
Who'll Cover Us?
When "Acts Of God" and Godless Insurance Corporations Collide
As fires rage across Southern California this week, fueled by hurricane-force winds that tore through the region just days ago, the air remains thick and the skies have beenāat timesāapocalyptic.
Ash and debris coat everything. And the skyāan eerie orange-red hazeālooks more like a photograph of Mars than a scene from Earth.
Air quality is beyond terrible. Despite calmer winds for the past few days, most Californiansāmyself includedāare bracing for whatās next.
Typically, wind and fires are followed by rain and mudslides.
Having lived in California since the late 1990s, Iāve seen Mother Natureās wrath grow in destruction and speed. The stateās delicate ecosystem is constantly pushed to the brink by climate change, urban sprawl, political ambitions, and public policies.
But while we can debate who or what is to blame for this weekās fires, the immediate focus is containment and recovery. Unfortunately, the recovery process is anything but straightforward, especially when it comes to insuranceāthe supposed safety net thatās meant to catch us when Mother Nature strikes.
Insurance companies love to sell us on the idea of security. Auto, business, health, home, lifeāthey promise coverage for every aspect of our lives. But when disaster strikes, those promises more often than not leave the insured out in the cold.
Wildfires, for example, are increasingly excluded from standard home insurance policies, forcing homeowners to seek expensive specialty coverageāor go without entirely. And even when coverage exists, the process of making a claim can be an uphill battle, with insurers doing everything they can to minimize payouts.
For freelancers and renters like myself, this is nothing new. Iāve known the feeling of being overcharged and underinsured since I graduated college. And yetā¦it remains scary for me and everyone I know. For the rest of American society, this could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camelās back. Or not.
Americaās attention span is historically shortāand becoming shorterāas we watch one tragedy cut to the next, like weāre spectators at a tennis match. Tragically, the "balls" being volleyed back and forth across our televisions are not more than just media circus fodderātheyāre peopleās lives. Lives that could easily be ours, or those of people just like us.
The fires blazing through Los Angeles and beyond are a stark reminder that our current systems arenāt equipped to handle the realities of climate change.
Insurance companies may call these disasters āacts of God,ā but thereās nothing divine about the way they abandon people in their time of need.
So whoāll cover us? If history is any guide, the answer is no one.
So itās up to the rest of usāfamilies, friends, communities, neighbors, and grassroots effortsāto help clean up, demand change, and rebuild wherever possible.
As the fires continue burning and the skies continue raining ash and debris, one thing is clear: the promises of safety and security sold to us by insurance companies, local governments, and public utilities are little more than smoke and mirrors.
We deserve better.
Thanks for reading and subscribing!
Clint
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ON THIS DAY
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1755 or 1757 = Alexander Hamilton = Nevisian-American general, economist, politician, and 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury š
1825 = Bayard Taylor = American poet, critic, and translator š
1899 = Eva Le Gallienne = English actor = producer and director š
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1928 = David L. Wolper = American director and producer
1942 = Clarence Clemons = American saxophonist and actor
1946 = Naomi Judd = American singer-songwriter and actor
1971 = Mary J. Blige = American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
EVENTS = HIGHLIGHTS
1927 = Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
1949 = The first "networked" television broadcasts took place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
1964 = Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.
1973 = An American Family, a documentary series focusing on the Loud family of Santa Barbara, CA, premieres on PBS. During its 12-episode run, son Lance Loud comes out publicly on the show, characterizing himself as āHomo of the Year.ā
1984 = The Wall Street Journal allows staff writers to now use the word āgay,ā as a synonym for āhomosexualā in article and headlines.
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Alexander Hamilton
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These are not "acts of God" but acts of greedy, ignorant people who care more about profits than protecting our habitat. Long-lasting droughts, monster floods, etc. are directly linked to climate change driven by human activity, which exacerbates and accelerates the so-called greenhouse effect and global warming. Insurance companies are, in general, part of those greedy people who could care less about preserving the environment. Sadly, they're part of the chorus who chant "drill! drill! drill!"... Repugnant. Glad to hear you're safe, Clint!
I've visited SoCal many, many times over the previous dozen plus years which many are driven road trips, I have had to drive through active wildfires between Texas and Cali to get to where I'm going and it's not a comfortable trip not knowing what's ahead. As for the constant wildfires in Cali, I can't help but to think people are deliberately setting those fires that cause so much death and destruction. I know the massive wildfire that wiped out Lahaina was set by homeless. It's every damn year in Cali and it's getting old. Still waiting on fire marshall to confirm if these fires were an act of arson or not as so many are. I still have memories of the Paradise fire which was blamed on utility equipment and even that one I have my doubts. To see so many long standing communities wiped out and decimated in a matter of hours is disheartening. Not many years ago we had wildfires popping around Palm Springs when suddenly one popped up down the street from my usual resort where I stay and that was unnerving. I just wish there were an easy answer to stopping all this madness. While I cannot afford to live in California, it is my most favorite place to visit besides the Rockie Mnts.