We have a chronic problem in the U.S. of not wanting to spend money to prevent things that "might happen". And when the money is spent, and the thing doesn't happen (sometimes even when it does and doesn't result in devastation), we second-guess the investments.
It reminds me of that story in Japan where the Mayor fought hard to build a floodgate and decades later it is what saved the town from a tsunami but he never got his due.
This happens with any risk management implementation, see it all the time in industry... spending money for something that "might" happen is hard for some to grasp. Always second guessed and scrutinize, unfortunately.
Because money spent is almost always used badly and inefficiently by the government. People view it as wasteful and inefficient. If we were capable of electing leaders who used money wisely rather than doing massive giveaways to people rather than solve their problems, and waste it on silly DEI stuff.
Sam, the big issue is wealth inequality, not the fact some people are rich per se. It’s the reality that the middle class is shrinking, that’s the problem we have to address. I also think you’re mistaken in assuming everyone wants to be wealthy. Many just want to be comfortable, but more and more are not even that.
The latest statistics from the St. Louis Federal Reserve show that the top 10% of Americans own over 67% of the country's household wealth. The bottom 50% of Americans own 2.5% of America's household wealth. That ranks the U.S. third, only behind South Africa and Brazil, in world economic inequality. The terms "economic apartheid" and "neo feudalism" come to mind, because it's undeniable that since 1980 the rich have become exponentially richer, and that those Americans, who were once called middle class, have become poorer. According to Forbes Magazine, 78% of working Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck. The U.S. has gone from being the world's greatest creditor nation to the world's greatest debtor nation.
@@stone-w6xWell that's a great point because the current wealth disparity in the US is increasingly what you see in developing countries, in this sense the US is going backwards, in terms of social mobility. I think when the top 10 percent control so much wealth you begin gradually squeezing out the middle class, and the policies that are put in place, (because of the influence of this class of super rich people, ) as this process takes effect are those that will mostly increase the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands.
I think there are some studies that indicate wealth inequality is worse in some countries without the correlated social problems of the US, so supposedly that is not the fundamental issue, but it seems pretty horrible to me. I was disappointed with the reference to people gloating about the loss of Spielberg's residence. My thought was that Sam is really out of touch with lower classes. It is not that the talent of Hollywood or the elite anywhere are not entitled to their rewards, it is the ostentatious flaunting of that wealth with multi-million dollar homes and lifestyle accoutrements that is sickening to average and indeed, envious, people. The monologues by Sam at several points were tedious. But I get it, you are wealthy and this is your home town, and there could be easy remedies from the ultra rich to revitalize your whole country and maybe planet. (Commenting from Canada where several of our communities have burned over the past few years). Of course, worse to come with the current US admin's policies.
Beyond hilarious that Rick Caruso is moaning about the lack of meritocracy only minutes after saying he was appointed at age 26 to a city commission he didn’t understand. Of course he skipped over his family’s wealth and connections getting him on that commission.
Really? You need image to the hypocrisy and failure to call out the California-Dem-Power-Buro in a truthful manner? The insurance problem is a market failure when x,y and z happened before? Give me a break. Trump is h‘tler but this is just weak leadership??? Only the dumbest of sheep choose their own butcher. And Sam is always here to help by pulling the wool over your eyes.
I still use that, it's a great way to say "Who the f*&k knows?" which is exactly what religious people mean when they say it. Sometimes I'll throw in a Zeus or a Hades
I like Sam Harris quite a bit but Rick Caruso performs absurd Monday morning quarterbacking without very many specifics as to what should have been done and why it wasn't done. Rick says "bad leadership" but he fails to mention that our society doesn't want to put money up in advance to prevent disasters. Millions of people don't even want to pay taxes. If the authorities had spent more on fire fighting then other resources like police forces or hospitals and transportation would have been inadequately funded. What if another pandemic or massive riots had occurred instead of the wildfires? There are many possible bad outcomes coming for us from global warming which we have caused and are not properly dealing with. I would like to hear sensible specifics that support the notion that the authorities should have been able to prevent this fire damage.
Right, anyone can say the mayor shudda, cudda. That's all Caruso did until I bailed on the coversation after 15 minutes. Caruso comes off as a politician who wants us all to think he has the perfect answers that will work.
California’s woke “leadership” drove out insurance companies, failed to do even basic maintenance, and just hoped it would all magically work out. Cakewalk here is a good example of the type of person you never want in charge. Of anything.
Our culture is collectively mentally ill and obsessed with wealth. Influencers, and billionaires blah blah blah. Where is the incentive to make a difference and have a purpose outside of being a jackass with a big yaght who brags about tossing some coins to a pet project so they can brag about it? That’s what I see, yet in my town I see people sacrifice their time and give their last $20 to help someone when they need it. REAL MEANINGFUL Sacrifice . Then there are community mental health workers giving their hearts and souls to help the elderly and disabled get a pittance because this country does not value the vulnerable. At least Sam tried to call him out for the arrogance of the rich who act like Gods throwing crumbs to people they think they are superior too. It really is that way sadly.
Most people who are capable of making a difference actually do aim to just that. They do it in the way they can. There are special people in our world - nurses etc, who are capable of being empathetic and useful in their way, every day. Other people, like Bill Gates, or Zuck cannot do this. It is not in their genetic makeup. They aim instead to increase the lot of humanity for now and the entirety of our future. By working on an acceptable form of nuclear fission, renewable energy, disease etc. Only a small minority hoard their wealth, live on yachts, die rich and leave their wealth to their kids.
And you're perfectly representing the other side of that coin - the astoundingly privileged westerner who is so self-entitled and short-sighted that they're entirely blind to the fact that their quality of life is something that literally no person since the dawn of humanity could have even dreamt of until about a100 years ago. You literally live better than kings did 500 years ago. You're a spoiled child throwing a tantrum over the fact that some people have it better than you. YOU are what's wrong with society now.
Smoke and poisonous materials and gases go into homes because they aren't sealed, and it gets everywhere. Drywall needs to be taken down, insulation removed, cleanup, HVAC replacement, etc. Even unburnt homes are "destroyed".
Sam makes an excellent point about philanthropy. The ulra-rich have changed. Not only are they more wealthy than ever, they don't feel the social responsibility they used to. The Rockefellers and Vanderbilts saw philanthropy as a serious obligation.
That’s a weird blanket statement. You know the modern ultra rich folks philanthropical endeavors? I only question what you wrote because the Vanderbilt family weren’t philanthropic. They donated money for a university but had to stop after that because they lost their wealth.
Somewhere between 30% and 50% of California's water is used up by just the animal agriculture industry alone in California. Why isn't this ever brought up? Let alone the massive greenhouse impact of these industries, which intensifies climate change and unpredictable weather patterns.
Because the livestock agriculture feeds the people. It's important. We don't want to eat lab grown meat or bugs. The animals are not the problem. The only "man-made" climate change is from the gov and corporations spraying our skies and are artificially manufacturing droughts. You are aware that that when they talk about a "net-zero carbon future" that YOU are the carbon that they want to eliminate? Greenhouse gas emissions are a scam. The trees absorb the carbon monoxide that us and the cows expel. The less carbon there is the smaller the plants and yields from farming will be
The real issue is not that "there is no way to become a billionaire ethically," but rather that this society conditions people to feel the need or the drive to have that much wealth. What happened to Making Sense? Interviewing billionaire real estate tycoons?
Sam raises an interesting point about the so-called "mega pledge," where the ultra-wealthy commit to philanthropy at levels far beyond initiatives like the Giving Pledge. But I wonder if the argument misses a crucial question: is there evidence that simply giving more money will create meaningful change? If government efforts are hampered by waste and a lack of accountability, as many argue, does it matter if someone donates 10% of their wealth or 50%? What truly drives change? Perhaps Sam was gesturing toward a deeper truth: wealth alone isn't enough. We need wealthy individuals to not only give but to actively engage in the civic fabric of society. This brings to mind Cato's admonition to the wealthy Romans of his time, who were so enamored with their lavish fish ponds that they neglected their duties to the republic. Today's equivalent is the gated community, the luxurious retreat from societal dysfunction. Yet, as natural disasters or fires remind us, no amount of insulation can fully shield one from the consequences of a fraying society--whether it's despair, addiction, or inequality. The real call to action isn't just for more giving, but for a return to public life--a willingness to take responsibility, to shape and improve the systems we all live within. Wealth isn't just a privilege; it's an obligation to engage meaningfully, to step back into the "senate," so to speak, and to help rebuild what is broken.
@@sarcasmatron Progressive taxation and what I'm advocating for are fundamentally different concepts. Taxes are a compulsory transfer of wealth to the government, which then allocates those funds according to broad policy decisions, often with inefficiencies and bureaucratic inertia. What I'm describing is not about redistribution via taxation but about wealthy individuals taking direct, personal responsibility for engaging with and improving the civic and social systems we all depend on. A progressive tax doesn't ensure that the wealthy are actively involved in rebuilding frayed societal structures, addressing systemic dysfunction, or working within the public sphere to create meaningful change. It doesn't compel them to leave their gated enclaves or step out of their curated retreats into the real, messy work of contributing to the common good. We need more than passive wealth transfer. We need active participation--leadership, vision, and investment of time and energy from those who have the resources to make a difference. The kind of engagement I'm suggesting requires a moral and civic awakening, not just writing a bigger check to the IRS.
Affluence spurs complacency and waste. CA is the wealthiest state and often touts itself as the fifth largest economy in the world. Yet it's the most horrendously misgoverned state in the country. Throwing money at the problems is futile. They need more comprehensive changes.
As a fire protection engineer and former firefighter looking at the decisions that exacerbated the fires, i think about a guiding principle leaders should follow : "You cannot walk away from risks you created for others."
The lack in preparation is no different to the apathy towards global warming.. When we reach tipping point & shit gets real, this is the conversation we'll be having.
@@gandydancer9710 global warming has everything to do with natural disasters like this, from the extreme droughts to increased frequency of high speed storms. All this was anticipated decades ago
We can’t fix a city’s failures by relying on government alone or by wealthy individuals opting out through private solutions. We need public institutions that keep improving how they work and wealthy citizens investing real resources in the common good-because no one, not even billionaires, can fully seal themselves off from society’s problems. It’s a call for a deeper reset, driven by ever-better approaches and genuine cooperation, so that public services truly function, private fortunes help everyone rise, and our capacity to solve problems continues to grow for all.
The Dems need decent political competition instead of GOP douchebags who only want to dismantle and privatize public institutions. The Dems have insufficient incentive to improve because their only prominent political opponents are trash.
