The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire - What One Man Saw and Learned

On April 18, 2006, San Francisco will commemorate				into profit centers for those holding power.
the centennial of the San Francisco Earthquake and				Government is efficiently doing exactly what those in
Fire, an event that leveled that city. The number of				power want it to do.
people who died has never been more than estimated.				Our Founders did not expect this government to last
The other loses of various kinds ran into what today				20 years. They viewed the government they
would be billions of dollars.				established as a kind of model needing beta testing,
On that first day this photo was taken from the St.				expecting it to operate within a set of defined and
Francis Hotel, showing the city in flames. Less than 24				limiting principles.
hours later the St. Francis would also have been				Government is not supposed to be doing anything we
gutted.				can do ourselves. In the Bill of Rights Numbers 9 and
Behind that crumbling facade of human invention stood				10 make that clear. So why did government steadily
a man with an active, analytical mind. One man taking				take over jobs being handled privately?
action would change what others refused to see				For the same reason bank robbers rob banks. That is
because of those tragic days. Arthur C. Pillsbury would				where the money is. We are unused to the idea that
capture in film a lesson that would change all of our				we can examine government and change the tools
lives. The sound and sight of a city burning awakened				we use to carry out what we want done. But that
him to a human truth.				right is ours whenever we choose; that is enunciated in
The accompanying photo went out around the globe,				the Declaration of Independence.
carrying the enormity of the event to human eyes. As				The present state of government would have
catastrophic as that event was it vanishes into				shocked our Founders.
nothingness compared to the specter we face today				Consider what life looked like to Founders at the turn
from our own government.				of that century.
Some disasters are natural; some happen because of				Our Founders lived and died in a world of small shop
what we fail to understand. The San Francisco				owners, farmers, and craftspeople. Homes and
Earthquake and Fire was an event that began as a				businesses provided for their own needs. Innovation
natural disaster. The plates of the Earth slipped,				came with its own rewards and problems and people
readjusting themselves and for hundreds of miles the				learned by seeing what worked and what didn't. That
resultant impact was felt. But that devastation and loss				is the classical form for the transmission of human
passed the boundaries of what is natural, multiplied by				wisdom, used even by chimps with no governmental
the corruption of San Francisco's government.				intervention.
San Francisco had no disaster plan because the				The tools for government the Founders assembled
corrupt city administration was far more interested in				assumed a population that controlled most of the
continuing to enjoy the graft and privileges that come				infrastructure directly through town government and
with power. Emergency workers were untrained; the				through the people's power of purchase. Corporations
preparations that had long been asked for had never				did not exist in their present form. Our Founders failed
been enacted. Many buildings blown up to create fire				to see the ramifications of allowing legislation that
breaks simply burst into flame, spreading the				brought the actions of individuals under the control of
conflagration and destruction. Both looters and the				government. They were imperfect as are all of us.
innocent were gunned down by the military contingent				They did not hand us a finished product but one that
that would never be held accountable. The corrupt				needed to be tested and repaired.
officials also evaded liability. Accountability is something				But some things they did right.
government learned to avoid early on.				Until the end of the Nineteenth Century all school
San Francisco survived. Eventually sanity returned and				children studied the Bill of Rights and read the
the people came together to rebuild. Sometimes even				Federalist Papers. They knew, therefore, what their
in the face of completely incompetent care the patient				rights were supposed to be. Understanding the
lives. The image above was taken by Arthur C,				operating principles, as we can see, is a critical factor.
Pillsbury on that first day. It was a day that changed				When people know it is much harder to delude them.
his life's focus.				But politicians were persistent. They had a lot to gain.
Pillsbury had just left his job as the photojournalist at				Katrina illustrated a lot of things about government
the San Francisco Examiner to start his own				today. It took a week from the time the storm hit to
photography business, the Pillsbury Picture Company, a				announce plans for redevelopment; people were still
month before. For the next weeks he caught the				awaiting emergency help but 'gentrification' of the area
immediacy of events as people struggled to survive				was already planned. Today families who have tried to
and save what they could from the consuming flames.				return have been refused access to their homes and
His developing facility, located in Oakland, was the only				property. If you watch what those in power do, instead
one functioning. Orders poured in from across the				of believing their rhetoric the truth seeps through.
globe.				Government consumed through taxes the resources
Later the same year he used the profits from the San				that should have protected New Orleans.
Francisco photos to achieve a long time goal and				What has been proved is that Americans would have
bought the Studio of the Three Arrows in Yosemite.				been better served to keep the FEMA money within
Pillsbury was an engineer who majored in Mechanical				local areas to fund local emergency services. Because
Engineering at Stanford He had invented a specimen				every level of government above the local was more
slicer for the microscope and circuit panorama camera				corrupt in New Orleans last year there was none of
before leaving college. He was not the kind of guy to				the oversight residents expected and believed they
settle for systems and tools that did not work as				had paid for. Those funds went into other pockets. Big
expected. In Yosemite he found other systems that				government did not come into existence because the
were failing to do their jobs.				people could not find ways to handle their problems as
The Cavalry, then in charge of the Park, had long				the country grew and the complexity of their society
made a practice of mowing the meadows to provide				increased. It came into existence because those in
fodder for their horses. Pillsbury noticed that the				government were greedy and the citizens were both
number of wild flower species was decreasing every				too trusting and did not understand that government is
year in those areas and also that the Cavalry was not				just a contracting service center; that knowledge had
concerned. So, applying his skills as an inventor he built				been withdrawn.
the first lapse-time camera to be used with plants,				So what can we do to clean up this mess?
producing the first motion picture image of a wild				Their system has been designed to create our
flower gracefully raising its head to the sun. By than he				perpetual and inescapable dependence. We can
