The vivid, heartbreaking images from this week’s Los Angeles wildfires called urgent attention to California’s longtime decline.
But this time, those affected by its bad policies and bad governance include a demographic rarely touched by them: the rich.
Over the last several years, California’s net out-migration numbers set records.
An astounding 343,000 more people left the Golden State than moved to it in 2022, the highest net loss of any state, and 2023 was almost as bad, with a net loss of 268,100.
But the wealthy of California largely stayed put.
It was mostly the lower and middle classes, walloped by notoriously high taxes, mismanagement at every level of government and crumbling infrastructure, who made a run for the door.
The affluent have been largely protected from all that.
They could easily absorb the heavy tax burden and the high costs of housing or gas.
Like Gov. Gavin Newsom, they could avoid their state’s failing public schools and send their kids to private schools instead.
But no water in a fire hydrant is a great equalizer.
Comedian Billy Crystal lost his home — all but its tennis court — in Pacific Palisades.
The homes of actors Anthony Hopkins, Miles Teller and John Goodman were wiped out there, too.
Heiress Paris Hilton said she saw her luxe Malibu vacation house “burn to the ground on live TV.”
It’s unpleasant to talk about the politics that led to the loss of entire neighborhoods, but it’s necessary to examine the terrible policies that led to this preventable disaster.
After over a decade of one-party rule, California has become the testing ground for the left’s most extreme ideas — and we are seeing the results in real time now.
Whether it was cutting the budget of fire departments, not refilling the reservoirs, ignoring deforesting guidelines under pressure from environmentalists or simply deflecting blame, California’s leaders are agonizingly inept — and it shows.
Newsom has been the physical embodiment of the shrugging emoji throughout this crisis.
Asked why there was no water in the hydrants, Newsom passed the buck: “Look, the local folks are trying to figure that out,” he said.
“I mean, those hydrants are typical for two or three fires — maybe one fire and you have something of this scale, but again that’s gonna be determined by the local.”
At least he spoke actual words.
Mayor Karen Bass shut down completely and looked catatonic when she was challenged by a reporter with questions like “Do you regret cutting the Fire Department budget by millions of dollars?” Blank stare.
The worst part is this crisis was entirely predictable — so predictable in fact that incoming president Donald Trump noted California’s ongoing water problem on Joe Rogan’s podcast three months ago.
Stay up to date with the NYP’s coverage of the terrifying LA-area fires
- A timeline of the LA Fires — from early weather warnings to rampant blazes
- ‘Extreme’ risk of LA fires spreading, new blazes sparking with return of dangerous 75 mph Santa Ana winds
- Trump anticipates rising death toll in LA wildfires: ‘We’re gonna find many bodies and many more, many more dead’
- Recall effort against Newsom underway in California following alleged mishandling of LA fires
- Follow along with The Post’s live coverage of the LA wildfires
And even the rich and famous in this lockstep-Democrat town have taken notice, openly wondering why their leadership has failed to such an extent.
“City of LA you want everyone to evacuate yet you have complete gridlock and not one traffic cop on the roads helping,” actress Sarah Michelle Gellar posted on her Instagram, tagging her absent Mayor Bass.
“Your far left policies have ruined our state. And also our party,” progressive-leaning actress Sara Foster scolded Bass and Newsom on X.
“Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish.”
Podcaster and comedian Adam Carolla pushed a Change.org petition demanding Bass’ immediate resignation.
“I’m pretty fed up, and I think a lot of people in Los Angeles are pissed,” actress/filmmaker Justine Bateman told Fox News.
“If [our politicians] can’t cover the basics,” like fire and police protection, “then get out . . . you are useless to us.”
Some celebrities physically assisted in the evacuation effort.
Actor Steve Guttenberg moved abandoned cars so emergency vehicles could get through and grabbed a TV news reporter to issue a plea that fleeing residents place their keys in the cars they leave behind.
Where were city and state leaders to send out such a message?
Now California’s rich and famous have a choice: They can move their state in a better direction.
They can break from their usual leftist conformity and speak the plain truth.
National Democrats and their media friends are already shifting to the pretense that this disaster was caused by climate change and not by bungling politicos.
But California’s elites have power — and they can use it to say no, that’s not what happened here.
What’s more, they can demand concrete changes to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
It will take bravery.
Breaking with the left is a difficult thing to do in a sea of deep blue.
Yet the Californians who woke up with this current crisis can’t go back to sleep now.
They have a state to save.
Karol Markowicz is co-author of the book “Stolen Youth.”