Yes, you kids think insurance is just for dummies, don't you? Only a fool would pay good money for that stuff. You're just betting against the house, eh?
Well, let's take this example, concerning cars. You are leaving a party one night and you've been doing things you should not do. You light a cigarette and after a couple of drags, it falls out of your hands onto the floor. You reach over to pick it up, and are a bit too slow doing so. Next thing you know, you've just rear ended a car with Mom and Dad in the front and two little kids in the back. Your deed puts the two kids in the hospital for several weeks. Hopefully, they recover.
Regardless, Mom and Dad would like to speak with you: Not just right now, but for the rest of your sorry little life. If you have automobile insurance, the bills will be paid, Mom and Dad will be compensated, and you may live a normal life after this incident. If you do not have insurance, your entire life is now totally screwed.
Another example. You finally buy a house. You don't feel like betting against the house, so you fail to purchase homeowner's insurance. (Yeah, no decent mortgage company is going to allow this, but just play along for fun.) One cold winter day, someone slips and falls on your slippery sidewalk. Not your fault, right? Wrong, my uninsured friend. You have a nice liability claim on your hands now. Insured? No problem. Uninsured? Big problem. You'll be working a lot of hours to pay that little bill handed you by the leading contributors to the Democrats in any election cycle.
I could go on here for a long time, but take a look at example number three before I go. You have your own kid. (Yeah, I know that's a big stretch for a lot of you to imagine, but try real hard.) You have a life insurance guy come by to see you. You tell him to hit the road, Jack: That's the last thing I'm spending my money on! Your wife is pregnant with number two. You're the sole breadwinner because you want Mom to stay home with the kids, and that's what Mom wants to do, too. In fact, she's got no real skills except being a good wife and mother; not that these skills aren't crucial to the species. I'm speaking of marketable skills.
You are coming home one night in your BMW and some uninsured drunk crosses the median and smacks you so hard you don't have time to say, "Shit!" before you're taking a dirt nap.
So what does Mom do now? One on the floor; one in the oven. No paycheck. Beg from the family that remains? Pretty degrading. They may not be charitable. Get a job for low pay and spend it all putting the kids in daycare? Hit the streets as a hooker?
No matter what happens, you could have avoided this problem for the price of a family meal at a good restaurant once a month.
I know many of you are young and don't feel the need. But please don't denigrate things you really don't understand, OK?