I agree hiring companies to protect your business makes a lot of sense! What if we hired large companies to serve the entire city? They could be funded by, oh I don’t know, some kind of tax system? Let’s try that!
For a developer that’s the perfect wording. Even most of the trees don’t need excavated. Even for the forest itself, yearly burns can be healthy. No reason to sugarcoat a reality. But I understand the victims wouldn’t see it that way.
I subscribe to Sam's podcast and substack. It's actually the only podcast subscription I pay for. I would highly recommend everyone look into his Making Sense podcast. It's great.
I unsubscribed after his recent podcast equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Huge blind spot that diminishes his credibility as a serious objective guy.
@bryantrammell1831 No, it doesn't. Sam Harris has an amazing mind and analytical ability, but equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and refusing to see Israel's ongoing atrocities perpetrated on the Palestinians is egregious.
Wealth inequality is insane in the US. At this point, 1% of Americans have 50% of America. There have been revolutions for less than that. The GOP and conservatives believe those 1% need to accumulate even more wealth.
I'm 17 minutes in and disappointed. This is not about LA Fires. This is about the Pacific Palisades fire. This is about an uber wealthy neighborhood that is getting most of the media coverage (of course Trump went there, not Altadena), and the guest is apparently a real estate developer who built the downtown. Yes, people are suffering there -- some have no fire insurance, many will never return, lives have been lost. There stories need telling. But let's not forget about Altadena and other burned neighborhoods, where people are not wealthy, do not have the row of options money affords. Without a lot money, imagine paying your mortgage AND a Los Angeles apartment rent for your homeless family. That is going on for many displaced Altadena residents. But I get it. Sam lives in Pacific Palisades. And Caruso built Pacific Palisades. Thanks for posting this video, but I hope future discussions bring in other communities, and track the inequities happening in poorer neighborhoods that also burned.
Go interview them then. The guest is literally an expert on Pacific Palisades, so why would you want him to talk about anything else? You're arguing over free cookies instead of free ice cream.
@@mightisright Then I suggest a better title. "Deep Dive on the Pacific Palisades fire, with opinions from a wealthy real estate developer seeking public office"
Caruso did not "build Pacific Palisades". It was developed slowly over the last 90 years, mostly in the postwar period. Many Palisades residents are not "uber-wealthy"; their houses had been in the family for decades. It is also a deep blue constituency that voted for Karen Bass, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. If you could stop looking at the issue through the lens of class warfare and political tribalism, maybe you'd learn something. That was the whole point of Sam's title, but since you only made it through 17 minutes, I guess we shouldn't be surprised
I couldn't agree more. This conversation feels like two rich dudes trying to convince everyone that government needs to bail them out "for the good of society". Of course, when others ask for help, or just want a functional government, they're called lazy socialist freeloaders. And don't even think about trying to re-imagine a better way to rebuild that would help everyone! We just need to spend billions recreating the urban sprawl that got Caruso rich the first time - then back to austerity.
Indigenous communities like the Chumash have long used controlled burns to prevent wildfires. This ancient wisdom, combined with modern science, can help LA prevent devastating fires. By embracing prescribed burns, we can reduce fuel loads and promote healthier forests. It's time to learn from the past and adopt more sustainable approaches to fire management.
the real long-term issue behind the LA fires is "do we want people to continue to be able to live in fire-prone areas, AND have the infrastructure to prevent all fire?" and do the residents of the city have the resources to create such a system?
It wouldn't have taken much in the way of resources not to empty the 117 million gallon reservoir. (Yes, Caruso got this wrong. He said it was only a million. There were THREE million gallon reservoirs that were drained because they couldn't be refilled with the big reservoir emptied.)
asking the rich to be philanthropic is nice, but taxing them appropriately so there isn't so much suffering is JUST. No one needs more than a billion dollars..no one....they should be taxed to $999,999,999.00! It's ridiculous to count on someone's generosity..you know that the rich are the most greedy people on the planet!!!!! The average Billionaire pays 8.3% in taxes...the average middle class person pays 18%! If billionaires paid 18% there would be universal healthcare and good schools, free college....life like Scandinavia. But the greedy own the government now so it ain't gonna happen!
Sam is my favorite commentator, and this is his worst interview. Caruso would have had fire trucks ready to go? There are 4000 miles of rural roads in LA county. How many fire trucks to man 4000 miles of roads? That's 400,000 fire trucks. Also, Caruso would have cleared the brush from the 181,000 acres of open space? What would he do when it rained and houses started sliding down eroded hillsides as a result? Sam needs to do 20 hours on the real problem, which is climate change.
So the fire department is underfunded, the police department is underfunded, everything is underfunded, and this guy's magic solution is to fund them with money that "is already there". Sounds just like any other rich politician to me.
Somehow in the highest taxed by percentage and net per capita zip code in the united states the locals declare they are underfunded for the last big problem. Yes underfunded or mismanaged, and since everything else is mismanaged. The problem seems to be the brush and urban interface has no responsible owner who rakes out the dead brush after every wet season. If one could be foreclosed on for allowing dead dandruff to build up, suddenly the interface property owners would be pushing back the state and federal lands in an unorganized manner with their handrakes and chainsaws.
The problem with the philanthropy funding public projects is that we the public then have no say over where those funds are going. We need a functional government with good/strong leadership. There is plenty of wealth to deal with the issues but not if it’s tied up in someone’s spreadsheet. Wealth inequality is a real issue
Taxation is the only way! Stay clear of these charity/philantropy arguments. Billionaires shouldn't exist to the extend that they do in the US. And as a result you are now dealing with a full blown oligarchy.
They love charities because that’s an easy way to get tax cuts and they keep a percentage of the money they get from the charity no wonder multi millionaires on up love it it’s a win win for them and in return they do less for the public. One of the worst podcasts I’ve ever heard from Sam made me lose some respect for
Sam, the county--right now and more than ever--needs your commentary and conversations outside the pay wall. Please keep posting and up the content. Youre the credible voice that so many of us look to. i know you got jaded from Twitter etc. years ago, but please enter the arena again at this critical time.
If an insurance company will not insure the region, take that as a signal that people should not be building houses there. Get out. The federal and state governments should not be asking other USA citizens to fund poor house building decisions.
I don’t think being a billionaire is unethical, but I think there is a point when having too many billions becomes unethical purely from a mechanical standpoint. By mechanical, I’m referring to the snowball effect whereby billions become multiplied based on accrued interest and monopolistic nature of power and expansive capitalist overreach. To be a multibillionaire and ignore this inherent wildfire of expansion is in of itself disingenuous - some might even call it evil. When someone gains, another loses.
Thinking govt can prevent/fix everything is as dumb as defaulting to privatizing things... the lumpen mass contributes to the problem in their indifference, is loudest when the problems hit, and is the quickest to return to not giving a shit. We need innovation in this space - what we don't need is the constant perpetuation of bemoaning the dichotomy. But damn, it's hard for any institution to be effective, especially under such dire circumstances.
Anyone else only know “The Pallisades” because of the first major home computer driving game, Night Driver, from the 1980’s? I drove at full speed with a Lamborghini through the rich houses of The Pallisades thousands of times when I should have been studying and I have never been to California.
Sam, I love you, but you casually go from people losing to 100 million dollar homes to DEI. O.K. DEI is an issue. But what about building 100million dollar home in the first place in terms of carbon and resources used. Maybe you don;t have to be a jerk to become a billionaire, but no one needs that much money.
@@jaredmelloshow me someone who is this rich that didn’t screw over a bunch of people, get it through generational wealth, or just win through -stock market- gambling Most will check ALL those boxes.
@@jaredmelloI have met many wonderful wealthy people in my life. Some rich people are terrible, and some poor people are terrible, too. But there are lots of sterling souls in both groups.
Nobody seems to remember that our Ariel firefighters were grounded for the first 24 hours due to the winds. If an average house fire requires three engines to respond, there was no way this wasn't going to be complete devastation. That being said, the whole state needs more personnel and equipment. Along with strict weed abatement laws. The folks in power need to sit down with the fire departments from the national forests and mountain communities to see how they maintain the areas. I just moved to santa monica from Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear where everyone is required to keep their properties clear of debris, or they get fined. Compentancy needs to be number one, and it's severely lacking in every direction. What i can't get my mind around is how many obese first responders and national guard members i saw. I drove past the santa monica pier where two very obese national guard members were standing out front. I was shocked. And the firefighter in the video you referenced was also very obese. Thats why she cant carry someone from a fire. Not because she's black or gay but because she is overweight. I know that sounds harsh, but how are fat cops, firefighters, or service members even allowed?
Are we now going to be in denial that "birthing persons" generally have less upper body strength which also limits the size of a person they can carry out of a fire?
Maintaining land in the chaparral ecosystem is far different than pine forests. But to your point, while I was while these fires in couldn't help but notice how much combustible fuel was abundant and the proximity to these properties. That's kind of inexcusable when these people know the hazard associated with where they live and left the esthetically pleasing material even knowing it's a major hazard.
@ Nanny YT deleted my comment about how the fat overweight LBTQ+ "fireman" wasn't going to carry anyone not because of any of those characteristics but because she's a woman. The comment about pine forests may indicate more YT censorship as it appears -- at least after such censorship -- to be completely out of left field.
How much is Mr. Caruso willing to invest in the education and skill training along with salaries and benefits to create the 'skilled people' he would like to see employed. Spending the tax dollar on developers who want their roads and other infrastructure paid for by tax payers that poorer people will never enjoy that exclusive neighborhood is sooo wrong. I don't think Caruso gets this because he's so far removed. Thank you Sam!
To Sam's point, in ancient Rome, the wealthy would compete in the creation of public works as a means of flaunting how wealthy they were. Talking about incentives, the rich spending their money on public goods to bolster their own prestige seems like a good one.
At 40 years old the only thing I need right now is a down payment on a house. If there are any millionaires or billionaires that would like to help me with that I wouldn't say no. Anything helps.
Sam's a multimillionaire - I think he has enough to give you the cost of a decent house and still be a multimillionaire. And knowing what kind of person he is, and his views on wealth distribution, I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to. Just ask him.
Rich people owe their money to humans they exploit. They owe money to the people, they owe their taxes to the state, nothing less. Of course, better use should be made of this money, that will always be true. But to question and put in perspective that rich people should deserve to opt out and feel entitled to a greater dissatisfaction is just plain silly. We all pay taxes. If anything, rich folks - and especially the ultra rich - often end up paying less proportionally.
