The Instincts of an Arsonist

Sensible leaders understand their job is to put out fires. One man only wants to watch everything burn.

(Photo by Tetra Images via Getty Images)

He delights in seeing things burn. He likes destruction. Fixing things is hard; destroying them is much easier.

Finding solutions requires tapping into factual reality. It demands expertise, interest, a desire to learn, a hunger to make things better.

But when you don’t care about the rules others have created, you’re free to strike the match, then sit back and watch what happens.

An arsonist in government should be a contradiction and an impossibility. One would think to be in government, you have to care about governance. You have to believe in using the available resources to create stability, security and improvements that actually help people.

Such an effort takes time. It can be a long slog.

But arsonists are in a hurry to see the consequences of their efforts. So much damage. Who said destruction isn’t where the action is?

I came across an abstract of a report posted by the Justice Department titled “What Sets Off an Arsonist.” Originally published in 1993, this report is concerned with literal fires, of course, but its findings are surely relevant to our current political reality.

In this telling, arsonists commit the act for reasons such as personal economic gain, hatred for the person whose property is damaged, attention for a cause (think terrorism), vanity when they can pretend to be heroes who have discovered the fire they themselves started, and using the flames to divert attention from another problem. More irrational motives, the author notes, include “an unconscious urge” to release stress, engage in sociopathic behavior in order to rebel “against rules and symbols of authority,” and because of their fascination with fire.

The catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles are a tragic reminder that America should be pulling together to confront the growing ravages of our warming planet. They are fueled by extreme drought, dry and often overgrown vegetation, difficult geography, over-dense population, extreme Santa Ana winds and a water infrastructure inadequate to contain fire this massive and conditions this treacherous. There is plenty of failure and blame to spread around about how Los Angeles and state leaders have let such conditions combine, especially in a region where the reality of climate change and the need for sustainable responses is not controversial.

But the man who will be inaugurated into the highest office in our land not only has falsely claimed that climate change is a hoax, he’s exploited this moment to attack Democrats in general and particular politicians he despises. “No water in the fire hydrants, no money in FEMA. This is what Joe Biden is leaving me,” he falsely posted in all caps five days ago. And, as the extreme winds grounded flight crews, he posted, “Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire.”

Forget calls for unity. Forget solutions. Forget expressions of sorrow or support for all the pain and suffering this natural disaster has caused and will cause.

Instead, this is an opportunity for the man with the instincts of an arsonist to score political points and relish in the carnage. It is also an opportunity for the man who has no interest in governing to spread lies—that it’s the fault of the governor who’s too busy protecting endangered fish, that the forests are not managed properly, that northern California water should be flowing there, that FEMA is broke. (On the last point, President Joe Biden has pledged 100 percent funding for disaster relief for the next six months. PBS published this good fact-check about wildfire misinformation and California water policy.)

Yesterday, Trump posted, “L.A. is a total wipeout!!!” Over an image of widespread fire, he also reposted, “It’s not climate change. It’s Democrats.” And one other image, meant to look like the Hollywood sign with fire behind it, there were these words: “Trump was right.”

What that means, exactly, I don’t know. But what I do know is that there’s nothing Trump delights in more than death and destruction and the opportunity to appear like the tough guy, the strongman who knows what to do.

Except that every one of his comments portrays that he doesn’t know how to fix things, only how to savor carnage and point his short fingers at others.

In seven days, we will be saddled with this convicted felon who has the instincts of an arsonist (just look at his reckless cabinet picks). In the weeks ahead, I will not dwell on what he “should” do, as if he were a normal, decent, competent or informed leader who understands the problems, cares about personal suffering or studies how to make things better.

It will be incumbent on all of us—as he exploits tragedy and fuels more conflict and division—to look beyond his noise and try to understand what’s really happening. As much as he will use his mad rantings and rage making to distract the public from his lack of real answers, we need to pay attention to the facts, confront the failures at every level that make the problems worse, and spotlight the good work of first responders and longer-range planners with the vision and desire to limit the damage and make things better.

Let’s remember to support the firefighters, both real and figurative.

Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $50 a year or just $5 a month, if you’re not already. This helps sustain and expand the work of America, America, keeps nearly all the content free for everyone and gives you full access to the comment sections. That has never been more important.