Too much hypocrisy, too many videos of too many well-off people praising firemen. It all rings hollow to me.

The recent California wildfires have not only scorched landscapes but also illuminated glaring disparities in our society. As flames engulfed affluent neighbourhoods like Pacific Palisades and Hollywood Hills, a troubling question emerged: Why are firefighters risking their lives to protect communities they can’t afford to live in?

The irony is palpable. Firefighters, hailed as heroes, cannot afford to live in the neighbourhoods they’re tasked with saving. In Pacific Palisades homes can cost over $20 million. Google lists the average Los Angeles County firefighter salary as $241,846, which is 71 percent higher than the average salary for this job in California, and 124 percent higher than the average salary for this job nationwide, and still, this is not enough to afford the 3 million plus (according to Zillow) average price of a home in Pacific Palisades. This contrast illustrates the growing chasm between the servant classes and the very well off and billionaire classes of USA-America, exposing a profound and long-standing disconnect between the public statements of the wealthy and the socioeconomic realities they help perpetuate.

While affluent residents often express gratitude and admiration for firefighters during crises, their support rarely extends to advocating for policies that would address the root causes of inequality. With the arriving rainy season, oligopoly financial capitalism marches on without its owners and greatest beneficiaries acting on their statements of thanks, until the servant class is once again needed, with the arriving fires of the next dry season. And then we listen to the praise once more.

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SIDEBAR 1: A Report by Canadian News Channel—CBC/Radio on Jan 10, 2025

This hypocrisy – praising essential workers while simultaneously benefiting from and maintaining systems that keep these workers economically disadvantaged – is not new. It’s a persistent feature of societies with extreme wealth disparities, where the well-off can afford to offer hollow praise without sacrificing their privileged position.

The disconnect is particularly glaring in the case of firefighters, who risk their lives to protect properties they could never hope to afford. The praise lavished upon them during emergencies stands in stark contrast to the lack of support for meaningful economic reforms that would allow these essential workers to live in the communities they serve. This juxtaposition of heroic status and economic precarity highlights the deep-seated inequities in our society where expressions of gratitude are rarely followed with an advocacy for a fairer society.

Now, let’s examine and consider the potential impact if firefighters decided to act, demonstrate, or go on strike, choosing to only protect neighbourhoods where they can afford to live.

Such a drastic action would force society to confront the consequences of extreme inequality in ways that mere discussions, and recycling praise, cannot.

The immediate effects would be severe:

• Increased property damage in wealthy areas, potentially leading to an exodus of high-net-worth individuals.

• A crisis in the insurance industry, with skyrocketing premiums or outright refusal to cover certain areas.

• Potential spread of fires to less affluent neighborhoods if left unchecked in wealthy enclaves.

However, this action could catalyze significant societal changes… Examine.

• Urgent reassessment of firefighter compensation and benefits.

• Immediate focus on affordable housing policies in affluent areas.

• Broader public discourse on wealth inequality and its impact on essential services.

• Pressure on wealthy residents to support concrete measures for income equity, rather than offering hollow praise.

Critics would likely label such action as unethical or illegal. The response to this, if it ever occurs, should be.

Is a system that perpetuates such stark inequality ethical? With the firefighters’ stand seen as a necessary form of civil disobedience, highlighting the lack of equity in the annual cycle of praise then disregard, underscoring the emptiness of praise without action.

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SIDEBAR 2: NBC News (US), on Jan 11, 2025

Wealthy individuals who genuinely value the services of firefighters and other essential workers would advocate for:

• Progressive taxation to fund better compensation for public servants.

• Inclusive zoning laws that ensure a mix of housing options in all neighborhoods.

• Limits on private firefighting services to ensure equitable protection for all.

• Investment in affordable housing near job centers.

I suspect there are few wealthy who would do so. Praise in a time of horror and pain is easy, acting on that praise… Well… California’s been burning for many, many, years without any fairness change, so far.

In conclusion, the disparity between the wealth of certain neighbourhoods and the economic reality of those who protect them is not just an abstract issue—it’s a powder keg waiting to ignite!

If firefighters were to take the drastic step of only protecting areas where they can afford to live, it might force our society to confront these and other inequities before American society explodes. Something that seems likely when you observe the responses of average Americans, with poor health care, to the recent murder of the insurance executive-tycoon by The Young Man, Mangione.

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Sidebar 3: Katie Halper—Pinning down the causes for these disasters—Oligarchic agriculture, among other things.

Katie Halper
Jan 10, 2025

Such an action would be a powerful statement that could spark real change and challenge wealthy individuals to move beyond empty words of gratitude, towards a more equitable society.

Alert – Alert… The real fire we need to extinguish is the one of runaway inequality, before it consumes the nation with as societally devastating effects as the fire’s flames have done to homes, buildings and businesses of Los Angeles, California.

Sometimes, it takes a spark to start a fire—or in this case, to put one out!

And then there are the prisoners let out of jail and prisons to fight the fires. It is likely that even ancient Rome would have freed them for such a service.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J. Matson Heininger is a frequent commentator on public affairs. His substack archive can be found at: https://jmatsonheininger.substack.com/archive

Katie Halper (@TheKatieHalperShow), and Yasha Levine are citizen journalists opposed to neoliberalism.