I don’t think it’s helpful to bring ideology into this situation.
This is a human tragedy.
Steely Tom..you wrote:
“”I don’t think it’s helpful to bring ideology into this situation.
This is a human tragedy.””
Really?
You sound like the current crybabies who lost the election!
“Ideology” ...CAUSED the tragedy! If you have laws that are not enforced...(fire laws) ...because of bleeding hearts for the ‘downtrodden’...then you create a fire trap.
And this is exactly what happened.
And whats more...it is a ‘type’ of what was happening to our country before President Trump.
Laws being overlooked...scoffed at... and this nation was becoming a ‘fire trap’...waiting only for a Spark!
...pull your head out Steely Tom...
You're missing my point, and perhaps I did not articulate it well enough. I'm not suggesting in any way shape or form that anyone deserved to die or died because of their ideology. What I'm saying is that the progressive ideology of the CITY led to lax enforcement of rules that could have prevented this tragedy.
I expect it’s both.
The overriding part is the horror and sorrow of those who perished and their families, their friends. I was young once ;) and can well imagine myself or pals unwittingly ending up in a similar place/situation. For freepers who never went through a rebellious stage, or trying to see the world through eyes other than my family’s, it may be a stretch.
At the same time, in Oakland there appear to be some conflicting desires and agendas. First, it is the responsibility of Code Enforcement to...enforce codes!!! This building has been the subject of multiple violations over years. In no way was there ever a straightforward attempt to force the dwellers or the owner to comply. No one meant business.
This brings us to the second agenda- Oakland as a haven for “artists”, musicians, off—the-grid hippies, alternative lifestyle misfits, etc. This character Derick Ion, consciously or otherwise took advantage of these kids and charged them $500 month for a “space” with overloaded and shoddy electricity, no hot water or real bathrooms, no actual kitchen. From reading several accounts there were rats, feces, used condoms and bugs. It was freezing in winter yet the kids loved the “family” and “art”..
But as to ideology - it’s a real problem for the left because their go-to solution is new legislation. The trouble is, they invariably lack the WILL TO ENFORCE the laws they pass.
So they may SAY, we’ve got the strictest this or that law. And feel smug while letting hippies and illegal aliens actually break the law in broad daylight.
Wild reckless behaviors led to these many deaths. Liberalism killed these people. It doesn’t mean such behaviors make death inevitable, only that it makes death more likely and people die in such easily avoidable tragedies.
Oakland liberals raised the risk levels for these people in a variety of ways, and fire is no respecter of fuzzy hippie ideologies.