Wildfires are a fact of life in California.  People have been dealing with them since day one. 

How on earth did the Los Angeles fires get out of control? 

Then, I remembered the word 'kakistocracy,' which means rule by the worst.

Kakistocracy is a lot like musical chairs.  The elites collect bribes and other "contributions," while scheming not to be the chump left standing when the music stops.

Applying kakistocracy to the Los Angeles fire reminds me of Ernest Hemingway's description of how bankruptcy works: gradually then suddenly. 

So here is an illustration of that:

Gradually: In California, local infrastructure has not expanded with population.  The reason for this is that given a choice between boring, low-key jobs like keeping the water flowing and people safe, as well as loud, flashy projects that lead to contributions; politicians prefer flash and trash. 

Despite having endless money for social justice programs and other flash and trash, Los Angeles never had money to expand the reservoirs that fed the city's fire hydrants.  No surprise then, that when the fire came, the city's fire hydrants ran dry.

Gradually: It might have been possible to keep enough water flowing into Southern California to fight the fire, but in exchange for contributions from the environmental movement, Gov. Gavin Newsom refused to allow millions of gallons of water from excess rain and snowmelt in Northern California to be sent to Southern California.  He also ended the preemptive burning of dry brush, which acts as a tinder in forest fires.  

Gradually: When told she didn't have money for all the flash and trash in the city budget, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cut $17 million from the city's fire department budget.  Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley decided the best use of her remaining resources was to double down on mandatory diversity, equity, inclusion training.  Just because you can’t do your job doesn't mean you can't have the correct pronoun for any occasion.

Suddenly: Now there is no official explanation as to how the Los Angeles fire began, but a homeless man running amok with a “large flame thrower” (it was a blowtorch) has been detained.  Suddenly, 30,000 acres are burning with zero percent contained, or at last announcement, eight percent contained. 

Suddenly, impeccable pronouns matter less than the city's fire hydrants running dry.  Suddenly, you're tallying up the cost not just of the fire in terms of lives lost and property destroyed, but of the collateral damage from second-order effects like looting, lack of power, limited food, and inadequate shelter.

Suddenly, real leadership matters, but shocked at being the chumps left standing in their corrupt game of musical chairs, Los Angeles's Mayor Karen Bass is left speechless, and Gov. Newsom looks downright weepy.  [Update: Mayor Bass finally found her voice!  She is currently refusing outside help.]

Watching a once great city burn, I was stumped at how this could happen.  Then I remembered that California is the land of kakistocracy, and suddenly, it all made sense.

Image: Picryl // public domain