After the Fires: Will Angelenos Shrug?

First, a thank you to the hundreds of friends and donors who’ve reached out over the past week to ask whether I’ve been impacted by the fires, and whether I’m okay.  Yes, all is well here in Corral Canyon.  The fires from a few weeks ago came visibly close (photo above), burning from the eastern tip of my canyon, and taking out much of the two adjacent canyons.  That burn scar now serves as a fire break to my east (the direction of the Pacific Palisades fires), so with the winds still strong, the main concern is to our (unburned) north.

That’s the direction from which the Corral Canyon Fire came in November of 2007, eventually destroying my home along with 55 of my neighbor’s homes.  Il remember flying back from San Francisco, where I’d spent Thanksgiving with my parents, and looking out of the airplane window to see an enormous angry mushroom cloud, as if Malibu had been hit with an atomic bomb.

The next day I learned that my little roll-on bag and the clothes on my back were the only physical possessions I now owned in the world.

The next day I learned that my little roll-on bag and the clothes on my back were the only physical possessions I now owned in the world.  That plus a scorched plot of land where other than an incinerated “fireproof safe,” all other remnants of what had been my house appeared to have been beamed off the face of the earth.

But of course I had other, inner possessions: my mind, my attitude, and my determination to persevere.  And more: the inspiration provided by Ayn Rand, how she overcame the loss of her family, her country, and remade herself in the very city where I now needed to do the same.  And I had the practical tools of Objectivism, helping me apply reason to identify and solve problems, motivating me to move forward in this ultimately benevolent universe, refusing to see myself as a victim, drawing on the pride I’d earned in past accomplishments to fuel the confidence to power through the rebuilding process.

And one more thing: an aesthetic vision of the beautiful home I would now build.  It was a vision inspired by the art of Ayn Rand’s Anthem: the abandoned glass structure on a cliff that Equality 7-2521 and The Golden One would discover after escaping the collective, making their way through The Uncharted Forest, and finding the house they’d make their home.  I had my architect read the novella, and after rebuilding, I’d ultimately put my new house, inspired by Anthem, back in the very first graphic novel we published at The Atlas Society.  Full circle.

Of course, the entire experience changed me.  How could it not?  It gave me a visceral appreciation of the value of property -- not as mere “stuff,” but as a manifestation of work, of time, of productivity and creativity.

Of course, the entire experience changed me.  How could it not?  It gave me a visceral appreciation of the value of property -- not as mere “stuff,” but as a manifestation of work, of time, of productivity and creativity.  A living embodiment of choices and priorities.  

Those in this audience should need no reminding, but if any have friends or acquaintances who’ve lost everything in these fires (and I have several), please do not say well-meaning things like “at least you’re still alive.”  Several of my elderly neighbors who’d also lost their homes died within a year or so of the fires.  When they lost their homes, a bit of them died too -- and the stress of dealing with insurance, the permitting process and the Coastal Commission took what little life they had left.

While the stress of the rebuilding process didn’t kill me, it certainly aged me.  The Coastal Commission in particular refused to let me rebuild my entire 3,000 square foot home, despite my having presented evidence that that’s precisely what I’d been paying property taxes on for years prior.  Like a faceless bureaucrat out of Atlas Shrugged, they’d repeat “our hands are tied.”

It’s that kind of bureaucratic indifference, incompetence, and -- certainly in the case of those whose magnificent lost homes represented superior achievement -- envy that will now confront the thousands who’ve lost everything in these ongoing fires. 

It’s that kind of bureaucratic indifference, incompetence, and -- certainly in the case of those whose magnificent lost homes represented superior achievement -- envy that will now confront the thousands who’ve lost everything in these ongoing fires.  And that torture and humiliation will be compounded by the dawning realization that government indifference, incompetence, envy, and outright anti-humanity led to policies and priorities that made the destruction wreaked by these fires so much worse than they had to be.

