Geez, LH, I have a damned high view of the potential of people. And a damned low view of what they will actually achieve.

As for living in a floodplain -- I can speak to that in terms of the "bottom land" of the Upper Mississippi. It's because you might be flooded out this year, but you'll find next year that you have three feet of brand new, never-been-used, topsoil and your crops are wonderful. You make money hand over fist, so much that (if you do it right) you can survive the next big flood in good style.

In 1965, a levee broke and wiped out a farmer. Took out his house, his barn, and the purebred cattle herd he was trying to start. Wiped out his equipment. His credit rating, formerly at US $1.0 million, was flat zero. In Spring, 1966, his credit rating was US $2.5 million. New topsoil....