1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Episode two, Into the Wild Orange Yonder. For the first 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: three days after the shooting, you didn't talk to anyone, 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: and none of your friends or family seemed to know 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: what to say. You took off from work, cloistered yourself 5 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: away in your house, and drank. You're not sure why, 6 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: but your brain wouldn't let you listen to any of 7 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: the outreach that came your way until Aaron texted you. 8 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 1: She was a local organizer. You'd met her last year 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: at a protest, and she'd struck you as an unusually 10 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: outgoing person. You all barely knew each other, but when 11 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: she heard about what happened, she reached out. She offered 12 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: to put you into contact with a friend of hers, Tom, 13 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: a combat veteran who'd seen some ship overseas. She said 14 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: he might understand some of what you were going through. 15 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: You'd called him eventually, and talking to Tom had helped. Still, 16 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: it was two weeks after the shooting when you finally 17 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 1: felt good enough to leave your home. You'd pretty much 18 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: disconnected yourself from social media in the interim, and upon 19 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: diving back into the world, you were surprised to see 20 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: that everyone was freaking out over a heap home destined 21 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: to settle over your city in the coming days. No 22 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: one knew quite how hot it could get. Weatherman would 23 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: only quote a range of possible temperatures, but everyone said 24 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: it might break the city's all time high heat record. 25 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: That same hyperbolic to you. The world was warming. You 26 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: didn't doubt that, but that heat record had held solid 27 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: since the nineteen nineties. You might have taken it all 28 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: more seriously if you hadn't been so overwhelmed with your 29 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: own ship. By the time you were semi functional again, 30 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: temperatures had already started to crest above one fifteen. During 31 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: the heat of the day, at a hundred and eighteen degrees, 32 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: the airports started canceling certain flights. Some smaller planes, like 33 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: the Bombardier CRJ, couldn't handle those temperatures. The news assured 34 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: you that big planes, the ones made by Airbus and Boeing, 35 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: could handle up to a hundred and twenty six degrees. 36 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: There was no way it would get that hot. But 37 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: it hit a hundred and twenty, and then the next 38 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: day it hit a hundred and twenty three, breaking the 39 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: old record for the first time in decades. More flights 40 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: were canceled, but you were doing okay. It was easy 41 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: enough to sit inside with your air conditioning and wait 42 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: out the weather. During a press conference, the city assured 43 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: everyone that the grid would hold up to the strain. 44 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: This isn't Texas or California, the mayor assured everybody, we 45 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: can handle this. You woke up the next morning boiling 46 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: in your sheets. The power was out even in the 47 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: early morning. It was almost a hundred and ten outside. 48 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: You gulped down water, stumbled to your car, and turned 49 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: on the A C to see what the hell was 50 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: happening localized brownouts, the city, through local news assured you, 51 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: and so you decided to pass the time in your 52 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: private A C box by driving to the gas station 53 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: to fill up your car. A lot of other people 54 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: had the same idea, though there were lines around every station. 55 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: People were filling up their cars, but also jerry cans 56 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: and even bags of gasoline. You drive around for a 57 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: few minutes, looking for any place not swarmed with customers, 58 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: until you see your first out of gas sign. Then 59 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: you drive straight to the nearest station and wait twenty 60 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: minutes for a chance to fill up. You're one of 61 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: the last people at the station to top off. The 62 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: out of gas sign goes up just as you exit 63 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: the parking lot. On your way back home, you see 64 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: crowds of people outside the few stations that haven't run dry. 65 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: Several people are yelling at each other, fighting over access 66 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: to the pump. You see one man waving a rifle 67 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: while another fills an enormous plastic moving crate with gasoline. 