It has become so commonplace, when one does not see it, one believes the door over which one would normally see it must lead to some other place other than out. But this was not always the case. Nor was it always the case that a door over which one would normally see it, a door that leads out, swung outwardly. It is one of things in modern life we have to come to accept as obvious: that any building will have a place of escape, clearly marked, and that if one were to use it, it would deliver on the promise. But the clearly marked escape to safety from fire was not always a given.
The Cocoanut Grove Nightclub Fire in Boston was a seminal event in the history of fire regulation. The fire led to active involvement of government in the regulation of private property. Property owners were told how their doors would swing, and how many people could be inside a building at any given time. They were told to build portals for escape and to mark them clearly. They were told what to do with their property, on terms they were not allowed to set, by an intrusive, activist government acting on behalf of people.
The stories of the fire have been told repeatedly over the years. I won't repeat them. But it seems the lesson of them is increasingly being lost on its beneficiaries, especially those who have public responsibilities. When disaster struck, the people who created regulations and safety precautions knew that fires would continue to occur. There is no way they could legislate the prohibition of fire any more than they could ban the wind. But they did understand something important: all too often, the good is often discarded in favor of the profitable and the government has a role to play in curbing it.
The lessons of a disaster is taught with regulation. Doors to outside should swing out rather than swing in. A revolving door should not be the sole means of escaping a building. Smoke detectors must be installed. Fire inspections must occur. Fire drills must occur. Sprinkler systems must be installed. Occupancy limits must be set. Flammable materials must be secured. Taxes must be levied to support fire departments. Exit signs must be highlighted and clearly identifiable.These things did not occur because of a zealous bureaucrat, but because of tragedy of life without them.
So, it seems to me that the American financial system, which has just in the past few years experienced a Triangle Shirtwaist and Cocoanut Grove combined, is carrying on as if nobody died. As if there were not a complete collapse in the net worth of the middle class as the most important asset in any stable family, their home, continues to wipe away the fruits of their labor. While the entire building of our middle class burned to the ground, the landlords set about making sure that there would be no mandates for sprinkler systems. No fire inspections. No new taxes to support fire departments. The smoking, smoldering hulk that was left would not be condemned and swept aside, but instead propped up. Papered over. Painted, gussied up, and stamped with a seal of approval. It's safe here, they tell us. Look for a way out and you will not find it. There is no clearly marked exit sign over the door and no government to force its placement.
And so we find the middle class, trapped as so many people were on November 28, 1942. That was a day when there was only one way out, a jammed revolving door. The others doors were welded shut because the owner of the club did not want people leaving without paying their tabs. That day, the club was filled far beyond a safe capacity. The electricity was installed by an unlicensed electrician, only able to do so because the owner was "in with the mayor." That was a day when, possibly like today, the owners didn't want an intrusive government keeping them down. A total of 492 people died, all there to either earn a living or have a good time spending one.
Our middle class is locked in a burning building with no clearly marked exit. Our financial masters are much like that club owner. Except in one way: after the fire, that guy was sent to prison.