This is capitalism

The fact that 18 expensive homes in Laguna Beach were destroyed in a landslide has been all over the news. But this tidbit has almost universally been omitted from the reporting:

"It was in an area known to be highly unstable. Two previous landslides there, in 1978 and 1998, damaged or destroyed 314 homes and killed two people."

Read that again. Not 1878 and 1898. 1978 and 1998. The latter less than a decade ago. A tragedy? Yes. Unexpected? Hardly.

The greed of developers knows no bounds. Flood plains? Earthquake fault lines? Landslide prone areas? Nothing prevents them from building, taking their profits, and getting out.