[RC] Katrina and libertarians

[Rich Hockett]

I haven't been very vocal lately (too busy), but I have been following along.
I just had to pipe up here with an idea that's been buzzing around my head since Billy has been using Katrina to bash libertarians.
First off, I'm not (entirely) libertarian, so I can't speak for any specific philosophy/political grouping/etc. This is just me speaking ;)
 
I have a problem with Billy using the political mistakes concerning Katrina to bash on libertarians. As far as I can tell, most of the blame here is on the layers of bureaucracy, as well as unaccountable politicians. This is exactly what libertarians are against! So the Katrina disaster seems to entirely justify the libertarian antipathy towards "big government." 
Now, what might the libertarians offer as an alternative? I don't know. But here's my idea:
 
what if a private corporation set itself up (through competing bids or something) to insure the city against hurricane damage, and at the same time held the responsibility for preventing that damage. They would be responsible for the levees, etc, and for designing/implementing plans for evacuation, clean-up, etc. Perhaps they could insure the city for all damages caused by any Category 4 hurricane or lower. They would then go to each "ward" or whatever in the city, estimate the risks, etc, and charge accordingly. Then, if a hurricane is approaching, they would presumably be pretty motivated to prevent as much damage as possible, and to minimize what they could not prevent. 
 
One significant problem/outcome of this idea would be more attention paid to areas that are more likely to flood, which as I understand are more likely to be inhabited by the poor. If they couldn't pay enough to justify the expense of protecting those areas, those people would be in trouble. But that's part of the libertarian creedo, at least as I understand it. Why should the tax payers put up with the expense of allowing these people to live in such vulnerable areas? I think the libertarian view (and so far I would agree) would be to make these areas uninhabitable (parks, lakes, etc).
 
So -- comments, criticisms?
 
Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: Centroids-bounces at radicalcentrism.com [mailto:Centroids-bounces at radicalcentrism.com]On Behalf Of Avesland at aol.com
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 8:50 AM
To: Centroids at radicalcentrism.com
Cc: Avesland at AOL..com
Subject: Re: [RC] Why viral marketing hates Nietzsche



David :
Your criticisms of government are understandable and, in principle,
agreed with   
 
...[SNIP]... 
 
In other words, your premises are essentially granted. What , though, is
the libertarian SOLUTION to the set of problems we call Katrina ?
That is something I'd like to find out. So far, I have heard no solutions from
this sector. There won't be any from the Objectivists, seems to me, therefore
what do other libertarians say ?
 
...[SNIP]...
 
Cheers,  Billy