Two nights ago, my wife and I extinguished a dozen scattered tealights that had lit our apartment while electricians worked around the clock to restore power, even as the wind uprooted century-old trees around them. Within hours, we stuffed our bags into the trunk overflowing with the six P's (people/pets, papers/phone numbers/documents, prescriptions, pictures, personal tech, and plastic/credit cards) to evacuate to safety. . I'm lucky my apartment building is still standing, but the last update I got from a friend said: “Looks like 'Silent Hill' here. I need to sleep, but I haven't because of the 24-hour news of the devastating fires ravaging the Los Angeles area, watching in horror with too-dry eyes from the smoke choking out fresh air.
Destruction is unimaginable. Tabloid publications have plastered before and after photos of multi-million dollar celebrity mansions leveled to rubble. Meanwhile, local news stations interview weeping working-class families sorting through the rubble of family homes, and drones capture mobile home possessions flattened on empty lots. “You can replace things, you can't replace people” is a platitude steeped in toxic positivity, lobbied by people who have never known the feeling of loss. everything. We'll be debating “who's to blame” for years while mutual funds desperately try to help the thousands of people who are now homeless, adding to the already catastrophic civilian homeless population.
“We will rebuild,” is the oft-repeated, gritted teeth and deep sighs that seem like a backdoor, but rebuilding takes time, supplies, labor, and money. Unfortunately, as the oligarchy approaches, there are undoubtedly people who view news of destruction not with empathy or horror, but with dollar signs in their eyes. I always turn to movies when times are tough (see also: my experience watching the movies “Inside Out”.), but it's hard when real life looks like Roland Emmerich's emotional cutout.
This is particularly difficult after “Twisters” which highlights a predatory villain so despicable that it should radicalize anyone watching at home.
Companies like Storm Par from Twisters are irreversible
When we meet Storm Par in “Twisters,” they are a highly organized team of storm chasers who receive funding from well-known investors, including the wealthy Marshall Riggs. Storm chasers use funding to continue their work analyzing hurricanes in hopes of eventually finding a way to slow or weaken storms, but their financial backers aren't funding the team because they're actually giving a flying rat ass for protecting people in hurricane alley. . In fact, it's just the opposite.
Investors like Rigg provide financing in exchange for the names of people whose homes were destroyed by hurricanes … so he can offer them money for their land, often for less than it's worth. They prey on and exploit emotionally compromised and vulnerable communities that have lost everything because these capitalist pigs care more about profit than helping people. While we were too busy debating whether Kate (Daisy Edgar Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) should have kissed or notthe real debate was about Storm About financial support and how capitalism has invaded and ruined every industry imaginable.
Javi (Anthony Ramos) is admittedly conflicted about where the funding for Storm Par is coming from, but it's clear he's made this deal with the devil because, as his business partner Scott (David Korenswet) rightly finds out, it's one of the the only ways they can afford to continue their research. Javi is is trying to help people with its tornado research, and people like Riggs know that without their contributions, his work cannot continue. Javi is another vulnerable person acting against their own best interests because our world has demanded that those without wealth are forever at the mercy of those who have it, while Scott has been corrupted by their influence and now that is a human-made version of a storm chaser. living in poverty while defending the reputation of tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Searching for riches in rubble is a deplorable act
People like Marshall Riggs are unfortunately very real, and even as the fires continue to rage, they quickly scurry out of the woodwork like aggressive monsters. People already are taken to social media talk about being offered 15% or less of their home's value for the land it previously sat on. Weird “get rich quick” also encourages people to “invest” in land in the Pacific Palisades area “while it's still cheap.” At the time of publication, the fire has spread to more than 17,000 acres and is at zero containment. The fire isn't out yet, and these Storm Par-esque creeps are already plotting their ascension as the richest in the desert.
And like Twisters, their profit margins are completely short-sighted. Sure, they can buy cheap land after hurricanes or wildfires devastate communities, but if the hurricanes or wildfires never improve, whatever profit these jagalons make selling the properties built on their cheaply bought land will eventually have to be used , to pay for the rebuild. again when Mother Nature proves once again that she is not to be trifled with. We're less than six months from when Twisters hit theaters, and this major plot point unfortunately feels too real for comfort. It's time to emulate the Tornado Wranglers led by Javi, Kate and Tyler and finally leave these opportunistic villains in the dirt.
For information on how to actually help those affected by the SoCal wildfires, you can find a list of resources here.
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