Where Oh Where Has My Insurance Gone...

Hurricane Alberto, coming so early as it has, should remind us of the precarious place and circumstance under which we live. After last year and the unending misery the hurricane season caused a reasonable person would think prudence and good sense would prevail. But, sadly, it doesn't; Florida is full of fools and run by fools.

I looked at a current book of real estate offerings received in the mail and absolutely shook my head in disbelief at these four, lovely homes offered in Key Largo. You can almost imagine yourself in a white, linen suit and Panama Hat lounging around the veranda waiting for a neighbor to drop by for a gin and tonic.

There's one tragic mistake, though. If predictions are right, it is quite likely that none of these homes will make it through a Category 2 hurricane, let alone a larger monster. Developers have pushed the building of residences so fast and so close to the ocean that the great real estate "bubble", long predicted about to burst because of over-building is losing air through another, slower leak: the inability to find insurance.

Suddenly, insurance companies are pulling out of the Florida market or even canceling policies. Recent news reported mass selling of homes on The Keys as insurance has become impossible to get or too expensive for the long time residents. So, in step all the fools with no sense, but lots of money. Florida attracts them like no other. And in the end, just who will foot the bill for clapboard fantasies like these pictured here? Why taxpayers, of course, who will idly stand by while the State and Federal governments provide insurance to fools.

But let's make no generalization here. It will only be for rich fools who love the sound of crashing waves in the sunrise. A drive to the airport here will provide quite a sight: a sea of poor and middle income homes with blue plastic covers on their roofs. There is no help for them and when the winds pick up again little will be left this time. Except resentment, perhaps; but that a big perhaps. The middle class are the biggest fools of all as they actually have something to loose like a roof, a son or daughter in Iraq, a gorgeous mango tree in the yard. They still turn out the vote for the Bush brothers, who are always there for the rich fools.

Don't buy one of these homes, unless--of course--you're a rich fool.