Sowell actually had the guts to run THIS ESSAY when Florida was in the midst of being pounded by hurricanes. (I hope it is not being so-pounded as you read this, but this piece is blogged in advance since I’m now finishing up the Catholic Answers cruise and am myself travelling by boat.)
I was surprised he’d run a column like it, especially with that timing.
Yet he makes an intersting case that current policies regarding disaster relief involve a cynical manipulation of the public (by both parties) that end up putting people at risk.
Excerpt:
In ABC reporter John Stossel’s witty and insightful book “Give Me A Break,” he discusses how he built a beach house with only “a hundred feet of sand” between him and the ocean. It gave him a great view — and a great chance of disaster.
His father warned him of the danger but an architect pointed out that the government would pick up the tab if anything happened to his house. A few years later, storm-driven ocean waves came in and flooded the ground floor of Stossel’s home. The government paid to have it restored.
Still later, the waves came in again, and this time took out the whole house. The government paid again. Fortunately for the taxpayers, Stossel then decided that enough was enough.
As I read the article, I couldn’t help thinking of all the rich folks here in California who have their homes pertched at the top of hills prone to mudslides. I wonder what happens after the mud finally slides?
I am greatly amused by our local free-enterprise, big-government-is-evil talk radio station. It has been faithfully informing people that FEMA will fix their houses, buy their generators, and such.
NOT ONE WORD about FEMA being a Big Government Agency has crossed their lips.