So, Southern California (SoCal) is in flames, as everyone must know because it is in all the papers and ABC pre-empted my favorite television show last night to do a special report on it. It is truly terrible how many people have been evacuated, homes destroyed, landscape devastated, all to the tune of millions -if not billions- of dollars in damage. I know that I should feel bad for these people. I know that I should sympathize with their very real human suffering.
But I can't. Call me cold; call me cruel. But I just can't feel anything for these mostly extremely wealthy people who have lost their million-dollar Malibu and and San Diego homes and now reside in a football stadium all because they refuse to leave "paradise." Oh, I know that it's hit some average Joes and Janes too. But mostly it's been the filthy rich.
My lack of sympathy is not directly related to my opinions about the victims' wealth. Certainly the fact that most of them probably have more than enough insurance to allow them to rebuild with very little inconvenience does factor into the equation, but it is not the bottom line. No. The real reason for my response would be apparent if you actually watch or read the news reports in which these victims make statements. Almost all of them say something along the lines of "We've been through this before, but not this bad." And "We're just hoping it's over soon so that we can start to put our lives back together again as soon as possible."
These statements tell me two things:
First, this DOES happen in SoCal... a lot. To be sure, it is seldom, if ever, this bad, but it is always happening. Southern California is desert, but unlike deserts in the southwest, which get little if any rain and consequently have almost no vegetation other than cacti, SoCal gets some rain in the winter, which means that it grows grass and stuff that dies when the winter rains stop so that by summer and fall, there is a lot of dried up, extremely combustible vegetation covering the landscape. SoCal also has dry, hot winds every single year, many, many times a year. The conditions couldn't be better for wildfires. So, unlike a Hurricane Katrina-type disaster that happens occasionally when a thousand factors play out just right, these SoCal fires happen every single year, several times a year. And everyone knows this.
As a result, I have a hard time feeling sorry for these people. They chose to build very expensive homes in the heart of a fire-prone area. Where's the surprise that those homes are now burning, burnt, or threatened by fire? Duh!
Furthermore, the second statement indicates something very detrimental to any sympathy on my part. Most of these people have the money to go elsewhere, but they are choosing to stay in that stadium for one reason and one reason only. They didn't just build their homes in a dangerous area in the first place, they are staying as close as they can, hoping that the fires are contained soon so that they can go right back to them! Did they learn a lesson? Are they fleeing? Will they use a little common sense and make a life in a more hospitable environment? Nope. They are living off of taxpayer dollars so that they can quickly repeat what was a stupid and costly decision in the first place. And they are putting thousands of firefighters' lives on the line as a result.
There are real tragedies, unavoidable ones, happening all over the world. I cannot feel that these people deserve my sympathy.
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3 comments:
I understand where you're coming from, but at the same time I can't help but remember those Jacks and Janes. I imagine they're the ones at the football stadium, actually, since the wealthy are probably living it up in a hotel somewhere.
But, I dunno, people never cease to amaze me in the worst possible way.
I sometimes feel the same way when these kinds of things happen, but then I usually feel guilty because I'm judging someone else whose life I may guess at, but I will never know... and as TWP pointed out, I suspect there are a lot of Janes and Jacks who are caught up in the situation and can't do a thing about it.
I've been in uncomfortable situations that were preventable but that I didn't take precautions against, and they hurt just as bad as the ones that blindsided me, so maybe that's where the guilt comes from. But I hear what you're saying.
I understand where both of you are coming from. That's why I know I SHOULD feel sympathy for the victims. I know that most people probably do. But I believe people are accountable for their actions and decisions.
Now, maybe I don't know everything about their lives. But I do know that the destroyed "million dollar homes" are not grand mansions that would be valued at a million dollars where most people live. These are average-sized, three/four bedroom family homes. The exact same house would cost about $750,000 in Davis and less than $400,000 in Sacramento. Heck, the exact house would be significantly less expensive twenty miles in from the coast where it was built. So, a person doesn't live there unless he or she really wants to AND has the financial means to do so. Period. It is a choice.
And this is not like accidently leaving the car door open so that your battery dies and you can't start the car. That is an avoidable situation that you allowed to happen. It is stupid, and you know it, but it's minor. At worst, it causes inconvenience, even major inconvenience sometimes. But this is people's homes and lives, and they knew better. There is no excuse for that. It is an irrefutable fact that the SoCal coast is prone to fires, not just now and again but every single year, several times a year. Many of them don't make the national news, so you may not be aware of their frequency, but everyone here knows about them. It's common knowledge. And I can't help but think people who chose to build or buy down there must accept the consequences when something like this happens, and I don't feel I owe them any sympathy. They knew what they were getting into.
If I feel sad, I am sad because we, that is humans, insist on living where we don't belong and just expecting with godlike arrogance that nothing will happen. And then when it does, we shout "WHY ME!" That is truly sad.
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