California in Flames: Wildfires, Climate Change, and the Insurance Exodus

I’ve been watching the news about the Los Angeles (LA) wildfires and the massive destruction they’ve caused. I know many parts of Cascadia deal with wildfires because of where they’re located, but seeing parts of LA burned to the ground in just hours is heartbreaking. I have friends in and around the LA area, and some of them lost everything.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone who has been displaced, lost their homes, or been injured. To all the firefighters and emergency workers: thank you for your bravery and hard work. You are heroes and the best among us.

The blame game has already started but the reality is that wildfires are nothing new for California, it was the scale of destruction that’s unprecedented. Wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem, but with rising global temperatures, they’re only getting worse. Even my beloved Highlands in New Jersey had two wildfires in the last two years. Some might call these unusual events, and I’d agree, but I can’t remember ever worrying about wildfires here before.

It’s no surprise that insurance companies are pulling out of California and Florida in large numbers. They have the same data as climate scientists and have done the math. They know they’ll go broke if they keep offering insurance in areas now more prone to disasters.

That’s the irony of capitalism and insurance: insurance companies will show up where there’s profit to be made with reasonable risk. But now, the risk isn’t reasonable anymore, and they’re leaving.

While I’m frustrated by unchecked capitalism, this might be a wake-up call. The insurance industry is quite the racket. People pay monthly premiums to protect themselves against rare events. Yes, those events happen, and the insurance companies have to pay out, but the math works in their favor — they make more money collecting premiums than they lose in payouts.

It’s like a casino. Someone might hit the jackpot and win a million dollars, but while everyone else was gambling for that jackpot, the casino made $10 million. It’s a great business model for casinos — and for insurance companies.

I’m glad that President Biden is still in power and will provide California with the help they need. Under the Trump administration, we can’t be too sure if they’ll help or not. My advice to any donor State that didn’t go to Trump and experienced a natural disaster, hold onto your Treasury remittances and pay for yourself first. Under Trump, you might not get any help.

Sadly, our country is so divided that one political party is threatening to not help a State where the other political party is in the majority. This type of behavior plays right into the hands of our adversaries, especially Russia.

In 2010 I read a report where an ex-KGB official spoke about the plan by Russia to Balkanize the United States.

They published a map of how they believed and wanted the US to break up. Granted, this was over 14 years ago but if you were to line up the Red States vs Blue States (Receiver vs Donor States), you could argue we might split along those lines — especially if Trump's Administration doesn’t help Blue States in times of natural disaster.

I am speculating and putting on my Sentinel Intelligence hat, but you should keep a lazy eye on this.

In the meantime, our fellow Americans in California need help. If you can spare a few bucks, please donate to a reputable charity.

As always, be prepared, there is a storm approaching.