In this edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Hanson, author of “The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation,” explores the systematic failures plaguing Los Angeles as it attempts to put out devastating wildfires. From diversity, equity, and inclusion dilemmas to regulatory failures, see how this extreme ideology impacts good governance. 

“We have a $700,000-a-year utilities czar in Los Angeles, and she cannot explain why there was not enough water, at least in a convincing way—because she's never had to, because she was ideologically correct.” 

“You have an assistant fire chief who said, ‘If women can't—if I can't carry out a man [from a burning building], then that's not on me. It's the man who shouldn't be there.’ It's like saying if a child fell down a well and I'm not physically strong enough to retrieve him and save him, that's his fault. He shouldn't have been in the well.”

“In the Los Angeles catastrophe, there are whole areas of imperial inquiry that are put off limits. You cannot talk about the homeless and whether there was a homeless person who was out in the hills, [and] to get warm, lighted a fire. It's a legitimate topic of inquiry. It's happened. You can't talk about.”

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