Thanks for your informative responses Kris, it’s been a pleasure. It’s a difficult issue, like most issues.
It is, especially since what I require to pursue happiness and desire to have the freedom to do is not what you need or want. Times that by a milliion or more differing individuals and it becomes amazing that we can live in relative peace and have managed not to completely destroy ourselves and this earth.
The largest issues are “Why should I do something if so and so does not have to” and “They did it, so do not deny me the right to do it”. My all time favorite : “Its not my fault, I obeyed the laws”
The individual must take up the burden of responsibility before the Gov’t can or will. Otherwise we all lose, which is what is happening.
I’m for heavy restrictions in building in any area where there is a demonstrated likelyhood of disaster. Idaho is a little short on coastal waters, but we have plenty of people building homes in heavily forested areas. This is arid country, and when a forest fire starts, it’s “Fireman! Save my home!” So instead of fighting the actual fire, most of the effort is spent trying to save homes - homes of people who like the idea of living in a pine forest but are happy to demand fire protection they don’t have to pay for. Fuck them all.
This same shit happens in southern California every year. Wet spring produces lots of brush. Then the Santa Ana winds come up and it’s woe is me, my house burned down. Idiots. If they want to build in areas known for yearly fires, then let them fireproof their own properties instead of relying on an over-whelmed fire fighting force.
As for the coastal waters, dredging channels for easy access of deep water vessels is great for jobs, but allows storm surge levels to really do some damage. It also allows stronger tidal currents that eat away the barrier islands that took thousands of years for the mississippi river to produce. The destruction of the mangrove forests so necessary to create those nice white sand beaches is ignored. Yes, we will always have natural disasters, but crossing our fingers and hoping they will miss us is myoptic at best and gross stupidity at it’s worst. We don’t mind the other guy being regulated or restricted, but leave me alone! That’s great till the shit hits the fan and we ask taxpayers to bail us out.
Since this thread was started FEMA and insurance companies have made it difficult for even the wealthiest to rebuild on the coast and flood areas Isaac just made it even tougher.Buuut this is Mississippi , not heavily populated and not wealthy. I wait to see what happens up there. The article maybe right but if FEMA bows to wealth and population there might be some disgruntled Southerners. I have already heard some talk. So far noone thinks there will be no severe regs made for them. And their insurance premiums won’t go through the roof.
What do you mean by FEMA bowing to wealth? The wealthy don’t need FEMA. They will rebuild wherever they are allowed to (we’ll bail out their insurance companies later, if they have insurance). Just asking, based on what I think I know - I’m not pretending I really do know. Am I wrong? I don’t follow the ins and outs of how FEMA works.
FEMA has made so many building regulations , height, structure and others so that what would have cost 50 thousand to build costs 3 times that now. Premiums have quadrupled in cases most just doubled. So will Fema give just as strict regs there, will Insurance companies screw people there? There is so much money there and in the form of country law makers. FEMA is not independent. I do not trust their integrity. The wealthy must follow building regs. The wealthy hate spending money and the wealthy have power. I see some interesting possibles.
Well, yes, money and power are closely linked. I’m just weak on the details.
Makes two of us really. Oh hell that makes most of us. All I know is multimillionaires down here can’t afford to rebuild mansions near the beach because the bottom floor must be over 26’ off the ground. The engineering is expensive then the actual building. If the wealthy can’t do it then the rest are screwed.