“The complete Pacific Palisades seems like, sadly, Gaza, or one among these war-torn international locations the place terrible issues have occurred,” remarked Los Angeles native and Oscar-winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis at a current occasion for her new film “The Final Showgirl.” Her now-viral remark has sparked controversy, however Curtis is much from alone in drawing comparisons between devastated L.A. neighborhoods and battle zones. L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger stated that town, or a minimum of essentially the most affected components of it, “seems like a war zone,” including: “You’ll be able to go blocks the place there aren’t any properties.” These analogies are definitely provocative. And though the comparability falls quick in some methods, it’s also illuminating.
The obvious manner through which Los Angeles doesn’t examine to a conflict zone is, thankfully, the variety of fatalities. At least 28 people have died within the Los Angeles wildfires. In distinction, political scientists typically take into account an armed battle to attain the standing of “conflict” when the battle crosses the brink of 1,000 battle-related deaths. The magnitude of fatalities widespread in conflict — with 1000’s or tens of 1000’s lifeless — reminds us of how fortunate we’re that so many individuals evacuated safely.
The lesson factors within the different route too. Any lack of civilian life is unacceptable, whether or not it’s one individual or 1,000. As powerfully portrayed in current obituaries of the individuals who misplaced their lives to the wildfire, every particular person is a blessing. All folks have wondrous tales and lives. It makes the size of demise throughout wars all of the extra tragic and makes it all of the extra crucial that we do every part in our energy to make sure that disasters, just like the L.A. fires, don’t take an analogous toll.
The conflict analogy might spring to thoughts for observers corresponding to Curtis and Barger not solely due to the charred panorama but in addition due to the indiscriminate nature of wildfire, an echo of some sorts of warfare. The truth is, the weapons of indiscriminate violence, starting from village burning to aerial bombardment, are designed to copy the precise results of the Los Angeles fires in opposition to civilian populations. The very goal of brutality in conflict is to displace communities, destroy infrastructure and break the human spirit.
The devastation in Southern California is far-reaching: greater than 40,000 acres burned, 15,700 structures destroyed and at one level nearly 200,000 people under evacuation orders. These numbers can’t convey the harms to the communities flung aside and the potential generational wealth loss amongst Black and Latino households in Altadena particularly. The fires underscore each the damaging energy of our altering local weather and, when one hears the “conflict zone” comparability, the merciless penalties of deploying weapons on this method.
The conflict analogy additionally affords us classes about what we’re to count on in regards to the aftermath of the current emergency in Los Angeles. If the educational scholarship on legacies of violence teaches us something, it’s that violent threats change us as folks and should even rewire our psychology. When folks really feel unsure about and threatened by their atmosphere, they have a tendency to point out greater assist for conservatism. Liberal lawmakers in California, already within the hot seat, ought to work to deal with constituents’ existential fears to keep away from shedding energy to political hardliners who would are inclined to undermine our already fragile environmental insurance policies.
There’s a silver lining within the aftermath of traumatic occasions corresponding to wars and wildfires. Researchers finding out post-conflict societies have discovered that some communities emerge stronger, extra resilient and extra politically lively. Going through a shared risk and dealing collectively to fulfill it evokes deeper in-group ties. Even after the risk dissipates, these group bonds encourage people to be extra concerned of their communities and to be extra engaged in political actions, together with voting. These results are historically persistent and may final throughout a number of generations.
To understand this potential legacy of engagement and resilience, it’s incumbent on all Angelenos to be there for each other and to rebuild the social basis for our communities with altruism. Now will not be the time for greed or finger-pointing however fairly the time to point out up for each other, to supply mutual help. So many Angelenos have already sprung into motion in methods by no means seen earlier than, with pop-up donation drives, fundraising for affected households’ GoFundMe pages and free meal providers.
Within the face of an emergency so damaging that it remembers conflict, we additionally should empathize with those that have grappled with armed battle and heed their classes nicely past our present disaster.
Katherine Irajpanah, a PhD candidate within the division of presidency at Harvard College, is a fellow with the US Institute of Peace and the Division of Protection’s Minerva Analysis Initiative.
