LA Fires: Capitalism in Action !
The Best and the Worst of Humanity
The press has shown the best and the worst of humanity. In the first week at least 50 million dollars poured in from ordinary people around the world to help LA. People , even those who have been burned out , are helping other people, setting up re-supply centers , clearing debris etc. Firefighters from around the world are coming in to help — -even Ukraine is sending help ! The help from Mexican firefighters must be especially galling to Trump.
At the same time, landlords are using the crisis to rent-gouge . Developers are hovering like vultures over the remnants of the homes of poor people , trying to make a killing. The government ( LA? California ?) passed a law against price-gouging during a disaster. Obviously necessary, but contradictory — -price gouging in general is of the essence of capitalism. It has to be “banned”( how will the ban be carried out?) in a disaster because otherwise the outrage of people would be too high. But what about price-gouging in “ normal “ times ?
Politicization?
The establishment politics of it are predictable. Republicans who vociferously support fossil fuels are criticizing California officials for “ woke” policies , most of which they cannot name and accusing them of refusing to bring in water to save non-existent fish. Some of them suddenly decide that budget cuts are bad when it comes to the fire department while they champion austerity everywhere else. The right wing of course ramps up racism , sexism and anti-LGBT bigotry by implying the failure to contain the fires is due to “DEI hires” and a Lesbian fire chief !
Defenders of the Democrats try to claim that the city did not technically cut the fire department budget. But the record clearly shows that underfunding has been a consistent problem and consistently protested. Obviously right wing “ solutions” will only make things worse, but consistent Democratic Party dominance of California has done nothing to prevent the disaster.
Both parties are at fault. Behind the parties, it is the system that is the cause: the Climate Crisis which has created an unprecedented drought and tinderbox conditions; building in fire prone areas for a profit; cutting budgets for prevention and mitigation; creating a housing crisis and perpetual homelessness that leaves no room for emergencies etc.
Too many commentators decry the “politicizing” of the crisis. Of course much of political comment on the crisis is partisan posturing. It only intends to bolster one side or the other of the capitalist political spectrum. It is not intended to find solutions.
However, there is never a better time to examine the actual political and economic roots of disasters. To reject “ politicizing” is to reject finding viable solutions.
Mass Incarceration and Gaza
This crisis of course intersects with all other issues. Any society that relies on mass incarceration to handle fires is in trouble ! Inmates get five to ten dollars a day to risk their lives . Outrageous !
The relation to Gaza is clear: the system causes both. In the case of Gaza , the genocide is immediately purposeful. The ruling class of Israel backed by the U.S. has a goal of killing as many Palestinians as possible. In LA , the purpose is once removed. The ruling class clings to fossil fuels KNOWING that the result will be disasters like this. They did not plan this disaster like they planned the bombing of Gaza but they were willing to accept disasters like this to keep the profits rolling in.
In bourgeois legal doctrine , a person is deemed legally responsible for the results of their actions if those results were foreseeable by a rational person, even if they didn’t intend them. If you fire a gun into a crowd, you can claim you didn’t intend to kill any particular person but you are still responsible. The ruling class stands condmened by its own doctrine. It’s time to take the gun away !
Capitalism is incopatible with human civilization in the long run. It contradicts decency, life and limb and human needs in the short run.
