Esto de pagar por la protección civil es más viejo que el hilo negro. Acuérdense de las andanzas de Craso en la antigua Roma o el modo de trabajar de las aseguradoras en el Londres del siglo XVIII.
Y parece lógico que si se resuelve proteger sólo a los que pagan, no se ayude nada a los "morosos" o a los que nunca se pusieron con ninguno.
Al final del día, me parece mucho más sano, socialmente hablando, organizar un sistema de protección civil cuya respuesta
no dependa de si pagaste o no la cuota fijada. Es decir, como el nuestro.
La polémica sobre esta situación en el Condado de Obion es también vieja (era que no) y en internet encontré este artículo del 2008 que defiende el comportamiento de los bomberos locales en un caso idéntico, en que el afectado es un tal Gene Cranick. El argumento central es bien a lo gringo: Cranick sabía las reglas del juego y resolvió no pagar, pues ahora....
se la come...
[h=1]In Defense of Obion County Fire Department[/h]Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:16:52
This was brought to my attention by Ckemtp at
Life Under the Lights. He was looking for someone to criticize the fire department, but he is looking elsewhere. When he has a post on this, read his comments, too.
News that a fire department allowed a home to continue to burn, because the owner, Gene Cranick, had not paid the fire protection fee has upset a lot of people. People are mad that the fire department did not just put out the fire anyway.
No.
Gene Cranick made a choice to not pay the fee.
Without that money, the fire department cannot continue to exist, so Gene Cranick is endangering everyone else by refusing to pay for fire service.
If the fire department puts out the fire anyway, then why should anyone contribute to the continuing existence of the fire department?
People have suggested that this is just like a criminal protection racket.
No.
A criminal protection racket would set the fire and burn down the house if the extortion were not paid.
This fire department did not contribute causing this fire.
If you think that it is wrong for the fire department to allow Gene Cranick to profit from his negligent actions, that is ridiculous.
Gene Cranick has decided that his neighbors should pay for fire protection for his home, so that Gene Cranick can spend that money on Gene Cranick.
Gene Cranick tried to pay for just this year to get the fire department to put out the fire.
If they are going to have an after the house is on fire fee, it should be significantly more than the yearly fee.
What are the odds of a fire happening in any home in a given year?
Suppose those odds are one in a hundred, and those odds may be very high, but this is just for the purposes of creating an example. I do not know what the rate of house fire is in this community.
If the odds are one in a hundred, then the home owner should have to pay an amount at least one hundred times the yearly fee if he waits until after a fire has started. Gene Cranick has decided to gamble with this. Gene Cranick lost.
As with the bizarre decision to bailout the bankers, who made similarly bad decisions that contributed to the current financial crisis, we need to make people pay for taking risks that are small on a day to day basis, yet the damage is inevitable (or common) and the damage large when the damage eventually does happen.
$75.00 times 100 = $7,500.00 plus a
tried to scam the neighbors surcharge of a couple thousand and change and round off to $10,000.00.
That is the way to handle this dirt bag, Gene Cranick.
Without funding (the money Gene Cranick diverted from the fire department) there might not be any fire department to complain about.
If Gene Cranick does not feel like paying his property taxes, he will be deprived of his property by the government.
You can complain that the voters should have set up a different system, but they did not.
The actions of the electorate are not the responsibility of the fire department.
“Professional, career firefighters shouldn’t be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up,” Harold Schatisberger, International Association of Fire Fighters president, said in a statement. “They get in their trucks and go.”
[SUP][1][/SUP]
Maybe this union president should go to Obion County to campaign for a change in funding.
Maybe Obion County will not respond well to radical outside agitators telling them what to do.
Maybe people need to consider that there are consequences for their misbehavior.
Maybe irresponsible people should stop expecting those who do behave responsibly to be responsible for their misbehavior.
Gene Cranick bet that his house would not catch fire.
Gene Cranick lost.
If Gene Cranick goes to a casino, do we expect the fire department to cover his losses?
Of course not.
Gene Cranick went to a casino and bet that his house would not burn.
Gene Cranick lost.
If you want to read about why Obion County does things this way, their deliberations from 2008 are available.
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Footnotes:
[SUP][1][/SUP] No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn
msnbc.com
Article
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[SUP][2][/SUP] A Presentation Regarding The Establishment And Implementation of a County-Wide Fire Departmen
Presented to the Study Committee Comprised of The Honorable Benny McGuire, County Mayor, Commissioner Danny Jowers, Commissioner Jimmy Seals, Commissioner Cloney Taylor, And the Fire Chiefs of Obion County
March 18, 2008
