Insurance Woes in Tent City

Home, Renters, Auto, Life, Health, Long Term Health, Disability, Earthquake, Flood, Famine … wait there isn’t any Famine insurance. You would think there should be though – we don’t want to go hungry do we? If you don’t play your cards right you could. Keep in mind what happened to the Katrina victims.

I call them Victims with a capital V because of the horrendous way that the insurance industry and the government have treated them. Not only have they gone hungry, but they continue to be deprived of what many Americans would consider inalienable rights, such as clean water and inhabitable land to live on… even if living means residing in a tent.

Yes, I said tent. Many of the Katrina victims are still living in tents on bacteria infested lands 6 months later. There is barely a squeak of cleanup going on. What are politicians doing? Hunting quail in the forest or something?

New Orleans has a new attraction called Tent City. It is the opposite of Disney Land. Try Dismal Land instead. It should be attracting the attention of those in charge to turn on a bulldozer, rally some volunteers and start rebuilding a once glorious city. Heck, if Oprah can rebuild a whole neighborhood in a few months, complete with toasters and fashionable bedding, you think the local government could scrape some of the bacteria off the mud.

In case you don’t realize, there isn’t any running water in tents, so transport yourself back to the 1800’s and it will give you a sense of what life is like for many people in the south. This is no weekend camping trip in Yosemite. Pretty soon people could start dying of cholera. Well, not really, but stranger things have happened.

You are probably thinking that would never happen to me because I have insurance. Well you couldn’t be more wrong. Just because you have insurance does not mean you are protected. There are so many loopholes in insurance that you could end up like some insurance holders in New Orleans and have an insurance company offer you $7,000 for your entire house. Not kidding. I won't even talk about the value you might get for your flooded car, if any. I hope you didn't just buy a brand new Mini.

I think the best way to protect yourself from famine and despicable living conditions is to have money set aside in the event of emergencies. If you have a year of living income you could afford to rebuild your life somewhere else … a cleaner place with running water at least. When you are lacking funds, even the minimum amount, you have no freedom, no choices, to change your circustances.

Think about the life you want to live and if safety and security (and a warm bed) are something you always want to have, then start putting a few dollars a day away for your emergency fund. You then can be assured you will have money when you need it and a few dollars extra for those in desperate need.

You might think it takes more than that to be secure, but it doesn't. Just pass on the bottled water and the bagel every day and you will have the money you need to survive. If you are really feeling a strong urge for a saftely net, forgoe the fancy jacket and put that in your emergency fund too.

Read Ms.Money’s article about Saving For the Unexpected.

Make a cash donation and help Oprah’s Angel Network rebuild Katrina homes. 100% of your money goes to directly to the Katrina sufferers. At least someone (Oprah) is paying attention to what is going on down there, the government certain isn’t. Just another reason why I feel the pull to the political arena, to help ensure that help goes where it is needed most.