California Mansions Burning: A Perspective

We have sympathy for anyone whose house burns down. The same applies to flood, hurricane and tornado victims. Earthquakes too. Any “natural disaster”.

That said, this sympathy runs short when the risk of such disasters is ignored by the residents of the areas affected. When you build or live in a risky area, accept responsibility for the eventual outcome.

This holds no sway with the US media. Wailing and gnashing of teeth is standard. Tearful interviews abound. We wouldn’t go quite as far as satirical commentator Glenn Beck, who implies that the rich residents of Malibu do not deserve any sympathy at all. A mansion is a home, after all. If you contrast the efforts to save the mountain retreats of the rich, with the efforts to save the urban lowlands of New Orleans, the issue comes into focus.

It seems some disaster relief is more effective than others.

There were some insurance companies who were seen wetting down the mansions of their clients [not the owners, of course]. We believe that is who should save the mansions. The US taxpayer should not pay to have a flight drop of fire retardant on any single California hillside McMansion. California taxpayer? Sure.

Strange, how the fire in the media looks as if it rages all across the state, everywhere you look. The real time fire maps tell a different story. Cozy hillsides in cozy canyons filled with the rich and famous. No fires in the urban jungle.

Those, they set themselves. Remember Watts, 1965.