Gustav and Katrina

An anthropology professor of mine was fond of saying that no self-respecting aborigine would build in a flood plain. He made this remark during the Mississippi floods that drove so many people from their homes.

One might reasonably expect peoples with more advanced technologies to exclude not just flood plains, but earthquake zones, tornado alleys, and hurricane-prone coastal areas as well. United States citizens, for example, ought to fit the bill here. We know darn well where areas prone to natural disaster lie.

And if some folks choose to live in such areas, then fine - they simply should not expect everyone else to bail them out. Hot on the heels of Katrina, then, Gustav seems like a case of déjà vu twice over. Once as it makes landfall, and once again as taxpayers foot the bill to clean up. What will the end tally of federal monies be when it is all over? Gustav looks to be a lot less expensive. And not as tragic. But it need have been neither.

Some will argue that there are those of little means who were born and have lived their lives in these areas. We should consider how difficult it is for them to move.

Let us consider, then. I'll bow to the logic here and suggest that, instead of rebuilding for these folks, we should offer them relocation elsewhere. Politicians should not gamble with the chance of another hurricane during their term of office and bend to the demands to pour taxes into a futile rebuilding effort. To do so is . . . well, dicey.

Craps, anyone?