First, they defunded the police while raising the criteria for what is a felony, and crime surged. Then Los Angeles cut $18 million from the fire department budget, despite warnings that it would hurt the department’s ability to fight large fires and would reduce the amount of aerial firefighting available, and we had multiple fires across Los Angeles blazed out of control.
Let’s not forget that President Biden reversed Trump’s successful border policy and allowed in 10 million illegal immigrants and an untold amount of fentanyl to cross the border. Crime surged, housing costs jumped, overdoses grew, homelessness increased, gang activity accelerated, and counties and cities spent more and more on housing and caring for “migrants” that nobody wanted there in the first place than they did for their citizens. Meanwhile, most of the job growth under Biden went to recent immigrants, leaving citizens unemployed.
I could go on. There’s the war on fossil fuels, DEI candidates getting jobs for which they are not qualified, banning gas cars by 2035, tax breaks for electric vehicles, and let’s not forget masks, social distancing and other lies.
In short, the country is beset with problems of its own making. Or at least problems that were made by government officials across city, state and federal levels. Problems that may have been foreseen but were ignored, deferred or went unfunded so the politicians could allow men to play on women’s sports teams and make sure no one was interfering with drag queen story time or a child’s “right” to be called by a new pronoun.
Sniping and Infighting
When our politicians should be helping, they are bitching and sniping at each other. They are laying blame and pointing fingers.
What happened to the days when an honorable politician stood up, apologized for making a bad decision, took full responsibility for the outcome and pledged to do better or resigned?
My experience in Helene was that local officials were the most helpful, followed by charities and aid organizations who came from outside the area of destruction, but most of the victims consider FEMA to be a four letter word. I can only imagine how much being in a disaster area must suck if your mayor and governor are too busy deflecting blame than trying to address the problem.
While they continue to blame the fires on “climate change,” socialism would be more likely. Of course, there seems to be evidence that some fires were started by arcs in electrical cables and others by arson or fires set by homeless people.
Killing the American Dream
What we are witnessing right now is the death of the American Dream in Los Angeles. Home ownership—the goal of many adults and often a path to financial freedom—has been erased for 12,000 families at last count. Sure, some of them may be wealthy enough to shrug it off and move to one of their other houses, but plenty of those houses that are now ash were owned by hard-working Americans who have seen their dreams go up in smoke. Literally.
Where will these people live? Is FEMA or Los Angeles going to put them up in hotels? Will they go to other cities, or other states, and start from scratch? Will they move in with friends and family? And if so, for how long?
If the fire victims are lucky enough to have insurance and get paid the replacement cost for their lost home, how long will it take to build a new house? Three to five years? Does the county have enough building inspectors to cover the sudden surge in the development of new single-family homes? And are there enough listened contractors, or will they come from out of state? Either way, expect building costs to jump.
I know the realtor representing a family in this area who lost their house in the flood during Helene. Every time a house comes on the market, they rush to see it because there is so little housing available. That low supply and high demand is driving up sale prices.
Coming to a City Near You
You may not have to live through a huge fire, like in Los Angeles, or an event like Helene in Tennessee and North Carolina, but trust me, problems are going to come your way one day. You need to be prepared.
A local disaster might be manmade. It could be crime, or protests run amuck. It might be gangs taking over apartment buildings, or drug and grocery stores shutting down because of large-scale organized retail theft. Maybe your area will experience government corruption, or your municipality may cut back on services because of a budget shortfall or bankruptcy. The electric utility serving your region could become unreliable. Condominiums might start sinking into the ocean or a hurricane sweeps houses and businesses away. You could experience a toxic chemical spill after a train crash, like we saw last year in Ohio. A cargo ship could crash into a critical bridge or a landslide could shut down the freeway you commute on. A pipeline closure could result in a gasoline shortage. All of these have happened or are happening somewhere. Are you prepared for how they could change your life?
Egg shortages could be the least of your problems.
Video of the Day
Out of all the videos I have seen, I think this one drove home how the Santa Ana winds contributed to the fire spreading. These palm trees look life fireworks.
