Blaming the victim means that victims of crimes or tragedies are held accountable for what happened to them.
Others lay the blame on the victim, such as a domestic violence case, because “she had it coming.” Experts say that is a fundamental attribution error, which is a bias that involves attributing other people’s behaviors to characteristics, ignoring external forces and variables that might have played a role.
Experts say another issue in blaming the victim is hindsight bias, which means people blame the victim because they should have known or expected things to happen.
Officials are blaming victims for the Palisades Fire, which is still under investigation. Somehow, because of how Palisades residents lived, we are responsible for the number of homes that burned.
We had the wrong landscaping, we built with the wrong materials, we didn’t prepare for climate change, we did not have enough roads in and out of Pacific Palisades, we screwed up firefighter access because our cars clogged the roads when we were trying to get out. And the people that burned/died? Somehow, they should have known to evacuate.
This small home surrounded by vegetation in the Alphabet Streets survived the fire.
How do we know this? L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has put together a Blue Ribbon Commission to tell us what we should have done to prevent the fires.
It’s like blaming a rape victim because someone deemed her clothes were provocative.
In this case, since we were “raped” officials are now going to tell us how to dress, so it won’t happen again.
There’s no mention of the guilt of the perpetrator: the cause of the fire, the inadequate and long response-time, the lack of firefighters, the lack of water, the fact that water and gas were not turned off – and the fact that no one was fighting the fire. And let’s not overlook brush clearance in the state and local parks surrounding homes.
Why are those government officials not held responsible and charged, rather than telling victims it was their fault, and they need to make changes?
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath launched an independent Commission with support from the California Community Foundation (nonprofit https://www.calfund.org/) and research partner UCLA in the immediate aftermath of the fires.
Horvath says this Blue Ribbon Commission is unique.
https://labrcommission.org/blue-ribbon-commission-on-climate-action-and-fire-safe-recovery#home
According to the report, this Commission is unique because:
- It focuses on best practice sustainable and climate resilient strategies to protect and enhance buildings, neighborhoods, and infrastructure. (Residents, who are not among the experts on this commission might say, “put water on fires and their neighborhood does not burn. Have enough fire trucks in place during a Santa Ana event and ensure that reservoirs are full and hydrants are working. Many residents had already developed fire-resistant buildings, which still burned in this fire.)
- The commission convenes 18 of the top practitioners on all aspects of climate-resilient development. (Can these top practitioners help residents get insurers to pay on insurance policies? Do these practitioners deal with the misnamed Fair Plan? One would have a better chance of breaking even in Las Vegas.)
- The commissions will be housed at and supported by UCLA, drawing upon the expertise of nearly two dozen of the world’s top researchers in their fields. (Have these experts lost homes? Have they been given socks and shirts from complete strangers? Do they understand the urgency and emotional need to go back home, which were destroyed through no fault of victims?)
- It will produce data and cost-driven recommendations (No experts are needed, residents can tell you the estimated cost of rebuilding is $750 to $1,200 a square foot. Residents can also tell you that permit and building fees are still being held hostage and that odd restrictions such as if a detached garage is now attached to the front of the house, that footage is considered residential footage and subtracted from your home).
- It will include community engagement and input of ideas, with an equity lens (Thank goodness for an equity lens, we all know that fire is discriminatory and only burns rich Caucasian homes).
- While written with policymakers and key stakeholders in mind, it will be an independent report (Since the report is FOR fire victims, it is nice to know they will be kept in mind. Not asked or questioned but kept in mind.)
- No government or political office will edit the recommendations (Perhaps a contractor, builder or businessman should).
Blame the Palisades and Eaton residents for the widespread damage. And then spend lots of money, not on the victims, but on proving what they did wrong in a Blue Ribbon Commission report.
It is easier for city and county officials to blame victims for a fire that should have never happened, than to take responsibility for their mistakes.
This garage, surrounded by vegetation survived the fire, the home behind it did not.
This is, perhaps, your best issue.
Yes, indeed, we will be blamed.
City hall will turn on us like a wild animal
looking for prey. Even though they were the
negligent party.
Once again, our hometown treasure Sue Pascoe hits the ball out of the park. She deserves a Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant editorial!
Everyone, please! Donate to help Sue continue bringing us Circling the News!
Thank you, Sue— for expressing my outrage. Most of our landscape survived and our house burned to the ground. Firemen were on our street but no water. They watched.
It is my position that while trees may slow the spread of wildfire, they are not capable of stopping it. Only a sufficient water supply can effectively halt a fire’s advance. Conversely, the lack of water enables fires to spread rapidly and uncontrollably. Any public relations narrative that suggests otherwise amounts to misdirection, not fact.
In Ventura a firefighter for 25 years said to us that from his assigned Topanga lookout location he has never seen such a huge fire ball as the Palisades Fire. January 7th will go down in the record books.
We all lost everything in the Palisades Village.
Does anybody want to bet that Lindsey Horvath has some sort of connection to the “experts” at California Community Foundation?
Also, if these “best practice sustainable and climate resilient strategies ” are so important why weren’t they codified in local regulations and laws?
Responding to Robert, another question about the “California Community Foundation” is how many of the FireAid donations have they received, and where has that money gone? I doubt the donators wanted it to go to a “Blue Ribbon” Study that blames the victims and offers no help[ultimately suggestions for how to deal with this City-negligently-caused Calamity.