Italy's Mt. Vesuvius hasn't erupted since the 1940s. It has a "major" eruption every 200 or so years, and it has been 2000 years since the famous city of Pompeii was wiped out. With all of the post-WWII urban sprawl, government officials are worried about people encroaching on the still active volcano. USA Today reports that so great is the concern for a repeat of the Pompeii disaster, that Italy actually wants to pay people not to live near it.

Authorities hope to thin the ranks of residents so they can be evacuated when Mount Vesuvius erupts again. They are doing this by offering cash incentives to move, demolishing the illegal buildings that have sprouted on its flanks and establishing a national park at its top.

It's only a matter of time before it does erupt, scientists say.

As someone who used to live in Naples and has toured Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, I fail to see the imminent threat. As a libertarian, I don't see where people's encroachment on the volcano should be a big government concern. If residents want to take the chance by living on the side of an active volcano, that is their business. It should be the same amount of care and concern for those people that live in areas prone to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and all the other natural disasters out there. Using taxpayer funds to coerce people to move away from a volcano is just silly. Ironically, these are probably the same type of people who think that liberating Iraq is a waste of money because there was no immanent threat.

On another note, the article also contained this curious notion: "So quiet [is the volcano], in fact, that Pope John Paul II visited Pompeii Oct. 7 to pray for peace at a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary." I guess that compared to the daily eruptions of Kilauea in Hawaii (which has been erupting since 1983) Vesuvius is quite dormant. Still, they make it seem as though the Pope visiting a volcano that hasn't erupted in 60 years to be extraordinary, while at the same time saying that the volcano is very quiet.