external in the decision-making process, thus exercising limited control to the operations of the organizations (Moe 473).
Additionally, underlining the knowledge level of the public with regard to environmental issues is central, as it gives emphasis to the reasons why unethical environmental practices continue to thrive within the country.
What is of importance in this documentary, though, is the fact that it underscores the need for evaluating the areas that the government can challenge the private sectors and, therefore, make viable decisions while privatizing their roles. A number of agents such as Environmental Protection Agency, higher learning institutions, National Autism Association, and American Dental Association can facilitate this, as they help to evaluate the effectiveness of government duties privatized to the private entities.
As such, the documentary questions the role of the government with regard to protection of its citizens, given that it holds the sovereign rights of protecting its citizens from unethical environmental practices through information gathered from these agencies (Mosher 348).
Despite the fact that the government takes cognizant of the fact that roles involving use of chemical weapons should not be privatized as they pose threat to the air we breath, it is apparent that it has not taken the same measures when it comes to conservation of water.
The documentary points out that the government has taken little concern in assessing the level of mercury in vaccines as well as the levels of fluoride in water, yet these chemicals have equal negative implications on the lives of the citizens, as well. Thus, the government should ensure that it assesses the level of national security and public safety in relation to environmental conservation (Moe 473).
This documentary is crucial as it raises concerns over the manner in which dissemination of information is carried out by the government. As Mosher (348) states, the government officials should act in a manner that suggests that they are, indeed, servant of the members of the public; thus, they should take the initiative of advising the citizens accordingly.
And while it is the role of the government to provide its citizens with credible information regarding the risks of environmental degradation, the documentary suggest that many people are not informed about pollution of environmental resources and its adverse effects on health.
Therefore, inasmuch as the government is likely to loose control over management of its services through privatization, it is mandated to come up with an organizational culture that would ensure public responsiveness, clear allocation of responsibilities between the government and the private institution, as well as accountability of the environmental issue at hand.
Works Cited
Blaylock, Russell. Fluoride and Mercury – The Dumbing Down of our Population. 4 May 2010. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fGVWja_tHs&feature=related>.
Moe, Ronald. “Exploring the Limits of Privatization.” Public Administration Review. 47.6 (1987). Print.
Mosher, Frederick. Watergate: Implications for Responsible Government, by Frederick C. Mosher and Others, with a Foreword by Sam J. Ervin. New York, N.Y: BasicBooks, 1974. Print.