@@seansezz The labour force they require to operate their businesses depend on this labour being exploited for the benefits of the capitalist. If someone is rich, chances are that someone is getting exploited for their profit somewhere down the line, whether it's directly or indirectly.
No matter what, conditioning aid should never happen. These are people who are going through a lot the last thing they need is to hear their president is being a dick about aid.
Listening to this conversation is surreal. The difference between someone who has 1 or 2 or 10 or 100 BILLION dollars? Is this even real? Most of us can't pay for all our basic needs on a monthly basis let alone splurge on pleasures let alone cover our spouses cancer treatment let alone buy another house if ours is destroyed by climate change. Let it be said, if this is the state of humanity where a relative handful of people are hoarding wealth beyond imagining, there is no way the future is anything less than a bloody savage catastrophe. WAKE UP.
Its strange to see these intelligent people completely ignore the one flaw that goes to the core of the concept of democracy, and has existed since its inception centuries ago: getting elected isnt even remotely connected to competency, its entirely about popularity. This was the one true argument aristocrats made in defense of the aristocracy via speeches and letters. If they think this is going to suddenly change they are either naive or incredible optimists.
Private Firefighters seems like it will inevitably be corrupted by an unrestrained free market. It reminds me of Crassus, the "richest man in Rome" who had a private fire fighting force. When homes would be in the way of a fire, he'd go to them and offer to buy the house for pennies on the dollar, if they sold, he would put out the fire. If they didn't sell, he'd just let it burn haha.
Having a monthly receipt sent out to citizens that shows where every taxed penny goes would help voters make more informed decisions. On a local level, I think that should be doable.
In observing current affairs, at this time, there is definitely a signal emerging: whatever the field of endeavor, it’s competence we should be focused on not color.
Karl Popper critiqued those who focus excessively on words and definitions, a practice he saw as detracting from meaningful philosophical inquiry. In his view, this kind of verbalism or linguistic analysis often leads to fruitless debates over terminology rather than addressing substantive issues. Popper argued that philosophical problems should be approached through a critical and problem-solving perspective, focusing on empirical and logical analysis rather than getting bogged down in semantic disputes. He believed that clarity and precision in language are important, but they should serve the purpose of advancing knowledge and solving real problems, not become ends in themselves.
Ya know, the reason you don't clear away the chaparral is erosion and landslides/debris flow. Surprised that wasn't mentioned when recommended clearing brush.
Forest Service employee here. I’ve worked the past 13 years in Fuels Management, and spend my summers as a Wildland Firefighter. When a crew comes in to “clear away brush” we analyze everything from the topography, aspect of each hill, fuel type, regional history, and impact on local wild life. Typically we will not go in and remove *all* fuels. Small clusters anywhere between 6-12ft apart are left through out each worked unit. This allows for the eco system to remain (mostly) in its natural state, and at the same time reduce the intensity of future fires. This is a low cost prescription for regions that have historically large fires. Hope this helped
@@christopherbrooksoregonboy thanks for your work and information All five Mediterranean zones on the planet see are seeing lengthening "fire season". So we need to build and manage more. You have job security.
Funny to hear such a smart person being so naive...."seeking the kindness of strangers" Libertarianism is idiotic... we live in societies...people shouldn't be begged to participate, they should be obligated!
Deeply disappointed in this. Sam effectively gave his platform for a politician to campaign on. Fact free claims that the fire would be prevented by clearing brush or pre-positioning fire truck went unexamined and unchallenged. How much brush would one have to clear? How much would it cost? What kind of water pipes would have to be installed to allow for firefighting on 100 homes at the same time? How much that would cost? What kind of reservoirs would need to be built to allow firefighting continuously for several days? How much would that cost? Another point, people who have been living there for 30 years have not been paying any real estate taxes for a while now thanks to Prop 13. So, where would the money for all that firefighting infrastructure come from? Of course now we (taxpayers) are asked to bail them out so that they can rebuild in the same fire prone area without even re-zoning to provide for increased density and addressing housing shortage.
@@clovis86 Don't agree at all. It was a relatively interesting interview, with someone who has had real responsibility in the city and might have the power, wealth, connections and influence to change things in the future. How much can an interview with a firefighter really do..."yes the city was under-financed, yes I have been trying to fight the burning fires for the last few weeks, no I have no idea how to change the political system above my head". How many firefighters really have the birds eye view to understand this problem at a city or system wide scale and the means to influence it even a little bit.
What really needs to be challenged about the common sense fact that if you cut away and remove unnecessary dry brush that that won't help in the prevention of a fire spreading? That's common sense. And if you don't mind, could you explain how it's a actually a smart idea to build high-density high rises or apartments on land that is so prone to fire? Don't you think that the loss of life would be much greater if there were apartment buildings with hundreds of residents stacked on top of each other in a single building versus homes that have space between them? The more people that live in a condensed area the more likely there is to be a fire in the building or somebody flicking a cigarette into the bushes and starting a fire that way. More people in a smaller area is This is the opposite of what should happen and is only setting it up for something like this to happen again but worse.
In Australia there was a huge fire that hit the suburb of Duffy in Canberra years ago. Intense winds carried cinders over wide fields and started small fires that - if left alone - would expand into a conflagration. Many houses abandoned by their owners burnt down. One of my friends stayed and put water on smoking areas and spot fires; his house was one of the few left on the street.
Someone mentioned Monday morning quarterbacking and they’re spot on. It’s a joke to think Rick would’ve known how to handle this once-in-a-lifetime event. Blaming Karen Bass alone, when tens of thousands of people work in government and these decisions involve multiple committees. It's just political posturing and clearly he has no clue how government works.
@@MervandtheMagicTones My comment is a simplification but it gets at two things - 1. He wouldn't have handled it any better so he's really not in a position to criticize - Maybe others can but he's doing it as someone who ran for office, and 2. It's political posturing to place blame on one person (Karen Bass) when the decisions were made by thousands of people and municipalities over the years. Sure, he's an expert on Palisades because he owns a mall there but I doubt he has any real solutions for greater LA area.
@ Again, you're running cover for an inept city government. And while we cannot know for certain if Caruso would have handled it better, we do know that Bass and her cronies failed to prepare. Caruso is entitled to his viewpoint and he's a proven leader, while Bass is just a cog in the political machine. The corruption and incompetence is staring you in the face.
26:20 After they say the fire was predictable, if you as an insurance company see things look bleak, you'd demand high prices from your customers, but the same government that was mismanaging fire fighting services capped the insurance fees. Hard to blame companies that saw the writing on the wall & pulled out. The "market failure" was because government tried to set their prices while keeping risk high.
what a waste of an interview. Sam if you want to get to the bottom of it why don't you have one of the fire chiefs on not a political guy with a vested interest
@jake10373 what was wrong with FEMA's response during North Carolina? Or anything they've done lately? Could you give a specific example of something they messed up or failed to do? The Governer of NC didn't have anything bad to say about FEMA assistance. In fact the only negative things I saw were Trump and his disgusting followers lying about it on social media.
@drexiusofthefallen I live in NC and my family has done many hours of service in western NC. The governor a the time, Roy Cooper, is a dedicated party man and would never critique the Dem response. It was a not a good response and much of the recovery work even in the initial days was done by private citizas. There are still thousands of people living in tents in freezing weather.
The frustration is this: Sam's suggestion keeps being met with "it would be a beautiful thing" because there is only one inhibiting factor in the way. The necessary condition is *forcing* the unwilling donation of x amount of dollars from those who don't need it and wouldn't notice it was gone. That's the most charitable framing; assume we're talking about an imperceptible fraction of their wealth. Re: that imperceptible fraction: *force* those with excess to be divested of it.
@andrewm4767 My point is that force is what both of them *aren't* saying, but that's the only thing that could cause any kind of change. Nor am I suggesting that force should be used because that begs the questions of who applies said force and who manages the redistribution of the confiscated wealth; I don't see any of our current systems as competent and corruption-free enough to manage such an undertaking in a net positive way. So in our real world, I am *not* suggesting the use of force to take wealth from the ultra-wealthy. But in a world where excess wealth leaves the ultra-wealthy to be put to better purposes (per Sam's desired outcome) force *is* the only way that that can happen.
This guy Rick Caruso shows himself to be a liar, repeatedly. Get a real expert on if you wish to tackle this Sam. I worked for an insurance magazine in Athens, Greece from 1978 to 80/1 when the insurance companies were already panicking at increasing risks from global breakdown. It's been made far worse by the fossil fuel billionaires since. See Greece see Australia see the Earth. This is pitiful. Also see 'A River Run Again' by Meera Subramanian with an approach that has gone around the world.
I disagree with the idea that we have private firefighters because the fire department is understaffed. I think it’s a matter of compensation and benefits. Clearly, there are people willing to become firefighters, but they’re choosing the private sector over the fire department. I assume this is because the private sector offers better pay.
On using private firefighters: "what's the alternative to let it all burn down?" no that is not the only alternative, you could also raise the taxes for the real high incomes and build up a decent public fire fighting team
The only way to have a halfway (and I *do* mean *halfway* ) decent society with massive wealth inequality is to ensure that when it comes to the basic services, *everyone* is in the same boat - *no* private police, firefighters, healthcare, etc. If the rich can simply buy a substitute for public services, then they will do so and not care when the public services are worthless, and that's exactly what we see in America.
Around 1h in, Sam talks about philanthropy and that a person with 10billion is not living that much better than the person with 2 billion. Ok, that may be so, may be no, but he's missing the point. What the person with 2bil can't do, that the person with 10 or 100bil can do, is buy up the political class more easily. And that's where a lot of these bilionaires make their money from. Buy up the regulators, buy up the state houses, buy up the politicians so that they pass favorable laws or shut down/defund departments that allow them then to turn 2bil into 20 into 200, etc. The solution cannot be that we need a large number of people to depend on oligarchs for charity. It must democratic ownership in the means of production. We, those who work or consume or partake in a business own that business. Not oligarchs, not shareholders, not the fucking govt. Us, the actual individuals, together.
I admire Sam for having been against ‘DEI at the expense of competence’ from the start. I could argue he hasn’t placed enough emphasis on it, but he’s always been on the right side of the issue.
@@boxersarethebestdoggoswell, he considers DEI to be a lesser evil than Trump, for example. Having listened to his podcast I know this. Many people who voted Trump disagree.
I think the current issue people have with the super wealthy is that so much of that wealth is tied up in the housing market, which directly impacts everyone because we all need a place to live and it is rent-seeking behavior to increase money through "passive income" when they're don't actually need it.
