Is It Time to Bugout?

It’s been over a week now, and my city is still on fire. And though firefighters, police officers, medical professionals, National Guardsman and the residents of the affected areas have done a valiant job of combatting the blaze, we are still far from an end to the inferno.

What I fear most is the rebuilding efforts, which will take years and cost billions of dollars of money that could have otherwise been spent more productively throughout the economy. Oh, and don’t fall for the “broken window” fallacy here, as I’ve heard some economically ignorant people argue. Disasters of this sort are bad for everyone. Full stop.

As for the rebuild, well, even politicians who generally love regulation realize that lifting restrictions in the wake of this disaster is a good idea. In a great piece today on Reason.com, “If California Can Suspend Permitting Rules After Wildfires, It Can Abolish Them,” Steven Greenhut points out that it shouldn’t take a disaster for the state to consider fixing the rules that make it so expensive to build housing there.

Even the normally pro-regulatory, dapper-dandy Gavin Newsom knows this. This week, he issued an executive order to spare victims of the Los Angeles wildfires from onerous government permitting and review requirements as they rebuild their homes and lives.

“When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks,” the governor said in a statement. His order “will help cut permitting delays, an important first step in allowing our communities to recover faster and stronger.” Newsom also “ordered our state agencies to identify additional ways to streamline the rebuilding and recovery process.”

As Greenhut correctly points out, “That’s smart politics and good policy, but why not take this approach further?” He goes on to make this very accurate observation: “If building regulations are an impediment during an emergency, aren’t they also an impediment during normal times? Since removing these permit and review processes will help communities ‘recover faster and stronger,’ won’t their permanent removal help California deal with, say, its housing shortages and make the supply recovery ‘faster and stronger’?”

The answer is an obvious “yes.” And, in the wake of the devastation, perhaps some in my state will realize that this more “hands-off” approach is what’s needed to put California back on track to toward greater freedom.

Now, because of the fires, and the regulation, and the traffic, and the high state taxes, and the out-of-control homeless population and the complete domination of very left-wing policies that govern my state, many of my friends who live in other states and/or who were once California residents that have fled to freer ground have asked me why I haven’t decided to make my exit.

I have to say that after experiencing Mother Nature’s wrath this past week, and witnessing the comedy of errors that initially occurred trying to fight back (no water pressure in fire hydrants, faulty evacuation alerts, a “closed for maintenance” reservoir in the heart of the fire zone and government officials publicly playing the blame game), I am more tempted than ever to pack up and bugout.

I haven’t yet made that decision, but I am weighing it more seriously now than ever before. Texas Hill Country? Nashville? Park City? Las Vegas? Miami? A good argument could be made for each of these relocation destinations. And hey, if you have ideas about where you think I should go, feel free to send me an email and make your case. I’m open to persuasion, as all rational men should always be about everything in life.

Finally, I must say that so far in 2025, things are off to an unfortunate and personally sad start. Of course, the fires are the biggest macro downer for everyone, but especially for a native Angelino like me. At latest count, six friends have lost their homes in the fires and two were forced to evacuate their homes (although one has been permitted to return). One friend lost his music studio and one lost his business.

Unrelated to the fires, this year is only a fortnight old, and I’ve already had the sad news that a good friend’s mother has passed away, and that another good friend’s niece died by her own hand after suffering from depression. To say that this news has cast a pall on my usually sunny disposition would be a ghastly understatement.

Yet, in a bizarrely positive way, this year’s events have prompted me to revisit a way of thinking that I’ve been exposed to before and that I think has a lot of merit as a sort of heuristic to live by, and it goes as follows: In 2025, I am going to make decisions as if I knew that this was the last year of my life.

Now, before you think this is some sort of morbid reflection, I can assure you it’s not. I am in very good health, as far as I know, and I love the world and I love my life. Moreover, I live each day with an immense sense of gratitude that I get to do what I love, and that people love what I do.

Yet this personal heuristic to live as if I knew I was going to expire this year puts the burden of choice on me, the choice to do what is most important, and to always be present in the moment, and to not let the mental noise rule my disposition. If I knew I only had the next 12 months, would I really want to waste any of that time? Would I read a bad novel? Would I watch a bad movie? Would I spend the weekend watching sports?

The answer to all of these questions is an unequivocal “no”!

And, while I hope I don’t die this year, I will die one day, and so will everyone I know and love and so will everyone you know and love. Given this stark realization, I think we all should choose to act in the name of the very best within us.

Take advantage of the “Super Early Bird” discount, only $400 per person. It ends on Friday, Jan. 31!  To sign up go to www.freedomfest.com and use the promo code EagleSEB or call Hayley at 1-855-850-3733, ext. 201. I look forward to seeing you there!

Something Good to Read

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it”.

–P.J. O’Rourke

The events of the nascent 2025 have brought me to the realization that I only want to do what is most important to me in life. So, with that in mind, I will follow the great P.J. O’Rourke’s advice and only read things that will make me look good if I should suddenly be felled by the unexpected hand of final fate. Another way of saying this is that life is too short for bad literature!

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.