nanny state is the problem.
We have become a nation of people who sit back and demand the government fix everything.
I am sorry if it offends people, but if people did not already have storm preparations in place, they had 48 hours to prepare for Katrina or run for the hills. After the fact many people said they did not evacuate because no one told them to. Absurd.
I am coming out of winter and I know I do not have to buy canned goods for about a month because I always stock up before winter. I have gas to run my tractor for spring cleanup because I always have at least 8 gallons on hand for the generator.
I live 12 miles from a nuclear plant so I keep a go bag packed with clothes for a week. I can grab enough food and water for a week and be on the road in 20 minutes.
I am about 20 feet above sea level with no immediate threats of flooding. I am 200 feet from tracks that see trains with chemical cars every day of the week. The problems faced can be major or dumb.
2 years ago a train dragged a stupid rusty chain for 10 miles causing sparks and setting hundreds of small brush fires along the tracks that forced the evacuation of several neighborhoods.
I know where I live and the problems we may face. And I do not expect the government to do a thing when things go bad.
Was I grateful for the nightly welfare checks by police, fire and the National Guard during the 9 days we did not have power the winter of 2008? Sure. But like many of my neighbors, I was prepared.
The one new family that had just moved up from a nice suburb of Boston whined the entire time. Both of their cars ran out gas in their driveway so the police gave them gas during a welfare check. Even with their car running they refused to drive for supplies and demanded that food and water be delivered.
While the rest of us went back to business as usual with generators humming, they never went to work. They kept their kids out of school. The Red Cross delivered food every day. They bought a generator only after every government agency told them they would not get one for free. It was pathetic.
And these people make twice as much money as I do. They could afford to help themselves, but chose not to.
