The Coastal Dilemma
And, each year, more and more Americans migrate to the coast and take up permanent residence. Recently we read that over sixty percent of our citizens live within fifty miles of the coast. It must be getting pretty quiet in the heartland.
But in this proximity there is danger, and those whose job it is to protect life and property are finding it harder and harder to do.
There are those whose job it is to protect our lives, and those whom we pay to protect the value of our property. The first we call "lifeguards" and the second, "insurance companies."
It is interesting to contrast the role each protector plays:
Lifeguards are not responsible for ocean drownings. Their role is to advise, and to assist, but they do not guarantee the safety of those whose lives they guard.
Insurance companies, on the other hand, do just that. They guarantee you against the loss of your property. At least, they used to.
Jo Campbell advised us a few weeks ago in
Insurance Companies Run Amuck
that this is less often the case, and that coverage is
being withdrawn on a wholesale basis from homeowners
in coastal areas.
After repeated losses to hurricanes and other coastal storms, insurance companies are beginning to seem a lot more like lifeguards. They're saying: "Yeah, you can build that house on sticks over the dune, pal, but if you do, you're on your own."
During the storm season, it's hard to feel too much pity for damage to million-dollar homes that are perched precariously on the ocean shore.
But that is simply a convenient symbol which suits the public relations needs of insurance companies. The reality is something quite different.
The truth is, coastal areas like ours have become
havens for the retired, and thousands of folks live
in modest homes which happen to be near the coast.
It is these people who are endangered by the loss
of insurance coverage, not just millionaires who
build temples to themselves by the sea.
These days, the national pastime seems to be separating people from their entitlements: either retirement benefits, social security and, in this case, insurance coverage.
Good faith is of little value (and in short supply) when people cross the finish line of their careers and find that the race was cancelled, and there will be no prizes.
What kind of concern can we expect for ourselves, or for our children, if we don't guarantee the security of our elders ?
About as much, we suspect, as we'll get from these violent visitors who come up the coast each summer.
July 13, 1996 Charles Paparella The Shore Journal