68 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: Where the hell are the cops, you wonder. The answer 69 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,239 Speaker 1: to that question comes a few hours later in the day. 70 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: Without power, your office is shut down and there's little 71 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: points staying indoors where it's even hotter than outside. Aaron 72 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: reaches out and asks if you're free today. You say yes, 73 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: and she pulls you into a signal loop where a 74 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: few dozen other folks have organized cooling stations for some 75 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: of the local homeless camps. Since you drive a hybrid 76 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: car with a big full tank, you agree to help 77 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: distribute cool water and electrolyte packets. The first couple hours 78 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: go well. You swing by a few little tent communities 79 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: where houseless people bake under shade structures and try to 80 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: cool off with wet towels and iced water bottles. Given 81 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: the power situation, you're impressed that so many local activists 82 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: had the presence of mind to freeze water before the 83 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: heat wave. You're also impressed by the different solar arrays 84 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: you see in encampments, often wired together from battery packs 85 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,239 Speaker 1: and cast off panels. Wealthier people bought to go camping 86 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: between the fans and the ice. Most of the folks 87 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: you meet seem like they'll get through the day alive. 88 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: In between stops, you keep checking the local news. They 89 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: aren't referring to the outages as rolling blackouts anymore. The 90 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: term grid failure has grown more and more common. Around 91 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: two p m, as temperatures crack a hundred and twenty 92 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: nine degrees, you get a notification that the airport has 93 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: canceled all flights due to a heat emergency. Earlier in 94 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: the day, you saw several older cars pull off to 95 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: the side of the road, smoke billowing from their engines. 96 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: When you pull into your last encampment of the day, 97 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: located beneath an overpass, you see an old SOB and 98 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: two old Fords parked nearby. Their drivers and passengers are 99 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: huddled under the shade of the encampment, wet towels over 100 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: their faces, and next most of the passengers looked to 101 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: be middle class. They're well dressed, clearly uncomfortable with the 102 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: homeless people handing them water to ward off heat stroke. 103 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: As you walk up, you hear one older woman chattering 104 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: at one of the encampment dwellers while he wets a 105 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: towel for her. I'm sorry to intrude. We went to 106 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: the store to see if we could pick up some fans, 107 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: and we just ran out of gas on the way back. 108 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: No one has fuel. We couldn't even run a generator 109 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: to get the fans going if we were back home. 110 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: Best to wait it out here, anyways. The man next 111 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: to her says, the freeways a parking lot. Everyone who 112 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: can is bolting out of town, heading somewhere higher and cooler. 113 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: Radio says, a bunch of people diet already when their 114 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: cars broke down and they cooked by the side of 115 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: the road. You hand out the last of your supplies 116 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: to the encampment's grateful residence. Before you turn back to 117 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: your car, you check your phone to see if your 118 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: neighbor texted you that the power was back on. No news. 119 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: You aren't sure if you really want to head back 120 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: to your house in the middle of all this. The 121 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: overpass might be more comfortable. Someone set up too large 122 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: kiddie pools filled with water. There's music and solar charged 123 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: batteries to keep your phone topped off. All things considered, 124 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: it's one of the more comfortable places you could weigh 125 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: out the heat wave. As you pull this over, you 126 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: notice flashing lights as a half dozen police cars and 127 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: a riot van pulled up by the overpass. It all 128 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: happened so quickly that you stand there stunned for a moment. 129 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: As officers begin to form ranks on the far side 130 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: of the encampment. You look behind you, just in time 131 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: to see more cars pull up, including one large cruiser 132 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: with an l RT on its back. This is the 133 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: police department. They say this encampment is a fire hazard. 134 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: The mayor has declared a state of emergency. You all 135 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: need to disperse now. All around you, encampment residents and 136 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: activists begin to pick up shields, pipes, and bottles. They 137 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: form crude lines to face off against the riot officers 138 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: marching in from both sides. Your heart starts to pound. 139 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: You see the normies. The one is not too sick 140 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: with heat stroke to stand start glancing around in the 141 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: same way you are trying to weigh the best of 142 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: their options. Most of them are stuck here. But you 143 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: still have a nearly full tank of gas. You can 144 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: get away for now, at least. In two thousand eleven, 145 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: exactly a decade ago. As I typed this, my partner 146 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: and I drove eleven or so hours south from our 147 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: home in Dallas to the border town of Marfa, Texas. 