Sam's attempt at pitching a more socialist framework while trying not to offend the rich is absolutely pathetic. Just bring up the fact that ultra-rich people are contributing to the death of democracy in favour of oligarchy.
Hang on, you just elected a bunch of people saying "the Government is the problem, cut their funding" and now there is a disaster we have these two saying "the Government is the problem as they don't have funding". Which is it?
Why even talk to this guy? I think this deserves an intro segment justifying this video. It seems so out of place. The rich and the glorification of wealth *are* the problem, especially with regards to decision-making and access to public funds to build infrastructure. Governments have to compromise with private businesses to access privatized talent by giving them public money that they end up using to usurp the very role of the government, which is to represent people. As a rich person, you are not "generous" for giving a part of your wealth - you didn't even deserve to privately own such massive wealth to begin with: no one does in a fair democratic system. This is a systemic issue. We can't ask the wealthy for help or guidance; they are the root of the issue.
Ik and the billionare is acting like he’s doing a difference because he sent a couple poor kids to school and has a charity. I don’t understand how people don’t see charities are a scam even if they do some good. Charities help give corporations tax cuts and the charity pockets somewhere between 25-66% of the money that gets donated depending on the charity like no wonder rich people love charities, they pay LESS with them!!! What an out of touch podcast from Sam
Arguing that the way to solve these problems is to depend on philanthropy is selfish altruism. Tax these people and have the people's representatives in the state decide where it goes. But this will never happen in a country as paranoid and deceitful about socialism.
I saw a YT video that explained how the hydrants ran dry. According to the video, when the houses burned down the plumbing fixtures failed causing water to gush. I wonder if another valve could be installed to prevent such from happening.
If police were not themselves criminals so often, no one would ask that the police get defunded. Make sure there is accountability and checks on power, make sure police officers know the actual f*cking law, and find a way to guarantee that abuse will systematically be harshly punished, then we'll talk! You centrists are nauseating.
Speaking of philanthropy, the Victorian equivalent of billionaires were incredibly generous and public-spirited here in the UK (in some cases even building sewers in London, for example). Ian Hislop's excellent 3-part documentary 'the age of do-gooders' (which are here on YT I believe) describe this phenomenon very well.
Perplexing why Sam would find any of Caruso's perspectives or analysis insightful or enlightening. Do we really need a self-centered billionaire who purports to have singlehandedly brought crime down in LA, please, to lecture us on the shortcomings of public governance. Yes, a public education and a 5 minute Google search pulls the veil back on the sketchy past, questionable character, and selfish motives of a billionaire on the take. Come on Sam, this interview is neither compelling nor informative. Let's see, a billionaire who has it all, needs nothing, and wants more is going to scorch and burn the intentions and efforts of hard working public officials because he has a "heart" for the great good. Sam, you are not reading your audience.
So you’re all just going to ignore and pretend that massive wealth isn't built on monopolization, raising prices, and underpaying workers? Rick Caruso knows this as much as anyone.. Im sure its one of the reason he ran for mayor.
Not five minutes into the video, but did Sam just call everyone's hopes, dreams and memories burnt to a cinder.. a clean canvas? An unusual opportunity? I must be mistaken.
Only way for me to read Sam's call for generosity among the rich as something more than self-unaware virtue-signaling would be for him, who not for even a minute of his life having had to endure unwelcomed poverty himself, to donate so much that he and his immediate family are able to live life just above the poverty line. I mean, if charitable giving is as important as he says it is. Occasionally report on his podcast how life is going in his two-bedroom house in some Alabama small town. Otherwise, STFU.
Sam. There was no consideration for the financial problems S, CA is experiencing. Already high taxes, people moving away, nobody wants low taxes. Where is the money coming From. If insurance companies won’t touch the area because of propensity of natural disasters - why should the tax payers from the rest of US 47:08
I enjoy many of Sam's videos but I have to say not this one so much. What bugs me is that Sam starts off with a question, but then the question seems to go on forever and at times even ceases to be a question and is just Sam's opinion disguised as a question. Rick patiently waits for his turn, but as a guest on Sam's podcast I think the weighting could be much more towards including the guest instead of pretending to include but not really.
~14:30 This isn't the time to rezone? Then what is a good time to rezone? This is why living in California sucks so much. I'm glad I moved to Japan where we have affordable housing
Hindsight is 20-20. It’s easy to criticize the process after the fact, where was Rick before the fires? Did he meet with the governor? The mayor, the fire departments? When you have no rain for 8 months and 80 mph winds, short of having non combustible homes you are going to have a problem. In those winds embers will travel for miles. How do you stay ahead of that? There is probably thousands of areas not only in California but across the USA that are one big wind and fire away from the same situation
You don't get to do that. Every region of the country has particular severe weather challenges. Texans don't get to say "aw shucks we weren't ready" after the hundredth tornado rips through. They do get to say "aw shucks" if there is record snowfall in Houston. LA does not get to say "aw shucks" when there isn't water to fight fires.
@ No one in LA is saying that so I’m not sure what your point is. Firemen are on record saying they had water, but they didn’t have pressure because there was too much demand. But again, even with water, you won’t stop a fire with 80 mile an hour wind and zero rain for months. To criticize at this point is not helpful. But we need to be talking about is what to do going forward. California needs to be looking at noncombustible building materials and code on vegetation.
@ obviously a multitude of factors including local mismanagement, but the intentional omission of climate change from this entire conversation is laughable
@@grant3219 The problem is we all share an atmosphere. I don't think China will stop opening 2 new coal fueled power plants a week if we plead with them about our wildfire problem. Canada is responsible for 1% of global carbon emissions and they tanked their economy trying to bring that number down. Carbon doesn't care about borders. Until they figure out how to make a tokamak reactor work and every country on Earth wants to build them, there's no point trying to nickel and dime the problem with windmills.
@@MakerInMotionOn average, a person in the US puts about 170% the amount of CO2 into the atmosphere as a person in China. And they make a lot of the stuff the West uses. Historically, the West is responsible for most of the rise in CO2. Wind and Solar gave a lower LCE than fossil fuels right now, and there's still a lot of % capacity that these could cover and greatly reduce FF. Nuclear for baseload would be expensive but could phase out FF baseload. Pay now or pay big later. All countries need better leadership and cooperation to mitigate what's coming, but that is sadly lacking.
We have a chronic problem in the U.S. of not wanting to spend money to prevent things that "might happen". And when the money is spent, and the thing doesn't happen (sometimes even when it does and doesn't result in devastation), we second-guess the investments.
That's because we have to give all our money to the rich in hopes they piss it down to us.
*trickle
It reminds me of that story in Japan where the Mayor fought hard to build a floodgate and decades later it is what saved the town from a tsunami but he never got his due.
This happens with any risk management implementation, see it all the time in industry... spending money for something that "might" happen is hard for some to grasp. Always second guessed and scrutinize, unfortunately.
@@birdmann9197
resolved if you stop buying things.
Because money spent is almost always used badly and inefficiently by the government. People view it as wasteful and inefficient. If we were capable of electing leaders who used money wisely rather than doing massive giveaways to people rather than solve their problems, and waste it on silly DEI stuff.
Sam, the big issue is wealth inequality, not the fact some people are rich per se. It’s the reality that the middle class is shrinking, that’s the problem we have to address. I also think you’re mistaken in assuming everyone wants to be wealthy. Many just want to be comfortable, but more and more are not even that.
The latest statistics from the St. Louis Federal Reserve show that the top 10% of Americans own over 67% of the country's household wealth. The bottom 50% of Americans own 2.5% of America's household wealth. That ranks the U.S. third, only behind South Africa and Brazil, in world economic inequality.
The terms "economic apartheid" and "neo feudalism" come to mind, because it's undeniable that since 1980 the rich have become exponentially richer, and that those Americans, who were once called middle class, have become poorer. According to Forbes Magazine, 78% of working Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck. The U.S. has gone from being the world's greatest creditor nation to the world's greatest debtor nation.
@@stone-w6xWell that's a great point because the current wealth disparity in the US is increasingly what you see in developing countries, in this sense the US is going backwards, in terms of social mobility. I think when the top 10 percent control so much wealth you begin gradually squeezing out the middle class, and the policies that are put in place, (because of the influence of this class of super rich people, ) as this process takes effect are those that will mostly increase the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands.
Yes most middle are moving up
The people in each earnings bracket changed each year. It's not a fixed class.@@theodoreconstantini2548
I think there are some studies that indicate wealth inequality is worse in some countries without the correlated social problems of the US, so supposedly that is not the fundamental issue, but it seems pretty horrible to me. I was disappointed with the reference to people gloating about the loss of Spielberg's residence. My thought was that Sam is really out of touch with lower classes. It is not that the talent of Hollywood or the elite anywhere are not entitled to their rewards, it is the ostentatious flaunting of that wealth with multi-million dollar homes and lifestyle accoutrements that is sickening to average and indeed, envious, people. The monologues by Sam at several points were tedious. But I get it, you are wealthy and this is your home town, and there could be easy remedies from the ultra rich to revitalize your whole country and maybe planet. (Commenting from Canada where several of our communities have burned over the past few years). Of course, worse to come with the current US admin's policies.
Beyond hilarious that Rick Caruso is moaning about the lack of meritocracy only minutes after saying he was appointed at age 26 to a city commission he didn’t understand. Of course he skipped over his family’s wealth and connections getting him on that commission.
Yo! 🤣
That's when the narrative stomps on your reality and you don't realize you're just a grifter.
IQ is merit and succeeds across the board. It wasn't like they plucked some schmuck off the street
Which part in the podcast is that exactly ? The time ?
maybe that's made him realise that it was wrong??
He was actually complaining about lack of competency. A 26 year old can be exceptionally competent, just look at professional sports for example.
Please keep doing video interviews! You'll have bigger reach Sam! And it's more engaging for those of us who are already fans.
Really? You need image to the hypocrisy and failure to call out the California-Dem-Power-Buro in a truthful manner? The insurance problem is a market failure when x,y and z happened before? Give me a break. Trump is h‘tler but this is just weak leadership??? Only the dumbest of sheep choose their own butcher. And Sam is always here to help by pulling the wool over your eyes.
Telling Sam Harris, "Only God knows." LOL.
It’s a figure of speech. I’m sure even Sam is not beyond deploying the vernacular.
I still use that, it's a great way to say "Who the f*&k knows?" which is exactly what religious people mean when they say it. Sometimes I'll throw in a Zeus or a Hades
2012 levels of r/atheism
Yeah, surely god could have stopped it, if he existed. Or because it happened, it was god's will, by definition.
