Republicans Conservatives masturbate to the idea of elderly people others being denied the basic necessities in life because they were unable to earn enough for a retirement due to the uncontrollable greed of the ultra wealthy Conservatives.

The ultra wealthy wouldn't make enough money from this to give a shit. This type of petty, ideological driven cruelty is a hallmark of conservatism (see school lunch cuts). Keep in mind, most Democrats trend to the right of center (aka "conservative") compared to the rest of the developed world.

They want them begging at the church and kissing ass for largesse.

They mention dollars and social security, so I'm assuming they're from the USA. I can believe it would be illegal in some states to give out water. Georgia for instance made it illegal to handout water bottles.

A 2021 Georgia law does prohibit people from giving water within 150 feet of a polling place, and violators face up to 12 months in jail. Can

You have to realize, the United States has many laws in most jurisdictions that criminalize poverty, and politicians on both sides of the aisle are quickly moving to pass more. It is not a good country to live in. People here get arrested for giving food to the homeless.

It's probably considered stealing like if you were to use a cable splitter to take your neighbor's Internet. Except that's bullshit for a metered water connection so fuck whoever made that law or regulation.

It's also illegal to give water to people in line to vote. it's also illegal to have a water break for workers working outside in the heat.

At least where I live, you get billed separately for the incoming water and drainage. So if I'm not paying the utility, and get water to my property from my neighbor, then I'm not paying for the drainage I'm using when I flush that water down my drain.

Of course the situation is ridiculous, but this is how I'd imagine this being illegal, you are "stealing" the drainage service.

I could see a utility company or township having some local rule written as something like 'running a hose between houses' being prohibited without any condition of intent to make it easier enforce when people are stealing water, and then using it against someone sharing on purpose because vague rules/laws tend to be twisted to punish people in a way far different than the intent.

Or it could be intentional in the same way as anti-homeless laws where people are just being punished for helping out the poor.

Since OP used American terminology, probably they're claiming America, which would mean you need to ask which state, as water bills and such are a state law thing.

So far as I know there is no state with a law like this, but odds are very good OP never learned the nuances of the situation and something else illegal was going on, like delinquency or fraud on the water bill, or if they were in drought conditions and going over their ration due to supplying a bonus household.

In fact, my first guess is fraud, if this "hose" was connected before the meter, meaning the family was drawing more water than they were paying for.

Nowhere.

The water company will do this intentionally when they have water mains to repair. When the street my mother in law lived on had a water main repaired, the water company hooked a hose from her neighbor's house to supply her water. Later they came and hooked her water to the next house down as they worked there way down the street.

But I could still see police doing it because they don't know the law.

As a few have guessed, it could be related to how the sewer usage is accounted for, but that’s unlikely since they are neighboring addresses. It could also be due to local water restrictions but they likely wouldn’t have cut off the water due to a relatively light civil penalty. What few have guessed, it is almost surely a public health restriction to prevent cross contamination and backflow between two serviced addresses.

There are very good reasons why we all want every exit to the public water network to be isolated, which comes with safety inspections and other requirements. As soon as your break down that model of one address serving more than one address, it makes a massive mess of maintaining and inspecting the safety of the water delivery network.

"Dehomed" is almost more appropriate for many without a home. Their homes were taken by resource hoarders using the tools of state.

I'm guessing this is illegal as well? Land of the free indeed...

Oh damn. I rode through bullhead one time. It was over 100° at midnight. Can't imagine being stuck there.

One third of Americans can't drive, yet the American town is built as if everyone was a sentient automobile.

The world that neoliberalism has built.

Being old in the US is hard mode. I mean old people in other countries live with and are supported by family. Imagine tossing la nona in a retirment home, mama mia.

The country that the Democrats and Republicans have built would be a-okay with letting them starve to death.

The trick is to just blame THEM for it. American Dream: if you can't make it, it's because you're lazy - it's the bully saying "stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself!".

You're missing the point. When the state catches you being a decent human being, it is incumbent upon the state to crush you like a bug. What's next? Feeding the hungry?!

That and the realization that the ruling class doesn't have those

You're definitely right about the reasons why, but it's extremely frustrating to have this kind of situation when we could probably just find another way to find it and treat water like a basic human right!

I would argue that doesn't apply. This post and whatever you call lemmy subr's is specific to the idiocy in the USA. In Europe like Canada to the best of my knowledge the public utility maintains the infrastructure up to your main. If it leaks before where you get charged, it's their problem and their pipes.

In most of the USA, their responsibility ends at your property line. Utility companies are already all privatized, electric, gas, water, and sewer. If you have an issue with a leak or distribution, they will shut you off at the property line and let you figure it out.

The added infrastructure cost for supplying water through 1 extra valve or not is paid for by the homeowner when the house was built. The labour to turn your water on and off is paid for at the time through fines and fees for disconnection and connection. There is literally no cost that they bear for your lack of water.

And, please take my word for, you do not want water, sewage or garbage collection controlled by private companies.

I'm glad I have the freedom to choose between one private water company and one private garbage collection company, and I hope my sewer system is soon given away to a faceless multinational and not paid directly to my local government.

Because I'm an American goddammit!

I don't get it. Part of the price for water goes to sewage removal. So if You use more water, You pay more, You can remove more sewage. If one person is paying for 2 people, the same amount will be spent, what's the problem?

That's a a lot of words to say you enjoy the taste of boot..

You're pretty brainwashed. There's nothing at all scary about privatized garbage collection.