148 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: Back then, Marfa had a population of about hundred. It's 149 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: a beautiful place, surrounded by the kind of wild scrub 150 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: brush desert that outsiders assume most Texans live in. Marfa 151 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: is famous as the former home of artist Donald Judd, 152 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: and as a result, the whole place has a strange vibe, 153 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: a mix of rural South Texas grit and woo woo 154 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: artsy flair. We'd chosen to visit in April, traditionally one 155 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: of the mildest months for Texan weather, but it was 156 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: unreasonably warm when we arrived, and the whole state had 157 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: suffered through a bizarrely dry spring. As we drove into town, 158 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: we saw smoke on the far horizon. We didn't know 159 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: it then, but an electric short in an abandoned building 160 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: had sparked what would eventually grow into the rock House fire. 161 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: We lived out of my prius and motels at that point, 162 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: and we spent most of the day driving or staggering 163 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: from bar to bar to a rad grilled cheese restaurant, 164 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: talking to locals while we watched the flames burn across 165 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: the horizon. We saw the fire eat Mount Marathon, and 166 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: we sat on the deck of a bar talking to 167 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: locals who had driven what possessions they could into town 168 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: and then abandoned their homes to the blaze. There goes 169 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: my house, someone would say, pointing to local news coverage 170 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: and ordering another round. What we drank and gawked. Nearby 171 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: ranchers were cutting their fences. There was no time to 172 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: evacuate the herds, so the best they could do was 173 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: cut holes in the barbed wire and give the animals 174 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: a slim chance of fleeing to safety. By the time 175 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: night fell, the whole horizon burned. Every government building in 176 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: Marfa was empty. There were no cops. Everyone was a firefighter. 177 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: That night, we eventually headed to a nearby motel. The 178 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: door to the office was empty and the lights were on. 179 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: On the desk was a bucket of keys and a 180 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: sign informing us that the owners were both volunteer firefighters 181 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: and that we should just take a key and pay 182 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: in the morning. The rock House fire would eventually burn 183 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: more than three hundred and fourteen thousand acres in two counties. 184 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: It marked the beginning of a historic wildfire season in Texas. 185 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,319 Speaker 1: Over the next six months, more than thirty one thousand, 186 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,679 Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty three fires would burn a total 187 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: of four million acres or sixteen thousand square miles, an 188 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: area larger than Switzerland. Ten years later, almost to the month, 189 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: my new home state of Oregon was hit by an 190 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: unprecedented heat dome. Temperatures in the state capital neared a 191 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: hundred and nineteen degrees, seven degrees hotter than it has 192 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: ever been in Dallas. Crops died, along with more than 193 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: a billion sea creatures. Along the northwest coast, the verdant 194 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: woods of the Pacific Northwest dried out and caught fire. 195 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: As i type this, the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon 196 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: is the largest in state history. It is burnt over 197 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand acres, and it is still not contained. 198 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: It's started less than a year after an unprecedented series 199 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: of wildfires blanketed much of northern Oregon in orange clouds 200 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 1: of smoke that choked every living creature for weeks. For 201 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: a brief span of time, a tree filled Portland had 202 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: lower air quality than New Delhi, India. The heat dome 203 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: that just hit us landed alongside articles telling us it 204 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: was a once in a thousand years weather event. I 205 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: read similar articles earlier this year when I was with 206 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: my family back in Dallas watching an unprecedented blizzard drop 207 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: temperatures below zero for the first time in Texas history. 208 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: One man too, once in a millennia weather events in 209 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: the same six months span. Texas is infamously idiosyncratic power 210 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,959 Speaker 1: grid buckled under the strain of so many homes putting 211 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: their heaters on full blast. The state only narrowly avoided 212 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: a complete grid collapse that would have left much of 213 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: it powerless for months. Between four d seventy six and 214 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,360 Speaker 1: nine hundred and seventy eight Texans died in a single 215 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: week from a mix of carbon monoxide poisoning, exposure, and 216 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: ice related crashes. In Oregon during the heat dome, northwestern 217 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: asphalt roads buckled and power cables to street cars frayed. 218 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: Portland was forced to shut down its max light rail line, 219 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: stranding many poor and elderly citizens inside their overheated homes. 220 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: At least a hundred and sixteen people died in Oregon, 221 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: nearly five hundred people died in British Columbia during the 222 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: worst of the heat wave. Oregon Governor Kate Brown and 223 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler were nowhere to be found. Like 224 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: most wealthy people, they fled to more comfortable climbs or 225 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 1: at least air conditioning, while those who could not escape 226 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: suffered or died. The same story played out in Canada, 227 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: where the Vancouver City Planning Commission issued a scathing report 228 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: about the other lack of preparation on behalf of the 229 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: city government quote failing to act and create policy that 230 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: reflects the reality of people's lives can and will cause 231 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: people who would otherwise be alive to die. Where arement failed, 232 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: normal people were forced to take matters into their own hands. 