Red-State Syndrome

Where flooded NOLA cars go...

Sorry for such a late start, but things got busy today for me--without trying to delve into the details TOO much, I'm peripherally involved with something that had my colleagues even busier over the past week or so...when Microsoft Security Updates crash headfirst into SAP server clusters.

...bad things happen, man...bad things...

Anyway...

Catching up with the internets, I noticed this story about insurance companies & Katrina. With a bit of searching, I was able to come across the entire 13 page decision (.pdf)

Well, just because I think asshole insurance adjustors deserve a special circle in hell that's all-their-own doesn't mean I'm automatically going to bring out the skewers, although the link above to the news story is awfully sympathetic...to the insurance companies, the poor dears (and yes, that last sentence is slathered in sarcasm). In fact, a close read of the article and opinion show the judge had some degree of sympathy for the plantiffs. He even increased the amount of the settlement--from pathetic to puny (and probably less than a single year's premium)...but what really struck me was the degree of trust the plantiff's had...in their AGENT, who advised AGAINST purchasing flood insurance, but offered NO reason why.

Hmmm...

Now, it's true that a quick search of the plantiff address on floodsmart.gov indicates "moderate to low" risk of flooding...but the flip side of the coin is the location of the property--roughly 500 feet from the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the plantiffs had a general comprehension of policy exclusions AND a very good understanding as to the recent history of Gulf hurricanes.

But they chose to go with the advice of a sales person, who's most definitely NOT an expert...

And that got me thinking about first, the South, but then the country, or at least that part defined as "red state America." There seems to be an affinity towards the sales pitch (witness the electoral success of the used-war salesman in chief, at least in 2004). In some of "red state America," the affinity towards the sales pitch seems to be balanced by an equal or even greater HOSTILITY towards, well, intelligence, logic, sound judgement, what have you. Smart people--and smart decisions--lose out in favor of sales people and sales pitches.

I wonder why...(and that's NOT a rhetorical question).

By the way, I'm not trying to cast any particular judgement on these specific people. A thirteen page opinion is not nearly enough to go on...but to make some VERY general observations with this as sort of a hazy background, it certainly gives cause to worry. The same sort of smarmy, slimy sales shits that will take your premiums...then turn around and offer a swift kick when you're down...are not merely running insurance companies: they've thoroughly infected every element of the public sphere. Hell, they've got one of their own "running" the executive branch, at least in a nominal sense.

And a fair bit of the public seems to prefer this--the sales pitch--as opposed to a more sober assessment of reality. Now, maybe Team Shrub's lower-than-whale-shit-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean approval ratings are a hopeful sign, but for whatever reason, I'm in a pessimisitic mood today, and if come November the public once again chooses the sales pitch over reality, well...

Bad things...