The Florida Pyramid Scheme

The state of Florida is one giant pyramid scheme, built on a foundation of sand. 

Much of the state is currently uninhabitable due to Hurricane Ian. But the fact is, houses should never have been built in the areas that were destroyed.

Sanibel Island, the epicenter of destruction in Lee Country, is a barrier island. Barrier islands are called that because they are barriers to wind and waves from the ocean, shielding the coast from hurricanes. Building permanent housing on barrier islands is the height of stupidity. They will be destroyed when there's a hurricane.

We used to travel to the Marco Island/Naples/Fort Myers area for ten or fifteen years back in the 1990's and 2000's to play beach volleyball in January and February. So we have some familiarity with the area.

It's a great place to visit. But no one should be living there permanently. People should not be making permanent homes there. Rental condos and hotels are fine. 

We know a number of people who own houses or condos down there. They buy a house in Florida near the beach, but they almost always keep their house or an apartment up north because Florida is uninhabitable in the summer.

The heat and humidity are unbearable, especially for the elderly, who are being suckered into moving down there by the millions. In the summer they're trapped in their air-conditioned condos, and when the hurricane hits they are crushed or drowned.

And it's not just Florida. So many people are moving to places like Florida, Arizona and Salt Lake City, and those places are getting hammered by climate change. If you take just a few steps barefoot on a Phoenix street you will get second-degree burns. The Great Salt Lake is drying up, and toxic dust is blowing into the city, the result of decades of mining tailings washing into the lake.

I just can't understand how people can be such wimps, whining about a little snow and cold. At least you can put on a coat and go outside during the winter in Minnesota and actually get some exercise. Take a walk or a run. Do some skiing or snowshoeing. But in Florida you're trapped inside for months on end, fleeing from one air-conditioned building to another.

Back in the day Florida real estate was a punch line: "If you believe that, I've got some swampland to sell you in Florida." In fact, one of the original sellers of Florida swampland is actually the man that the pyramid schemes are named after, Charles Ponzi.

Florida is still a scam. Millions of suckers are now seeing the phony fairy tale destroyed by climate change, and in another ten years their houses will be uninsurable, and no one is going to want to buy them.