Survival of the Wokest

How FEMA's DEI Makes People DIE

Hurricane Helen was a disaster in more ways than one. Yes, the storm left a trail of destruction along the East Coast, but what really turned the situation into an even bigger catastrophe was the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) bungled response.

From delays in getting aid out and mismanaged supplies to poor coordination with local authorities, the agency looked unprepared at every turn.

And then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted to reporters that the agency "does not have the funds" to protect Americans through the remainder of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, its coffers depleted by the more than $1.4 billion spent addressing the migrant crisis since fall 2022.

Now, aside from the fact that only in a completely unhinged country—or one run by corrupt communist bureaucrats—would we run out of money to help American citizens because the government decided to give it to illegal aliens (including putting them up in luxury hotels in New York City), perhaps that wasn’t the only reason FEMA’s handling of the Hurricane Helen aftermath was such a catastrophe. Maybe there was also something else at play. Oh, I don’t know... maybe FEMA’s eagerness to tick diversity boxes and play political games rather than focus on helping those in need.

I was curious, so I did some digging. And let’s just say, the findings speak for themselves...

Who Gets Saved First?

This leaked video from a 2023 FEMA webinar highlights the agency's obsession with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) over practicality (which may help explain some of the missteps we’ve seen in the response to Hurricane Helen). The webinar, charmingly titled “Helping LGBTQIA+ Survivors Before Disasters,” featured panelists discussing how disaster services need to cater specifically to “marginalized” communities. Here's a snippet from that video—it's only about 1 minute and 38 seconds long. Give it a quick look.

Tyler Atkins, a FEMA specialist who moderated the session and goes by he/they pronouns (because of course he does), explained that these groups are already struggling and therefore need extra attention when disasters strike. But the real kicker came from someone named Maggie Jarry, who said this (feel free to skip ahead to the second paragraph):

You know, there are a couple of things that are intersecting in my mind here. One of them is the culture of emergency management as an organization, as an industry in the United States specifically, not abroad. This has, and my cat sometimes does this, she gets really loud suddenly, so you'll have to just allow for the little meowing in the background.

The shift that we're seeing right now is a shift in emergency management from utilitarian principles where everything is designed for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people to disaster equity. But we have to do more, right?

Surprise, surprise—our disaster equity expert is also the proverbial cat lady.

Anyway, I think you get the gist... They're basically advocating for ditching policies that help the most people - which they dismissively call “utilitarian” - and instead focus on this "disaster equity" thing where they hand out aid based on characteristics like race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

It’s totally nuts when you think about it. Imagine a FEMA helicopter flying over flooded houses in North Carolina. There’s a couple on a roof, waving the latest version of the rainbow flag, shouting, “Hey, over here, save us!” So, the FEMA crew’s like, “Yeah, you’re up, let’s get you to safety.” Meanwhile, right next door, a regular family of three is also waiting for help, but since they appear straight, they’re left behind to wait for another chopper.

It’s Equity, Stupid

Now, you might be scratching your head thinking, "What's this “equity” buzzword all about, and why would it mean FEMA helicopters pick and choose who to save first? Well, equity is this concept—or Marxist idea, I should say—that since not everyone begins from the same starting line, someone needs to make sure they end up in the same spot.

Naturally, in disasters like Hurricane Helen, that “someone” enforcing equity is FEMA, determined to do so—even if it means the same final spot for everyone is the cemetery.

Now, this isn't just me saying it. FEMA, under the Biden Administration, has reprioritized the entire organization to incorporate the thinking you just witnessed in the video above. And their number one goal? You guessed it: Equity. Feast your eyes.

If you poke around their website, it’s clear that applying DEI to disaster relief has become their top priority.

You'd think a federal agency tasked with disaster management would prioritize other things like, oh, I don't know, saving lives and restoring communities? But no, FEMA has decided that it's more important to "instill equity as a foundation of emergency management." In other words, instead of helping the greatest number of people as efficiently as possible, they're now focused on doling out aid based on identity politics. This isn't disaster relief—it's a disaster in itself.

Guess Who’s All About Equity Too

But it’s not just FEMA that's drunk on the equity Kool-Aid. Vice President Kamala Harris has made it abundantly clear that her vision for disaster management aligns perfectly with FEMA's. Here’s a snippet of a video (with a quick transcript below, if you’d rather not listen to her) where she proudly explains that resources should be distributed based on race, sexual orientation, and other identity markers.

It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making.

And so we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity, understanding not everyone starts out at the same place. And if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities and do that work.

Sounds familiar, right? It’s almost like FEMA is taking its cues straight from Harris. Their shared outlook turns disaster relief into a political agenda, instead of focusing on the basic job of saving lives.

The result? A FEMA that’s more interested in virtue signaling than actual virtue, more concerned with social engineering than practical engineering, and more focused on politics than people. The American taxpayer expects FEMA to be prepared to help everyone, no matter who they are, when disaster strikes. But under the current administration, FEMA clearly thinks that some victims are more deserving than others.

Not only is this, as Doug often says, perverse, but it’s also extremely dangerous and will continue to cost lives.

Regards,

Lau Vegys