had been showing and narrating nature films for two				change that.
years.				Get off the Grids - there are a lot of them and they
Now the wild flowers could speak for themselves.				include energy, oil, credit, the monetary morass, our
That first lapse-time movie was made to persuade				health needs and so on. The good news is that this
those in power to do the right thing and stop the				can be done. The means are out there, waiting our
mowing and move towards conservation.				use. Despite the persistent and devious attempts to
Arthur C. Pillsbury believed that all people need is the				keep us nailed in place human innovation has made the
truth. If they saw the reality, he believed, they will				exits available and affordable.
choose to do the right thing voluntarily. He was right				That is probably hard to believe, but it is true. The
about most people, most of the time.				depth and scope of human innovation and our ability to
After seeing the film those in power stopped the				work together can solve problems that would destroy
mowing the same day. The year was 1912. Most of us				lesser species. That points us back to a world that
do the right thing if we know what that is. But				would have made more sense to our Founders, one
sometimes failing to do the right thing is not a mistake;				where community and conscience are central.
sometimes there is another agenda. Pillsbury assumed				Organize Locally - Many of the organizational tools we
that when those in power must be mistaken or lack				need already exist and have been in place for
understanding or simply be too lazy to care. Those				generations. The original plan was built on the idea of
were possibilities that made sense to him; but that was				communities working together to ensure their needs
an incomplete understanding. When those in power are				were met. In the last 200 years Americans have
acting on another agenda they cannot be changed				learned how to work together on the local level. They
with the truth.				can apply those skills to new tasks.
The photo Pillsbury took that you see here, one of				Most of us spend far more time working in the Little
hundreds, shows both the power of nature unleashed				League, Lions Club, Elks, Rotary, Soroptomists,
on a city and the power of corruption by government				churches, and other groups that spend their time doing
unchecked. Most people did not understand the risk				good than we do paying attention to government
they faced, having delegated that work to the city				anyway. You often see this criticized as a cause of
government.				the problem. Actually, it shows that most of us know
Pillsbury learned one essential lesson from what he				what really matters by voting with our own time and
observed. He decided to make sure that the people				resources when confronted with the morass of
themselves had direct access to the information they				government.
needed. In 1912 he invented the lapse-time camera to				The same organizations that help the homeless,
connect people to the world of wild flowers, which had				funded locally and staffed with volunteers, can
been overlooked even by such conservationists as				undertake the other work we need done to ensure
John Muir. Muir's energies were focused on saving the				the continuation of the social safety nets we all want in
Hetch Hetchy, a battle he lost.				place.
Pillsbury kept working. He began lecturing and showing				Build Coalition - When you look at the distrust and
his motion pictures. Eventually he would speak at				resistance that came with the team mentality of
every major town forum and every university of note,				politics you have to wonder why it mattered in the first
including MIT. He expanded his lectures every year,				place. People registered as Democrats, Republicans,
adding new films and insights. He was determined that				Green, or Libertarian who focus on making their
the miracles of the natural world be understood, that				communities better have more in common with each
their truth be accessible to everyone. In 1927 Arthur				other than they do with those in positions of power
Pillsbury completed the invention of the microscopic				within their political parties. All politicians, with just
motion picture camera. Seeing the world beyond the				enough exceptions to prove the point, are more
scope of the human eye awakened people to another				vested in acquiring power and cash than in eliminating
aspect of nature. After that time there was an				the means by which power and cash are
explosion in related research.				accumulated.
Pillsbury went on to build the first X-ray motion picture				The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire shattered
camera and the underwater motion picture camera				lives, destroyed property, and raised a challenge to the
opening up more new vistas. Pillsbury refused to				people of San Francisco that they heard and
patent his inventions. He wanted their use to become				answered. We need to remember that. Today's
common to all of us. He had solved the problem he				challenge is far greater but despite the predations of
identified during those hideous days when San				government and their core constituency, mega
Francisco burned.				corporations, we have many more resources in the
Arthur C. Pillsbury died in Oakland in 1946. The scope				battle we face that did our Founders. Generations of
of human vision had expanded, thanks to his inventions				American innovation is there, like a vast and untapped
and tireless lecturing. He had made nature visible as it				bank account, ready to work.
had never been before but that was not enough. He				The greedy already know what the real game is. It
had not calculated for the impact of those greedy for				has been going on for a long time. The rest of us need
money and power. Government had not changed; it				to get busy making sure that alternatives are available.
continued an upward trend for control coupled with the				Once you see the Emperor's new clothes there is no
corruption. Those who profited through generations				going back.
came to accept this as their prerogative. We need to				Disasters of the natural kind happen. But we don't
see government for what it is; a system that has been				have to accept human government as an act of God,
converted from service provider to wealth source for				we can change course.
those who control it.				The American Revolution has taken a hiatus. Ours
Disaster is endemic to all politics and for the same				started in 1775 with the Shot Heard Round the World
reasons. Coupling a lack of accountability with the				on April 19th.. That revolution, intended to replace
temptation to take always draws those inclined to				government by monarchy by governance through the
steal.				tools chosen and controlled directly by the people,
Katrina has illustrated just how bad it can be within our				remains to be finished.
own shores; Iraq has demonstrated how bad America				We, the people, retain the right to change government
can be when the tools of corruption are applied				to secure our inherent rights and together, moving past
internationally. These are not examples of				the chasms that divide us, it can be so. That was the
incompetence, rather they illustrate sophisticated				original vision for America. It is time to finish what well
schemes for converting the institutions of government				intended people began.

Realty SF

The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire - What One Man Saw and Learned

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