In the words of the current meme, nothing changes until a “preference cascade,” the moment when “everybody” changes their mind.
Is the current moment of wildfires devastating tony Pacific Palisades such a moment? Nobody knows. Such a moment is “necessary” for a preference cascade, but maybe not yet “sufficient.”
One thing that may trigger a preference cascade is my notion that “women expect to be protected.” I noticed during the late COVID unpleasantness that the women of my acquaintance were right there, repeating and following the latest command to lock down, or socially distance, or get the vaxx. It’s part of the deal about women being protected. But when it turns out that women are not protected, despite doing everything they were told to do, then watch out, as in the mother confronting Gov. Gavin Newsom last week.
“I live here, governor. That was my daughter’s school. Governor, please tell me what you’re going to do,” she pleaded with Newsom.
What are you going to do to protect me and mine? That is where women come from, and nothing will change it.
Earth to liberal women with #WeBelieve yard signs out front: there is only one person in your life that will protect you, and that man is your father or your husband. If you don’t have a father or a husband in your life, then you are not protected. If a politician or an activist is promising protection then that promise is a lie. As in greater Los Angeles right now.
I believe that it is not an accident that the growth of the welfare state parallels the enfranchisement of women. Welfare state politicians promise that government programs will protect you, without a man in your life. I believe that the welfare state makes women worse off, particularly in the mental health department. At some point, women will realize this, and then things will change.
But then there is the bigger issue. Can politics protect women from natural disasters? Michael Schellenberger put a list of things on X that should have been done to mitigate the disaster.
- Helicopters circling
- Immediate emergency warnings to residents
- Sprinklers to wet down vulnerable areas
- Three times more reservoirs
- Water recycling and desalination plants
- Expansion of nuclear power
Instead, politicians have been focusing on the sins of “Slavery, indigenous genocide, and climate change.”
Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill blogs at The Commoner Manifesto and runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.
Image: US Marine Corps
Jesus Christ is King
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