233 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: Mutual aid cooling stations were organized and set up across Portland, Eugene, 234 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: and Salem, providing people with wet towels, frozen water bottles, 235 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: and shade. One homeless man set up an above ground 236 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: swimming pool beneath an overpass. In Salem, police repeatedly destroyed 237 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: cooling stations under the guise of breaking up homeless encampments. 238 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: These gestures were, in the grand scale of the calamity, 239 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,319 Speaker 1: fairly minor, but they illustrate an important point. When disaster strikes, 240 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: communities nearly always respond more effectively than governments. This is 241 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: a well documented phenomenon in the field of disaster response studies. 242 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty two, when nine point two magnitude earthquake 243 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: hit the Alaskan Coast, Anchorage was utterly devastated. Whole neighborhoods 244 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,199 Speaker 1: fell off of cliffs. The first thing the police did 245 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: was deputize a crowd of half drunk volunteers to stop 246 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: people from looting, even though no looting had been observed. 247 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: The police chief was so worried about disorder that he 248 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: almost instantly suspended the search for survivors. Thankfully, the people 249 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: of Anchorage were not so easily scared. Spontaneously organized groups 250 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: of civilians pulled every survivor from the rebel By the 251 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: next day, volunteers had organized, with no input from the government, 252 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: a man power control team where people with skills, carpenters plumbers, 253 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: electricians in the like were matched up with jobs that 254 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: needed doing. As it happened, a team of social scientists 255 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: from Ohio State University were in town studying disaster response 256 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,719 Speaker 1: under a grant from the U. S. Military. Based on 257 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: the science of the time, they expected sheer panic. Here's 258 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: what they found instead, From a write up by James 259 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: Meags in Commentary magazine Quote. The team stayed for a 260 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: week and interviewed nearly five hundred people. Enrico Quarantelli, the 261 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: leader of the study, was particularly interested in Anchorage's small 262 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: Civil Defense office. It should have been in charge of 263 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: search and rescue, but Quarantelli noted, had quickly become bogged 264 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: down of her questions of bureaucratic protocol. Of course, Bill 265 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: Davis's amateur mountaineers had taken over that function on most immediately. 266 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: Quarantilly used the term emergent groups to describe the teams 267 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: of self organized volunteers like Davis's searchers. He didn't miss 268 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 1: the irony that the agency created to protect civilians soon 269 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: became an obstacle that this emergent group of rescuers had 270 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: to work around. We are standing all of us on 271 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: the cusp of an age of the unprecedented, a time 272 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: when most people are likely to experience once in a 273 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: millennium disasters on a near annual basis. The only thing 274 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: we can truly know about our unknowable future is that 275 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: this is a problem our present governments cannot and will 276 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: not fix. We will cover that idea in more depth later, 277 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: but for now, it's important to accept that help is 278 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: not coming. When the wildfires blanketed Oregon in smoke last year, 279 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: the state responded by handing out lucrative logging contracts to 280 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: their political donors. This was done under the guise of 281 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: wildfire preparedness. All it really did was released more carbon 282 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: into the atmosphere. The fire still came. When Texas's power 283 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: grid failed in February, the company that administers at Aircot 284 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: made two point four billion dollars. Conservative politicians took to 285 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: social media to defend Texan independence. Lawmakers turn their efforts 286 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: to legalizing permitless concealed kerry and restricting voting rights. Aircot 287 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: donated one million dollars to Governor Abbott, and he refused 288 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: to call for grid reforms during a special session of 289 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: the state legislature. Nothing was done to fix the grid, 290 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: and when the first summer heat waves hit, AIRCOT asked 291 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: citizens to keep their thermostats at eighty degrees while they slept. 292 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: When some people with health conditions attempted to cool their 293 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: homes further, they found that their new connected thermostats raised 294 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: the temperature without their consent. The failure of our elites 295 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: to handle the disasters wrought by climate change is not 296 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: the result of a grand conspiracy. More than anything, it 297 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: is the result of selfishness and confusion. Most of these 298 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: people are just as blindsided by the disasters racking our 299 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: world as anyone else, because they're the kind of people 300 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: who are capable of taking power. They look out for 301 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: themselves first, and in chaotic and dangerous times, they default 302 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: to what they know best, leaning on culture war bullshit, 303 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: and hiding from scrutiny. There are a couple of military 304 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: concepts that I find helpful for analyzing times like these. 