It still works for an atheist: you're saying no one knows.
I like Sam Harris quite a bit but Rick Caruso performs absurd Monday morning quarterbacking without very many specifics as to what should have been done and why it wasn't done. Rick says "bad leadership" but he fails to mention that our society doesn't want to put money up in advance to prevent disasters. Millions of people don't even want to pay taxes. If the authorities had spent more on fire fighting then other resources like police forces or hospitals and transportation would have been inadequately funded. What if another pandemic or massive riots had occurred instead of the wildfires? There are many possible bad outcomes coming for us from global warming which we have caused and are not properly dealing with. I would like to hear sensible specifics that support the notion that the authorities should have been able to prevent this fire damage.
This is an absurd level of cope. The last vestige of people still defending California democrats. Truly sad.
Right, anyone can say the mayor shudda, cudda. That's all Caruso did until I bailed on the coversation after 15 minutes. Caruso comes off as a politician who wants us all to think he has the perfect answers that will work.
@@MarkBarna1 lol comment- do you live in LA?
Arson has nothing to do with global warming. 🤡
California’s woke “leadership” drove out insurance companies, failed to do even basic maintenance, and just hoped it would all magically work out. Cakewalk here is a good example of the type of person you never want in charge. Of anything.
Our culture is collectively mentally ill and obsessed with wealth. Influencers, and billionaires blah blah blah. Where is the incentive to make a difference and have a purpose outside of being a jackass with a big yaght who brags about tossing some coins to a pet project so they can brag about it? That’s what I see, yet in my town I see people sacrifice their time and give their last $20 to help someone when they need it. REAL MEANINGFUL Sacrifice . Then there are community mental health workers giving their hearts and souls to help the elderly and disabled get a pittance because this country does not value the vulnerable. At least Sam tried to call him out for the arrogance of the rich who act like Gods throwing crumbs to people they think they are superior too. It really is that way sadly.
Most people who are capable of making a difference actually do aim to just that.
They do it in the way they can. There are special people in our world - nurses etc, who are capable of being empathetic and useful in their way, every day.
Other people, like Bill Gates, or Zuck cannot do this. It is not in their genetic makeup. They aim instead to increase the lot of humanity for now and the entirety of our future. By working on an acceptable form of nuclear fission, renewable energy, disease etc.
Only a small minority hoard their wealth, live on yachts, die rich and leave their wealth to their kids.
And you're perfectly representing the other side of that coin - the astoundingly privileged westerner who is so self-entitled and short-sighted that they're entirely blind to the fact that their quality of life is something that literally no person since the dawn of humanity could have even dreamt of until about a100 years ago. You literally live better than kings did 500 years ago. You're a spoiled child throwing a tantrum over the fact that some people have it better than you. YOU are what's wrong with society now.
sacrifice....the cry of the communist. get lost.
@@jsnx9067 why is the response a default to communism? Is anyone capable of thinking a little deeper?
@ I knew an Ayn Rand disciple would have something to say. Did you know she was on Social Security at the end of her life? Yeah, I didn’t think so
Smoke and poisonous materials and gases go into homes because they aren't sealed, and it gets everywhere. Drywall needs to be taken down, insulation removed, cleanup, HVAC replacement, etc. Even unburnt homes are "destroyed".
God... having a Sam Harris video podcast has been my birthday wish for the last decade.
Great ideas!!! Almost sounds like a salespitch for this developer. 🤨
Sam is dreaming if he thinks there's going to be a trend of rich people giving away their money to fix societies problems.
He means Sam bankman fried altruism
Sam makes an excellent point about philanthropy. The ulra-rich have changed. Not only are they more wealthy than ever, they don't feel the social responsibility they used to. The Rockefellers and Vanderbilts saw philanthropy as a serious obligation.
I don’t want their philanthropy I want a society that works
Atheism and hubris will do that
That’s a weird blanket statement. You know the modern ultra rich folks philanthropical endeavors? I only question what you wrote because the Vanderbilt family weren’t philanthropic. They donated money for a university but had to stop after that because they lost their wealth.
Somewhere between 30% and 50% of California's water is used up by just the animal agriculture industry alone in California. Why isn't this ever brought up? Let alone the massive greenhouse impact of these industries, which intensifies climate change and unpredictable weather patterns.
Sorry, but humans eat meat. Agriculture is a must. The solution is more dams and more water. Not less agriculture.
Because the livestock agriculture feeds the people. It's important. We don't want to eat lab grown meat or bugs. The animals are not the problem.
The only "man-made" climate change is from the gov and corporations spraying our skies and are artificially manufacturing droughts. You are aware that that when they talk about a "net-zero carbon future" that YOU are the carbon that they want to eliminate? Greenhouse gas emissions are a scam. The trees absorb the carbon monoxide that us and the cows expel. The less carbon there is the smaller the plants and yields from farming will be
We got a wokester lol
Got awkward when Sam talked about giving more than what you can write off in taxes 😂
The real issue is not that "there is no way to become a billionaire ethically," but rather that this society conditions people to feel the need or the drive to have that much wealth. What happened to Making Sense? Interviewing billionaire real estate tycoons?
Billionaires should be ashamed. They don't need all that money. It's the main problem with the world.
They have no shame.
Sam raises an interesting point about the so-called "mega pledge," where the ultra-wealthy commit to philanthropy at levels far beyond initiatives like the Giving Pledge. But I wonder if the argument misses a crucial question: is there evidence that simply giving more money will create meaningful change? If government efforts are hampered by waste and a lack of accountability, as many argue, does it matter if someone donates 10% of their wealth or 50%? What truly drives change?
Perhaps Sam was gesturing toward a deeper truth: wealth alone isn't enough. We need wealthy individuals to not only give but to actively engage in the civic fabric of society. This brings to mind Cato's admonition to the wealthy Romans of his time, who were so enamored with their lavish fish ponds that they neglected their duties to the republic. Today's equivalent is the gated community, the luxurious retreat from societal dysfunction. Yet, as natural disasters or fires remind us, no amount of insulation can fully shield one from the consequences of a fraying society--whether it's despair, addiction, or inequality.
The real call to action isn't just for more giving, but for a return to public life--a willingness to take responsibility, to shape and improve the systems we all live within. Wealth isn't just a privilege; it's an obligation to engage meaningfully, to step back into the "senate," so to speak, and to help rebuild what is broken.
We already have that: it’s called a progressive tax.
@@sarcasmatron Progressive taxation and what I'm advocating for are fundamentally different concepts. Taxes are a compulsory transfer of wealth to the government, which then allocates those funds according to broad policy decisions, often with inefficiencies and bureaucratic inertia. What I'm describing is not about redistribution via taxation but about wealthy individuals taking direct, personal responsibility for engaging with and improving the civic and social systems we all depend on.
A progressive tax doesn't ensure that the wealthy are actively involved in rebuilding frayed societal structures, addressing systemic dysfunction, or working within the public sphere to create meaningful change. It doesn't compel them to leave their gated enclaves or step out of their curated retreats into the real, messy work of contributing to the common good.
We need more than passive wealth transfer. We need active participation--leadership, vision, and investment of time and energy from those who have the resources to make a difference. The kind of engagement I'm suggesting requires a moral and civic awakening, not just writing a bigger check to the IRS.
@@LeviNotik thank you for your thoughtful comments. I think many of us, including Sam, agree.
Thanks for your elaborate and insightful response!
Affluence spurs complacency and waste. CA is the wealthiest state and often touts itself as the fifth largest economy in the world. Yet it's the most horrendously misgoverned state in the country. Throwing money at the problems is futile. They need more comprehensive changes.
As a fire protection engineer and former firefighter looking at the decisions that exacerbated the fires, i think about a guiding principle leaders should follow : "You cannot walk away from risks you created for others."
1:05:10 Why should a private citizen pay the price for failed DEI policies and governance? Real change has to happen first instead of bail outs
My thoughts exactly.
Good to have you back Sam!
The lack in preparation is no different to the apathy towards global warming.. When we reach tipping point & shit gets real, this is the conversation we'll be having.
lol ok sweetie.
"Global warming" has nothing to do with anything.
@@gandydancer9710 global warming has everything to do with natural disasters like this, from the extreme droughts to increased frequency of high speed storms. All this was anticipated decades ago
great comment.
@@jsnx9067 Do you do anything else but troll? Got anything real to say?
Give up the right wing DEI bullshit Sam, you are way too intelligent and moral to buy into that crap!
Agreed!
This is a great format, I wish you were do it frequently Sam. Thanks for this.
We can’t fix a city’s failures by relying on government alone or by wealthy individuals opting out through private solutions. We need public institutions that keep improving how they work and wealthy citizens investing real resources in the common good-because no one, not even billionaires, can fully seal themselves off from society’s problems. It’s a call for a deeper reset, driven by ever-better approaches and genuine cooperation, so that public services truly function, private fortunes help everyone rise, and our capacity to solve problems continues to grow for all.
Americans think that a well funded public service is the same as communism. That will never happen.
California rivals the 70's Soviet Union when it comes to efficiency.
TLDR: "We 'need' what's in your pockets." Better idea: Don't elect such lousy politicians.
The Dems need decent political competition instead of GOP douchebags who only want to dismantle and privatize public institutions. The Dems have insufficient incentive to improve because their only prominent political opponents are trash.
@@gandydancer9710great dream. You have the choice of 2 people. Both are terrible. Radical change is they only way
I agree hiring companies to protect your business makes a lot of sense! What if we hired large companies to serve the entire city? They could be funded by, oh I don’t know, some kind of tax system? Let’s try that!
A clean canvas is quite a thing to call a neighborhood that has burned down.
You're missing the context. Good work finding something to get offended over though 👍
For a developer that’s the perfect wording. Even most of the trees don’t need excavated. Even for the forest itself, yearly burns can be healthy. No reason to sugarcoat a reality. But I understand the victims wouldn’t see it that way.
Sounds like trump and Jared kushner talking about beachside property in Gaza
I subscribe to Sam's podcast and substack. It's actually the only podcast subscription I pay for. I would highly recommend everyone look into his Making Sense podcast. It's great.
I unsubscribed after his recent podcast equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Huge blind spot that diminishes his credibility as a serious objective guy.
@ohioskane363 I guess his opinion on Israel makes everything else he says wrong. It is hard to find people who are right about everything.
@bryantrammell1831 No, it doesn't. Sam Harris has an amazing mind and analytical ability, but equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and refusing to see Israel's ongoing atrocities perpetrated on the Palestinians is egregious.
no thanks. PS sam won't blow you for this endorsement.
