Everyone's blaming their fave bogeyman for the fires: Progressivism, an ill-timed trip to Ghana, that most recent cause of all evil, DEI—you name it.

I say it's what economists call "future discounting" on the part of residents, voters, and politicians, i.e., a "present bias" to prefer a lesser good today to a greater good tomorrow.

The "lesser good" here is the instant gratification associated with the cheapness and laziness of not spending the time and $$$ we all knew needed to be spent on fire mitigation. The "greater good" is the delayed gratification associated with not having whole neighborhoods vanish in flames and smoke.

Contra some commentators, SoCal need not be subject to fire disasters. We need to start down the road to recovery and safety by collectively ceasing to discount the future.