Government is failing in the Gulf

In times when sands can blacken with a shift of the wind, even a place known as "The World's Luckiest Fishing Village" leaves little to chance.

Along the tiny road of strip malls and ranch homes that winds through the city, customers drop by a hardware store with a marquee that advertises: "Oil Boom: $6 A Ft."

Boom, the ubiquitous material that's been laid in the waters to shield oil from washing ashore, has gone retail. And longtime residents are snapping it up, hoping they'll be able to protect their property better than any agency can.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/29/1707715/anxious-coastal-residents-are.html

The basic function of government, the basic reason for government, is public safety - - to protect "us" from "them", whether "them" is the tribe in the cave across the valley, or the Russians, or street thugs hanging out in the park.

Today, government is clearly not protecting the public health, safety, welfare and property from BP's out of control oil gusher in the Gulf.

When people start to believe "they'll be able to protect their property better than any agency can", their basic trust in the government is gone.