Wealth inequality is insane in the US. At this point, 1% of Americans have 50% of America. There have been revolutions for less than that. The GOP and conservatives believe those 1% need to accumulate even more wealth.
I'm 17 minutes in and disappointed. This is not about LA Fires. This is about the Pacific Palisades fire. This is about an uber wealthy neighborhood that is getting most of the media coverage (of course Trump went there, not Altadena), and the guest is apparently a real estate developer who built the downtown. Yes, people are suffering there -- some have no fire insurance, many will never return, lives have been lost. There stories need telling.
But let's not forget about Altadena and other burned neighborhoods, where people are not wealthy, do not have the row of options money affords. Without a lot money, imagine paying your mortgage AND a Los Angeles apartment rent for your homeless family. That is going on for many displaced Altadena residents.
But I get it. Sam lives in Pacific Palisades. And Caruso built Pacific Palisades.
Thanks for posting this video, but I hope future discussions bring in other communities, and track the inequities happening in poorer neighborhoods that also burned.
Go interview them then. The guest is literally an expert on Pacific Palisades, so why would you want him to talk about anything else? You're arguing over free cookies instead of free ice cream.
@@mightisright Then I suggest a better title. "Deep Dive on the Pacific Palisades fire, with opinions from a wealthy real estate developer seeking public office"
@@MarkBarna1 great initial comment and respectful retort as well. Thank you. God bless you and yours.
Caruso did not "build Pacific Palisades". It was developed slowly over the last 90 years, mostly in the postwar period. Many Palisades residents are not "uber-wealthy"; their houses had been in the family for decades. It is also a deep blue constituency that voted for Karen Bass, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. If you could stop looking at the issue through the lens of class warfare and political tribalism, maybe you'd learn something. That was the whole point of Sam's title, but since you only made it through 17 minutes, I guess we shouldn't be surprised
I couldn't agree more. This conversation feels like two rich dudes trying to convince everyone that government needs to bail them out "for the good of society".
Of course, when others ask for help, or just want a functional government, they're called lazy socialist freeloaders.
And don't even think about trying to re-imagine a better way to rebuild that would help everyone! We just need to spend billions recreating the urban sprawl that got Caruso rich the first time - then back to austerity.
Excellent podcast. A great opportunity to become familiar with Rick Caruso. I agree, competence is essential
Listen closely - he's lying about his own past - saleman - definitely not the answer to our problems
I wish America would STOP electing rich people into positions of power !!!! for Christs sake snap out of it !!
I would rather elect someone who doesn’t know how to manage money! Cause if they aren’t rich they couldn’t possibly be corrupted
Indigenous communities like the Chumash have long used controlled burns to prevent wildfires. This ancient wisdom, combined with modern science, can help LA prevent devastating fires. By embracing prescribed burns, we can reduce fuel loads and promote healthier forests. It's time to learn from the past and adopt more sustainable approaches to fire management.
The Chumash knew squat about urban conditions.
the real long-term issue behind the LA fires is "do we want people to continue to be able to live in fire-prone areas, AND have the infrastructure to prevent all fire?" and do the residents of the city have the resources to create such a system?
It wouldn't have taken much in the way of resources not to empty the 117 million gallon reservoir.
(Yes, Caruso got this wrong. He said it was only a million. There were THREE million gallon reservoirs that were drained because they couldn't be refilled with the big reservoir emptied.)
asking the rich to be philanthropic is nice, but taxing them appropriately so there isn't so much suffering is JUST. No one needs more than a billion dollars..no one....they should be taxed to $999,999,999.00! It's ridiculous to count on someone's generosity..you know that the rich are the most greedy people on the planet!!!!! The average Billionaire pays 8.3% in taxes...the average middle class person pays 18%! If billionaires paid 18% there would be universal healthcare and good schools, free college....life like Scandinavia. But the greedy own the government now so it ain't gonna happen!
Sam is my favorite commentator, and this is his worst interview. Caruso would have had fire trucks ready to go? There are 4000 miles of rural roads in LA county. How many fire trucks to man 4000 miles of roads? That's 400,000 fire trucks. Also, Caruso would have cleared the brush from the 181,000 acres of open space? What would he do when it rained and houses started sliding down eroded hillsides as a result? Sam needs to do 20 hours on the real problem, which is climate change.
caruso was brought on so sam could twist his arm into donating his exorbitant wealth
you think they need 100 trucks per mile??
@@jazzyj2899 exactly
Here's a reminder that the cavalry ain't coming.
So the fire department is underfunded, the police department is underfunded, everything is underfunded, and this guy's magic solution is to fund them with money that "is already there". Sounds just like any other rich politician to me.
Somehow in the highest taxed by percentage and net per capita zip code in the united states the locals declare they are underfunded for the last big problem. Yes underfunded or mismanaged, and since everything else is mismanaged. The problem seems to be the brush and urban interface has no responsible owner who rakes out the dead brush after every wet season. If one could be foreclosed on for allowing dead dandruff to build up, suddenly the interface property owners would be pushing back the state and federal lands in an unorganized manner with their handrakes and chainsaws.
Always appreciate Sam's sober minded discussions, especially during such turbulent times.
right?
Sam is a World Champion Pseudo intellectual.
Sammy The Pseudo Harris.
@@CP-nl2zbwhy do you like CP? Its illegal you know.
I do, too. Great comment.
@@CP-nl2zb I am glad you follow him around and comment, thus improving viewership.
The problem with the philanthropy funding public projects is that we the public then have no say over where those funds are going. We need a functional government with good/strong leadership. There is plenty of wealth to deal with the issues but not if it’s tied up in someone’s spreadsheet. Wealth inequality is a real issue
If everyone is well fed and housed, looting and homeless doesn't seem like much of a problem.
Taxation is the only way! Stay clear of these charity/philantropy arguments. Billionaires shouldn't exist to the extend that they do in the US. And as a result you are now dealing with a full blown oligarchy.
They love charities because that’s an easy way to get tax cuts and they keep a percentage of the money they get from the charity no wonder multi millionaires on up love it it’s a win win for them and in return they do less for the public. One of the worst podcasts I’ve ever heard from Sam made me lose some respect for
Sam, the county--right now and more than ever--needs your commentary and conversations outside the pay wall. Please keep posting and up the content. Youre the credible voice that so many of us look to. i know you got jaded from Twitter etc. years ago, but please enter the arena again at this critical time.
If an insurance company will not insure the region, take that as a signal that people should not be building houses there. Get out. The federal and state governments should not be asking other USA citizens to fund poor house building decisions.
I don’t think being a billionaire is unethical, but I think there is a point when having too many billions becomes unethical purely from a mechanical standpoint.
By mechanical, I’m referring to the snowball effect whereby billions become multiplied based on accrued interest and monopolistic nature of power and expansive capitalist overreach. To be a multibillionaire and ignore this inherent wildfire of expansion is in of itself disingenuous - some might even call it evil. When someone gains, another loses.
Thinking govt can prevent/fix everything is as dumb as defaulting to privatizing things... the lumpen mass contributes to the problem in their indifference, is loudest when the problems hit, and is the quickest to return to not giving a shit. We need innovation in this space - what we don't need is the constant perpetuation of bemoaning the dichotomy. But damn, it's hard for any institution to be effective, especially under such dire circumstances.
Anyone else only know “The Pallisades” because of the first major home computer driving game, Night Driver, from the 1980’s? I drove at full speed with a Lamborghini through the rich houses of The Pallisades thousands of times when I should have been studying and I have never been to California.
Sam, I love you, but you casually go from people losing to 100 million dollar homes to DEI. O.K. DEI is an issue. But what about building 100million dollar home in the first place in terms of carbon and resources used. Maybe you don;t have to be a jerk to become a billionaire, but no one needs that much money.
The problem is that the types of personality who tend to become rich and powerful are not very empathetic.
True, but if they have character and morals, they can make up for it.
@@jaredmelloshow me someone who is this rich that didn’t screw over a bunch of people, get it through generational wealth, or just win through -stock market- gambling
Most will check ALL those boxes.
@@Chris-fn4df that wasn’t my point at all. My point was you can still do good things once you are wealthy if you have character and morals.
@@jaredmelloI have met many wonderful wealthy people in my life. Some rich people are terrible, and some poor people are terrible, too. But there are lots of sterling souls in both groups.
@@GenXersJustWalkItOff I agree with you 💯
I hate that Trump won and love that the Democrats lost.
Expand your love. Love both.
Loving this format! Thank you so much Sam for all the hard work, amazing guests, and high quality. ❤🙌💯🔥🤙
Nobody seems to remember that our Ariel firefighters were grounded for the first 24 hours due to the winds. If an average house fire requires three engines to respond, there was no way this wasn't going to be complete devastation. That being said, the whole state needs more personnel and equipment. Along with strict weed abatement laws. The folks in power need to sit down with the fire departments from the national forests and mountain communities to see how they maintain the areas. I just moved to santa monica from Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear where everyone is required to keep their properties clear of debris, or they get fined.
Compentancy needs to be number one, and it's severely lacking in every direction. What i can't get my mind around is how many obese first responders and national guard members i saw. I drove past the santa monica pier where two very obese national guard members were standing out front. I was shocked. And the firefighter in the video you referenced was also very obese. Thats why she cant carry someone from a fire. Not because she's black or gay but because she is overweight. I know that sounds harsh, but how are fat cops, firefighters, or service members even allowed?
INDEED!!! Fundamental principle for first responders, a part of their knowledge and competence for the job, is their state of health and strength.
"Not because she's black or gay but because she is overweight."
Were she in great shape she'd still be a she.
Are we now going to be in denial that "birthing persons" generally have less upper body strength which also limits the size of a person they can carry out of a fire?
Maintaining land in the chaparral ecosystem is far different than pine forests. But to your point, while I was while these fires in couldn't help but notice how much combustible fuel was abundant and the proximity to these properties. That's kind of inexcusable when these people know the hazard associated with where they live and left the esthetically pleasing material even knowing it's a major hazard.
@ Nanny YT deleted my comment about how the fat overweight LBTQ+ "fireman" wasn't going to carry anyone not because of any of those characteristics but because she's a woman.
The comment about pine forests may indicate more YT censorship as it appears -- at least after such censorship -- to be completely out of left field.
How much is Mr. Caruso willing to invest in the education and skill training along with salaries and benefits to create the 'skilled people' he would like to see employed. Spending the tax dollar on developers who want their roads and other infrastructure paid for by tax payers that poorer people will never enjoy that exclusive neighborhood is sooo wrong. I don't think Caruso gets this because he's so far removed. Thank you Sam!
