Saved Shoelaces
My mother-in-law, who was weeks shy of being 100, and my 96-year-old uncle died this month. They were remnants of what some have called America’s greatest generation—a generation who confronted both the Great Depression and WWII.
These folks built the infrastructure for the great nation we enjoy today—infrastructure we neglect as much as we neglect the values that informed their lives.
Both Katherine and Richard died debt-free and were able to leave a little something for their heirs. This comes from a culture of hard work, frugality and community. Real community, where the potluck dinners feature homemade food, not bags of restaurant takeaway.
They had a culture of practical solutions for real problems. They saved for a rainy day. You know people were frugal when you sort through their things after they’ve died and find lots of saved shoelaces.
We’re not like that at all. No practical solutions for real problems for us. We’re the impractical solutions for imagined problems people. The pricier the better. Just charge it. Or, better yet, get other people to pay.
That’s the story behind Measure P, a nugatory proposal to underground the utilities along Laguna Canyon Road for a total cost approaching a quarter billion dollars. The proposal’s paranoid perfidious propaganda touts public safety with its “better safe than sorry” talking point. “Never mind the cost. The tourists will pay for it.”
Right after Mexico pays for the wall. If this passes, go buy a car and we’ll see who is paying for it.
The sad thing is, this proposal doesn’t bring much safety improvement. It’s all about the aesthetics of a drive.
The threat to Laguna Beach from fire doesn’t come from cars crashing into polls in the canyon. Any fire caused that way doesn’t have a lot of fuel and is promptly reported. They are extinguished right away.
The fire that almost burned the town down in 1993 started way out in the brush, far from any road, lighted by an arsonist. The fire this spring in Aliso Woods Canyon was the same thing—started way out in the brush by a person.
By the time these fires are reported, they can become huge. The 1993 fire crossed Laguna Canyon Road at multiple locations with flame heights up to 200 feet. No evacuation that way.
The real threat from fire is in the fuel build-up in the open space brush. A practical solution would be a realistic fuel modification program. One without debt for our heirs.
J.J. Gasparotti moved to Laguna Beach with his family when he was 11 years old. He has loved it ever since.