• LA Mayor Karen Bass leaving for Ghana to attend an inauguration, after receiving notice of impending catastrophic fire conditions.
• This AFTER she cut $17.5 million from the fire budget -- which the Fire Chief warned would undermine their ability to effectively fight fires.
• Endemic prioritization of DEI over competence at the LA Fire Department, sublimating merit to identity politics in appointments and promotions
• The firing of firefighters and other responders for refusing to bow to vaccine mandates.
• More than 300 fire hydrants were stolen from L.A. County streets between January 2023 and May 2024, thanks to rampant crime.
• LA water chief Janisse Quiñones emptying the Santa Ynez Reservoir RIGHT NEXT TO Pacific Palisades, and failing to refill it despite Red Flag Warnings (while pulling down $750,000 a year).
• LA Fire Department’s decision to send “surplus” fire supplies to Ukraine three years ago -- turned out they were not that “surplus” after all.
• California voters approved spending $7.5 billion to improve water storage TEN YEARS AGO—but not one reservoir has been built.
• And perhaps most devastating, pursuit of insane environmental policies and perpetuation of environmental regulations inhibiting sensible forest and brush management policies, like controlled burns and fire breaks.

And tragically, as those who decide to rebuild will soon learn, their nightmare is just beginning as they enter the dystopian journey of trying to navigate the costly, opaque and interminable permitting process.

And tragically, as those who decide to rebuild will soon learn, their nightmare is just beginning as they enter the dystopian journey of trying to navigate the costly, opaque and interminable permitting process.  This is an ordeal I know only too well.  I managed to be the second of the 55 fire victims in our canyon to rebuild.  It took me three years -- two of those tied up with dealing with securing seemingly endless permits.

One I recall with particular bitterness: the Fire Department itself said it would withhold their permit unless I, a private citizen, paid for and undertook the widening of the public road in front of my house.  The public road.  For libertarians and Objectivists who are invariably mocked with the rejoinder, “But who will build the roads?”, my then state of affairs holds a particular irony.  

Apparently, for the government, the answer to that particular perennial question was: “Well, the fire victim of course.”  Or at least that was their answer until I threatened to unleash a legal firestorm of my own.

When asked whether her magnum opus was a prophecy, Ayn Rand famously replied: “Atlas Shrugged is not a prophecy of our unavoidable destruction, but a manifesto of our power to avoid it, if we choose to change our course.”

Which begs the question, will the residents of Los Angeles -- especially those who’ve lost their homes and their businesses -- will they choose to change course?   Will they realize the extent to which the incompetence of the elected leaders they voted for resulted in policies and priorities which made the destruction of the ongoing fires so much worse than it had to be?  Will the excruciating years ahead of dealing with the permitting process make them ask: “Why does it have to be this way?”

It doesn’t -- and didn’t -- have to be this way.  But Angelenos -- and Californians -- at least those who haven’t already “gone Galt” and moved out of state, will need to choose to change course. 

It doesn’t -- and didn’t -- have to be this way.  But Angelenos -- and Californians -- at least those who haven’t already “gone Galt” and moved out of state, will need to choose to change course.  To vote for competence, regardless of party.  To dispense with alarmist climate change shibboleths in favor of sensibly adapting to our environment to mitigate the endemic fire threat of this region.  To embrace the exhilarating possibilities of this AI revolution to pursue technological solutions to deal with California’s age-old fire threat.  To rediscover a love for humanity -- and a love for themselves.

Those like myself who’ve experienced the trauma of losing their home to fires have a unique sympathy for those who are now suffering through that ordeal.  I hope with all my heart that they make it through, and I hope some of them make it through stronger, more resilient and wiser.  And I hope that that wisdom includes a reevaluation of continuing to support the same leaders and same policies that will lead to the same results next time we’ve got 80 mph Santa Ana winds blowing through Southern California’s notoriously flammable landscape.

To do otherwise is to invite an inevitable repeat of the destruction that we see all around us today in the wake of these fires.  And if that comes to pass, despite this tragically teachable moment, then what other response is possible except the immortal lines from Atlas Shrugged?:

“Brother, you asked for it.”