We know better

On about this date, August 24, 79 (not 1979, just 79) the volcano Vesuvius erupted, killing thousands. Pompeii was buried, and the entombed remains preserved in the ash show us the tragic deaths of those people.
We feel sorry for those poor people who could not know what was coming. Now we understand volcanoes and other natural phenomena, so we can avoid such tragedies.

But we don't. Around the world, we have cities built on or near volcanoes. We have New Orleans built at slightly below sea level in a hurricane zone. We have huge cities in California built on huge faults. Mount Ranier looms above Seattle, ready to send lahars (hot mud slides on steroids) into developed areas. We have huge resort areas built on barrier islands. Some of our fastest growing cities are in the desert southwest US, where there is not enough water. (It is a desert. That means not much rain. Is that hard to understand?) We burn fossil fuel at an ever increasing rate worldwide, causing global warming that will melt the icecaps and raise sea level, flooding major cities. (Skeptics: There is no doubt or argument among any scientist that the Earth is warming. The doubt is that humans are causing it. Maybe, maybe not. Do you want to play Russian Roulette?)
When insurance companies get it wrong and get caught with a disaster that they did not expect, they either refuse to pay, or raise our rates. It is their job to expect disasters, and bet on when they will happen. When they lose the bet, they make us pay.
Democratic governments will tell us what we want to hear, and pay for fixing New Orleans, and allow growth in risky places. Their goal is to be elected. The future is not their problem. They treat us like children, and we let them. don't do it. Be responsible for your own life. Check the risk. Does it make sense to take a 30 year mortgage on the Outer Banks (barrier islands in North Carolina) if sea level will cover them in 20 years?
(Train of thought jumps track) People with high risk mortgages are now going bankrupt, and whining that the bank approved the loan, so it is their fault. So, the buyer loses, the bank loses, and the banks holding company loses. The stock holders lose. The pension fund loses. We lose. Idiots!
You don't have to be a genius to see ahead. Just do your own thinking.