Re: pandering & Reps vs Dems, zoning follow up
Topics: Safety
03 Sep 1992
From:
Paco says:
> Ervan says:
> > ... In the case of Florida,
> > FEMA is running around condemning houses and evicting people from their
> > homes. If there is nothing left but one wall of my house and I want
> > to build a lean-to against it, damn the government for telling me that
> > I cannot. ...
>
> [ what about contagious disease? ]
You have no right to dump sewage on your neighbor. You have no right
to create a biological hazard that will inevitably affect your neighbor.
That has nothing to do with whether or not you live in a tent.
> [ should there be no standards in crowded cities? ]
In the case of private residences, I am definitely opposed to housing
standards. By that I mean, if your house falls, it won't fall on someone
else, either your neighbor across the street or the tenants on the
first floor. Prohibiting extremely flammable substances from being
used as roofing materials in crowded fire prone areas is an acceptable
exception for the same reason that if you build a skyscraper it better
be stable and not fall on your neighbor. The point is: you cannot
put other people at risk, but you can do to yourself whatever you want.
> [ should not the government help people struck by such freak
> disasters as hurricanes and meteorites? ]
This seems like a contradiction to me. Living in a trailer on
Galveston island is begging for disaster. It does not matter that
the disaster is 'extreme' in the form of a hurricane. If you know
an 'extreme' disaster will probably occur, bulding there is 'silly'.
As for meteorites, I agree (though even here, I have my doubts).
Hurricanes are not in that class.
The insurance companies have accurate tables, sufficiently accurate
they are willing to sell insurance. That's the only measure of
accuracy that matters. You can buy hurricane insurance for your
house, no problem.
> [ The feds respond better than private insurance companies. ]
Yes, but they are still screwed. If my choice is between being
responsible and paying $1000/year (or whatever it really costs) for
ten years and getting my house rebuilt in one month or not paying
a dime and having farmers in Iowa pay to rebuild it in two months,
I'll wait the extra month and screw the farmers. Furthermore, I'll
be encouraged to build where I could of otherwise never have afforded to
due to appropriately high insurance rates.
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