💯
To Sam's point, in ancient Rome, the wealthy would compete in the creation of public works as a means of flaunting how wealthy they were. Talking about incentives, the rich spending their money on public goods to bolster their own prestige seems like a good one.
At 40 years old the only thing I need right now is a down payment on a house. If there are any millionaires or billionaires that would like to help me with that I wouldn't say no. Anything helps.
You will also need to keep working for the next fourth years to pay of the mortgage, and spare money for inevitable repairs, costs etc etc...
Im a billionaire. Ill donate a dollar.
Go make money. Then use the money to buy a house.
Should have taken care of that when you were 30 and houses were cheap.
Sam's a multimillionaire - I think he has enough to give you the cost of a decent house and still be a multimillionaire.
And knowing what kind of person he is, and his views on wealth distribution, I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to.
Just ask him.
Rich people owe their money to humans they exploit. They owe money to the people, they owe their taxes to the state, nothing less. Of course, better use should be made of this money, that will always be true. But to question and put in perspective that rich people should deserve to opt out and feel entitled to a greater dissatisfaction is just plain silly. We all pay taxes. If anything, rich folks - and especially the ultra rich - often end up paying less proportionally.
Most rich people never exploit anybody what a ridiculous thing to say
@@seansezz The labour force they require to operate their businesses depend on this labour being exploited for the benefits of the capitalist. If someone is rich, chances are that someone is getting exploited for their profit somewhere down the line, whether it's directly or indirectly.
No matter what, conditioning aid should never happen. These are people who are going through a lot the last thing they need is to hear their president is being a dick about aid.
youre talking about Biden and North Carolina right?
Aren't these the people who said Trump is not their President?
Listening to this conversation is surreal. The difference between someone who has 1 or 2 or 10 or 100 BILLION dollars? Is this even real? Most of us can't pay for all our basic needs on a monthly basis let alone splurge on pleasures let alone cover our spouses cancer treatment let alone buy another house if ours is destroyed by climate change. Let it be said, if this is the state of humanity where a relative handful of people are hoarding wealth beyond imagining, there is no way the future is anything less than a bloody savage catastrophe. WAKE UP.
Its strange to see these intelligent people completely ignore the one flaw that goes to the core of the concept of democracy, and has existed since its inception centuries ago: getting elected isnt even remotely connected to competency, its entirely about popularity. This was the one true argument aristocrats made in defense of the aristocracy via speeches and letters. If they think this is going to suddenly change they are either naive or incredible optimists.
Private Firefighters seems like it will inevitably be corrupted by an unrestrained free market. It reminds me of Crassus, the "richest man in Rome" who had a private fire fighting force. When homes would be in the way of a fire, he'd go to them and offer to buy the house for pennies on the dollar, if they sold, he would put out the fire. If they didn't sell, he'd just let it burn haha.
Sam grilling him for money at the end is killing me 😭😭😭
Having a monthly receipt sent out to citizens that shows where every taxed penny goes would help voters make more informed decisions. On a local level, I think that should be doable.
Love the video! This style of podcast is my favorite!
Some of these same areas have burned 7 times since 1970 - in 70mph wind Nothing is stopping that fire
No sense in filing the hydrants. It's a waste of water.
In observing current affairs, at this time, there is definitely a signal emerging: whatever the field of endeavor, it’s competence we should be focused on not color.
The unqualified white guy in DC is exhibit A.
@@harryjones5478 I agree
@@harryjones5478 you mean Biden, right?
Karl Popper critiqued those who focus excessively on words and definitions, a practice he saw as detracting from meaningful philosophical inquiry. In his view, this kind of verbalism or linguistic analysis often leads to fruitless debates over terminology rather than addressing substantive issues. Popper argued that philosophical problems should be approached through a critical and problem-solving perspective, focusing on empirical and logical analysis rather than getting bogged down in semantic disputes. He believed that clarity and precision in language are important, but they should serve the purpose of advancing knowledge and solving real problems, not become ends in themselves.
Did he say anything about bloviating without any specifics?
Ya know, the reason you don't clear away the chaparral is erosion and landslides/debris flow. Surprised that wasn't mentioned when recommended clearing brush.
Yeah cuz James Woods' house was made of chaparral. 😐
Forest Service employee here. I’ve worked the past 13 years in Fuels Management, and spend my summers as a Wildland Firefighter. When a crew comes in to “clear away brush” we analyze everything from the topography, aspect of each hill, fuel type, regional history, and impact on local wild life. Typically we will not go in and remove *all* fuels. Small clusters anywhere between 6-12ft apart are left through out each worked unit. This allows for the eco system to remain (mostly) in its natural state, and at the same time reduce the intensity of future fires. This is a low cost prescription for regions that have historically large fires. Hope this helped
Right, you cannot just bulldoze all the chaparral on those hills or they will come sliding down in the next rain storm.
@@YukonBloamie James Woods house was not burned.
@@christopherbrooksoregonboy thanks for your work and information All five Mediterranean zones on the planet see are seeing lengthening "fire season". So we need to build and manage more. You have job security.
Funny to hear such a smart person being so naive...."seeking the kindness of strangers" Libertarianism is idiotic... we live in societies...people shouldn't be begged to participate, they should be obligated!
Deeply disappointed in this. Sam effectively gave his platform for a politician to campaign on. Fact free claims that the fire would be prevented by clearing brush or pre-positioning fire truck went unexamined and unchallenged. How much brush would one have to clear? How much would it cost? What kind of water pipes would have to be installed to allow for firefighting on 100 homes at the same time? How much that would cost? What kind of reservoirs would need to be built to allow firefighting continuously for several days? How much would that cost?
Another point, people who have been living there for 30 years have not been paying any real estate taxes for a while now thanks to Prop 13. So, where would the money for all that firefighting infrastructure come from? Of course now we (taxpayers) are asked to bail them out so that they can rebuild in the same fire prone area without even re-zoning to provide for increased density and addressing housing shortage.
This is a pathetic interview! There are so many more interesting people to discuss the fires with...like actual fire fighters...
@@clovis86 Don't agree at all. It was a relatively interesting interview, with someone who has had real responsibility in the city and might have the power, wealth, connections and influence to change things in the future. How much can an interview with a firefighter really do..."yes the city was under-financed, yes I have been trying to fight the burning fires for the last few weeks, no I have no idea how to change the political system above my head". How many firefighters really have the birds eye view to understand this problem at a city or system wide scale and the means to influence it even a little bit.
What really needs to be challenged about the common sense fact that if you cut away and remove unnecessary dry brush that that won't help in the prevention of a fire spreading? That's common sense.
And if you don't mind, could you explain how it's a actually a smart idea to build high-density high rises or apartments on land that is so prone to fire?
Don't you think that the loss of life would be much greater if there were apartment buildings with hundreds of residents stacked on top of each other in a single building versus homes that have space between them? The more people that live in a condensed area the more likely there is to be a fire in the building or somebody flicking a cigarette into the bushes and starting a fire that way.
More people in a smaller area is This is the opposite of what should happen and is only setting it up for something like this to happen again but worse.
In Australia there was a huge fire that hit the suburb of Duffy in Canberra years ago. Intense winds carried cinders over wide fields and started small fires that - if left alone - would expand into a conflagration.
Many houses abandoned by their owners burnt down. One of my friends stayed and put water on smoking areas and spot fires; his house was one of the few left on the street.
weird how having water available helps
It only works if you have a collective access to a sufficient water throughput.
This is the collaboration the Palisades needs. Let's go!
Someone mentioned Monday morning quarterbacking and they’re spot on. It’s a joke to think Rick would’ve known how to handle this once-in-a-lifetime event. Blaming Karen Bass alone, when tens of thousands of people work in government and these decisions involve multiple committees. It's just political posturing and clearly he has no clue how government works.
"once-in-a-lifetime event." This happens frequently enough to be predictable. People are paid to have a plan.
Your defense of impotent bureaucracy (without a hint of self awareness) is amusing. You must work at the DMV.
@@MervandtheMagicTones My comment is a simplification but it gets at two things - 1. He wouldn't have handled it any better so he's really not in a position to criticize - Maybe others can but he's doing it as someone who ran for office, and 2. It's political posturing to place blame on one person (Karen Bass) when the decisions were made by thousands of people and municipalities over the years. Sure, he's an expert on Palisades because he owns a mall there but I doubt he has any real solutions for greater LA area.
@ Again, you're running cover for an inept city government. And while we cannot know for certain if Caruso would have handled it better, we do know that Bass and her cronies failed to prepare. Caruso is entitled to his viewpoint and he's a proven leader, while Bass is just a cog in the political machine. The corruption and incompetence is staring you in the face.
26:20 After they say the fire was predictable, if you as an insurance company see things look bleak, you'd demand high prices from your customers, but the same government that was mismanaging fire fighting services capped the insurance fees. Hard to blame companies that saw the writing on the wall & pulled out. The "market failure" was because government tried to set their prices while keeping risk high.
what a waste of an interview. Sam if you want to get to the bottom of it why don't you have one of the fire chiefs on not a political guy with a vested interest
We have a president who is not competent and has no compassion. Don’t expect help from the federal government since he wants to eliminate FEMA.
Good! I’m tired of my taxes going to fund epic and obvious mismanagement! Deal with it!
Because FEMA is really knocking it out of the park lately
@jake10373 what was wrong with FEMA's response during North Carolina? Or anything they've done lately? Could you give a specific example of something they messed up or failed to do? The Governer of NC didn't have anything bad to say about FEMA assistance. In fact the only negative things I saw were Trump and his disgusting followers lying about it on social media.
Don't expect much from FEMA.
@drexiusofthefallen I live in NC and my family has done many hours of service in western NC. The governor a the time, Roy Cooper, is a dedicated party man and would never critique the Dem response. It was a not a good response and much of the recovery work even in the initial days was done by private citizas. There are still thousands of people living in tents in freezing weather.
The frustration is this: Sam's suggestion keeps being met with "it would be a beautiful thing" because there is only one inhibiting factor in the way. The necessary condition is *forcing* the unwilling donation of x amount of dollars from those who don't need it and wouldn't notice it was gone. That's the most charitable framing; assume we're talking about an imperceptible fraction of their wealth. Re: that imperceptible fraction: *force* those with excess to be divested of it.
I don’t understand your point? Are you suggesting force? Or saying Sam is suggesting force?
