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scott_lynch says the right thing.
Sep. 1st, 2005 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
issaferrethttp://www.livejournal.com/users/scott_lynch/148437.html
I actually had this argument with someone today. Yesterday, now, but... yeah. She expressed the opinion that people who live in those hurricane-swept places, who get bzillions of dollars in FEMA aid every year, should just move. Pick up all that infrastructure and leave. Nevermind that I felt her ideas on how to make it plausible weren't... she basically said they just shouldn't provide disaster aid to them, because they were too much of a risk.
I was pretty sanguine then, and I still am now, but my take was simple: I don't want them to be weighing out whether to send us money next time a wildfire eats half of Oakland, or an earthquake knocks down a bridge. We all have our disasters. The hurricanes may be common, but for so many reasons, _abandoning_ the coast just isn't the right thought. I mean... I suggested that by that logic we need to abandon California right quick, before the damn thing falls into the Pacific like it's supposed to.
*sigh* So yeah, figured I'd mention that. She maneuvered the conversation away into discussion of Social Security and nailed the whole thing down by saying she wasn't a fan of Big Government, which is fair enough... I'd be amused to show her that map I saw once that showed most of the west and northeastern states providing net revenue to the Nation, and the South and all the Central states being effectively 'funded' by us. I wonder what her reaction would be.
My heart goes out to all those stuck in the wake of Katrina, all those who can only look at their home on television, and all the history washing away into the lake and river.
I actually had this argument with someone today. Yesterday, now, but... yeah. She expressed the opinion that people who live in those hurricane-swept places, who get bzillions of dollars in FEMA aid every year, should just move. Pick up all that infrastructure and leave. Nevermind that I felt her ideas on how to make it plausible weren't... she basically said they just shouldn't provide disaster aid to them, because they were too much of a risk.
I was pretty sanguine then, and I still am now, but my take was simple: I don't want them to be weighing out whether to send us money next time a wildfire eats half of Oakland, or an earthquake knocks down a bridge. We all have our disasters. The hurricanes may be common, but for so many reasons, _abandoning_ the coast just isn't the right thought. I mean... I suggested that by that logic we need to abandon California right quick, before the damn thing falls into the Pacific like it's supposed to.
*sigh* So yeah, figured I'd mention that. She maneuvered the conversation away into discussion of Social Security and nailed the whole thing down by saying she wasn't a fan of Big Government, which is fair enough... I'd be amused to show her that map I saw once that showed most of the west and northeastern states providing net revenue to the Nation, and the South and all the Central states being effectively 'funded' by us. I wonder what her reaction would be.
My heart goes out to all those stuck in the wake of Katrina, all those who can only look at their home on television, and all the history washing away into the lake and river.
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Date: 2005-09-01 12:27 pm (UTC)What I'd like to see is not high risk places forcibly abandoned, or disaster relief eliminated, but rather disaster relief paid for in an insurance-like fashion where local governments pay into a federal fund based on actuarial risk. That way, the cost of living in a high risk area is borne by the people who live there, and they can make a rational decision on whether or not the risk is worth it.