Paper Houses in the Rain

I was watching CNN this weekend, and it was scrolling different comments that watchers had submitted along the bottom of the screen. One person commented something like "Who cares about the financial crisis? We in SoCal are *burning*." Okay, I can sympathize with that - for about a minute.

I know I'm not about to win any popularity contests here, and am likely eliminating any chance for ever running for office. But when did common sense become optional? Last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that (do you notice a pattern), there was a fire in southern California. Guess what. That's nature's way of handling overgrowth of trees. Controlled forest fires keep forests from being too dense and cutting off all sunlight to species that live closer to the ground. When trees are cleared to build houses - in the natural path of these fires - homeowners take on the risk. Just as you wouldn't take a phone call standing on the middle of a highway because you've got better cell phone coverage there, you shouldn't build your house - or buy a house - in a known fire path. Insurance companies know this, and actually charge a much higher premium to houses on the wrong side of a highway that divides the fire path from the non-fire path. And when you decide to rebuild your home, consider what is likely to happen again next year if you choose to rebuild on the same spot.

But what really gets me is that because of the sheer devastation, this will once again be declared a national disaster, and government money will be spent to help out those victimized by these fires. I probably shouldn't even bring up my thoughts about rebuilding in New Orleans, a coastal city build below sea level...

When discussing this very matter this weekend, my husband asked whether we should be allowed to complain when it rains. My response, "Only if we build paper houses."
Then, apparently, we have the right to complain, to be bailed out, to make others pay for the fact that we didn't put enough forethought into a major purchase that seemed too good to be true. Yes, I feel bad for people who have struggled hard to save enough money to buy a house, and who default on their loans because the primary breadwinner is injured and can't work ("The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair comes to mind). But for those of you who tried to scam the system and take advantage of a deal you knew (or even suspected) you couldn't afford, shame on you. Why should I have to bail you out?