@andrewm4767 My point is that force is what both of them *aren't* saying, but that's the only thing that could cause any kind of change. Nor am I suggesting that force should be used because that begs the questions of who applies said force and who manages the redistribution of the confiscated wealth; I don't see any of our current systems as competent and corruption-free enough to manage such an undertaking in a net positive way. So in our real world, I am *not* suggesting the use of force to take wealth from the ultra-wealthy. But in a world where excess wealth leaves the ultra-wealthy to be put to better purposes (per Sam's desired outcome) force *is* the only way that that can happen.
@ unfortunately I think you’re right- maybe meditation/ dissolving ego/ could increase donations 1 to 2%
This guy Rick Caruso shows himself to be a liar, repeatedly. Get a real expert on if you wish to tackle this Sam. I worked for an insurance magazine in Athens, Greece from 1978 to 80/1 when the insurance companies were already panicking at increasing risks from global breakdown. It's been made far worse by the fossil fuel billionaires since. See Greece see Australia see the Earth. This is pitiful. Also see 'A River Run Again' by Meera Subramanian with an approach that has gone around the world.
I disagree with the idea that we have private firefighters because the fire department is understaffed. I think it’s a matter of compensation and benefits. Clearly, there are people willing to become firefighters, but they’re choosing the private sector over the fire department. I assume this is because the private sector offers better pay.
On using private firefighters: "what's the alternative to let it all burn down?" no that is not the only alternative, you could also raise the taxes for the real high incomes and build up a decent public fire fighting team
The only way to have a halfway (and I *do* mean *halfway* ) decent society with massive wealth inequality is to ensure that when it comes to the basic services, *everyone* is in the same boat - *no* private police, firefighters, healthcare, etc. If the rich can simply buy a substitute for public services, then they will do so and not care when the public services are worthless, and that's exactly what we see in America.
Around 1h in, Sam talks about philanthropy and that a person with 10billion is not living that much better than the person with 2 billion. Ok, that may be so, may be no, but he's missing the point. What the person with 2bil can't do, that the person with 10 or 100bil can do, is buy up the political class more easily. And that's where a lot of these bilionaires make their money from. Buy up the regulators, buy up the state houses, buy up the politicians so that they pass favorable laws or shut down/defund departments that allow them then to turn 2bil into 20 into 200, etc.
The solution cannot be that we need a large number of people to depend on oligarchs for charity. It must democratic ownership in the means of production. We, those who work or consume or partake in a business own that business. Not oligarchs, not shareholders, not the fucking govt. Us, the actual individuals, together.
Spotted the socialist.
@@daheikkinen spotted the cuck. maybe you should be a beggar and hope that the rich throw you some crumbs.
I admire Sam for having been against ‘DEI at the expense of competence’ from the start.
I could argue he hasn’t placed enough emphasis on it, but he’s always been on the right side of the issue.
Was DEI to blame in 1961 fire?
@@jfabiani nah, you being gay is why
You may only argue that if you don’t listen to all of Sam’s content. DEI is amongst Sams most discussed topics
@@boxersarethebestdoggoswell, he considers DEI to be a lesser evil than Trump, for example. Having listened to his podcast I know this.
Many people who voted Trump disagree.
@@boxersarethebestdoggos Somehow he worked George Floyd protests into a discussion about the LA fires.
I think the current issue people have with the super wealthy is that so much of that wealth is tied up in the housing market, which directly impacts everyone because we all need a place to live and it is rent-seeking behavior to increase money through "passive income" when they're don't actually need it.
Sam's attempt at pitching a more socialist framework while trying not to offend the rich is absolutely pathetic. Just bring up the fact that ultra-rich people are contributing to the death of democracy in favour of oligarchy.
Hang on, you just elected a bunch of people saying "the Government is the problem, cut their funding" and now there is a disaster we have these two saying "the Government is the problem as they don't have funding". Which is it?
You are imagining things. Neither of them said that government wasn't taxing enough..
Why even talk to this guy? I think this deserves an intro segment justifying this video. It seems so out of place. The rich and the glorification of wealth *are* the problem, especially with regards to decision-making and access to public funds to build infrastructure. Governments have to compromise with private businesses to access privatized talent by giving them public money that they end up using to usurp the very role of the government, which is to represent people. As a rich person, you are not "generous" for giving a part of your wealth - you didn't even deserve to privately own such massive wealth to begin with: no one does in a fair democratic system. This is a systemic issue. We can't ask the wealthy for help or guidance; they are the root of the issue.
Ik and the billionare is acting like he’s doing a difference because he sent a couple poor kids to school and has a charity. I don’t understand how people don’t see charities are a scam even if they do some good. Charities help give corporations tax cuts and the charity pockets somewhere between 25-66% of the money that gets donated depending on the charity like no wonder rich people love charities, they pay LESS with them!!! What an out of touch podcast from Sam
Arguing that the way to solve these problems is to depend on philanthropy is selfish altruism. Tax these people and have the people's representatives in the state decide where it goes. But this will never happen in a country as paranoid and deceitful about socialism.
"...if you've only got one billion dollars." Yeah, that would be tragic.
I saw a YT video that explained how the hydrants ran dry. According to the video, when the houses burned down the plumbing fixtures failed causing water to gush. I wonder if another valve could be installed to prevent such from happening.
They don't use potable water to fight fires.
In most countries there is only one system to supply water for potable and fire fighting service.
If police were not themselves criminals so often, no one would ask that the police get defunded. Make sure there is accountability and checks on power, make sure police officers know the actual f*cking law, and find a way to guarantee that abuse will systematically be harshly punished, then we'll talk! You centrists are nauseating.
I'm sure there is the usual level of incompetence and DEI involved in the intense fires, but it was an extra-ordinary weather event.
no, it wasn't. The winds are commonplace.
Speaking of philanthropy, the Victorian equivalent of billionaires were incredibly generous and public-spirited here in the UK (in some cases even building sewers in London, for example). Ian Hislop's excellent 3-part documentary 'the age of do-gooders' (which are here on YT I believe) describe this phenomenon very well.
Perplexing why Sam would find any of Caruso's perspectives or analysis insightful or enlightening.
Do we really need a self-centered billionaire who purports to have singlehandedly brought crime down in LA, please, to lecture us on the shortcomings of public governance.
Yes, a public education and a 5 minute Google search pulls the veil back on the sketchy past, questionable character, and selfish motives of a billionaire on the take.
Come on Sam, this interview is neither compelling nor informative. Let's see, a billionaire who has it all, needs nothing, and wants more is going to scorch and burn the intentions and efforts of hard working public officials because he has a "heart" for the great good. Sam, you are not reading your audience.
And then he says the billionare is doing great because he sent a couple of kids to college this interview made me lose his respect
Billionaires shouldn't exist
The answer to insurance should be: let’s make the area insurable first.
Bingo!
So you’re all just going to ignore and pretend that massive wealth isn't built on monopolization, raising prices, and underpaying workers? Rick Caruso knows this as much as anyone.. Im sure its one of the reason he ran for mayor.
People in North Carolina say hello months now and people still living in tents
Not five minutes into the video, but did Sam just call everyone's hopes, dreams and memories burnt to a cinder.. a clean canvas? An unusual opportunity? I must be mistaken.
Only way for me to read Sam's call for generosity among the rich as something more than self-unaware virtue-signaling would be for him, who not for even a minute of his life having had to endure unwelcomed poverty himself, to donate so much that he and his immediate family are able to live life just above the poverty line. I mean, if charitable giving is as important as he says it is. Occasionally report on his podcast how life is going in his two-bedroom house in some Alabama small town. Otherwise, STFU.
They promote charities cause it’s a easy way for them to get tax cuts and they get a certain percentage of the charity no wonder their promoting it
Sam. There was no consideration for the financial problems S, CA is experiencing. Already high taxes, people moving away, nobody wants low taxes. Where is the money coming From. If insurance companies won’t touch the area because of propensity of natural disasters - why should the tax payers from the rest of US 47:08
I enjoy many of Sam's videos but I have to say not this one so much. What bugs me is that Sam starts off with a question, but then the question seems to go on forever and at times even ceases to be a question and is just Sam's opinion disguised as a question. Rick patiently waits for his turn, but as a guest on Sam's podcast I think the weighting could be much more towards including the guest instead of pretending to include but not really.
~14:30 This isn't the time to rezone? Then what is a good time to rezone? This is why living in California sucks so much. I'm glad I moved to Japan where we have affordable housing
Hindsight is 20-20. It’s easy to criticize the process after the fact, where was Rick before the fires? Did he meet with the governor? The mayor, the fire departments? When you have no rain for 8 months and 80 mph winds, short of having non combustible homes you are going to have a problem. In those winds embers will travel for miles. How do you stay ahead of that? There is probably thousands of areas not only in California but across the USA that are one big wind and fire away from the same situation
You don't get to do that. Every region of the country has particular severe weather challenges. Texans don't get to say "aw shucks we weren't ready" after the hundredth tornado rips through. They do get to say "aw shucks" if there is record snowfall in Houston. LA does not get to say "aw shucks" when there isn't water to fight fires.
@ No one in LA is saying that so I’m not sure what your point is. Firemen are on record saying they had water, but they didn’t have pressure because there was too much demand. But again, even with water, you won’t stop a fire with 80 mile an hour wind and zero rain for months. To criticize at this point is not helpful. But we need to be talking about is what to do going forward. California needs to be looking at noncombustible building materials and code on vegetation.
Sam falling for Fox News talking points about DEI being to blame is so disappointing to see
What is to blame?
@ obviously a multitude of factors including local mismanagement, but the intentional omission of climate change from this entire conversation is laughable
@@grant3219 The problem is we all share an atmosphere. I don't think China will stop opening 2 new coal fueled power plants a week if we plead with them about our wildfire problem. Canada is responsible for 1% of global carbon emissions and they tanked their economy trying to bring that number down. Carbon doesn't care about borders. Until they figure out how to make a tokamak reactor work and every country on Earth wants to build them, there's no point trying to nickel and dime the problem with windmills.
Actually, it was rather refreshing NOT to hear some hypocrite bring up climate change. The current fires have billions of years of precedence.
@@MakerInMotionOn average, a person in the US puts about 170% the amount of CO2 into the atmosphere as a person in China. And they make a lot of the stuff the West uses. Historically, the West is responsible for most of the rise in CO2. Wind and Solar gave a lower LCE than fossil fuels right now, and there's still a lot of % capacity that these could cover and greatly reduce FF. Nuclear for baseload would be expensive but could phase out FF baseload. Pay now or pay big later. All countries need better leadership and cooperation to mitigate what's coming, but that is sadly lacking.