305 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: One is VUCA vu C, a an acronym that identifies 306 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: situations of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. VUCA situations are 307 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: obviously dangerous, but the sheer amount of information coming in 308 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: can be blinding, and the best course of action is 309 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: generally unclear. Leads are actually more likely to be blinded 310 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: in these situations than the rest of us. A mayor, 311 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: or a police chief or a president has much more 312 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: information incoming, and his concern in a heat wave is 313 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: always more complex than what needs to be done to 314 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: protect people, because what is politically safe, what do my 315 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: donors want, and how will what I do be spun 316 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: by the media are also on his mind. Ultimately, people 317 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: like us worry will my community and I survive? And 318 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: people like them worry will I lose power. This tug 319 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: of war between this aster and political expediency, between preparing 320 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: for the inevitable and protecting your ass leads to a 321 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: phenomenon called turbo paralysis. This was first coined back in 322 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve by a fellow named Mark Lynde, and 323 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: he described it as quote combination of vigorous and dramatic 324 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: motion with the absence of steady movement in any particular direction. 325 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: You may recognize this as an apt description of how 326 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: our nation has handled climate change for the last several decades. 327 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: I want to quote here from a very useful document 328 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:34,479 Speaker 1: titled the Gonzo Futurist Manifesto. Quote in this reading, a 329 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 1: sudden spike of VUKA dynamics causes big actors, big business, 330 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: Nation States organizations to flail wildly, muddying the waters with 331 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,199 Speaker 1: U turns and knee jerk cargo cult behavior as the 332 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 1: old certainties are swept away. For cyberpunk Archdeacon Bruce Sterling, 333 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: this is the transition to nowhere. There's neither progress nor 334 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: conservatism because there's nothing left to conserve and no direction 335 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: in which to progress. From the U. S. Republican Party 336 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: to occupy Wall Street, from Benghazi to Wukan. Wheels are 337 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: spinning furiously and engines are being gunned to no effect. 338 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: Now politicians can afford to spin their wheels indefinitely, or 339 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 1: at least as long as the political system they thrive 340 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: and continues to exist. Many powerful actors like fossil fuel 341 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: companies and defense contractors thrive so long as the rest 342 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,439 Speaker 1: of us stay locked in this place. But you and 343 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: I cannot survive in a state of turbo paralysis. As 344 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,479 Speaker 1: I noted earlier, it's easy to avoid that in the 345 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: moment of a disaster if you're a regular person looking 346 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,120 Speaker 1: at a problem and finding ways to mitigate the damage. 347 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:39,439 Speaker 1: Mutual Aid in response to calamity is the norm. But 348 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: when it comes to the bigger question, how are we 349 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: going to survive in this world? How can my community 350 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: adapt to be less vulnerable? How can we stop things 351 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,679 Speaker 1: from spinning out of control? Well that's when turbo paralysis 352 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: kicks in again, because we don't have the luxury of 353 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: just dealing with climate change and its consequences. We've got 354 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: gangs of fascists marching through city streets every powerful and 355 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: violent cops murdering people and gassing descent children in cages 356 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: on the border. And my god, when you start to 357 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: list it all or try to take it all in 358 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: on Twitter, you're liable to have a panic attack. As 359 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: much positive as I've said about mutual aid, I want 360 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: to acknowledge here that it alone is not enough. It 361 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: can't be a good example of why comes just this 362 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: year from India. Their right wing central governments so thoroughly 363 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: botched the COVID nineteen response that corpse fires were burning 364 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: in the streets of almost every major city. Hospitals took 365 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: to Twitter to beg for oxygen. The government suddenly adopted 366 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: a liberalized vaccine policy that put the onus for vaccine 367 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: procurement on individual states, which led to nine corporate hospital 368 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: chains acquiring half the available vaccine doses. Rather than go 369 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: door to door handing out vaccines, which is how India 370 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: wiped out polio doses cost about sixteen dollars in a 371 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,959 Speaker 1: country where a hundred and thirty four million people make 372 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: less than two dollars a day. In response to the 373 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: utter failure of its elites, the Indian p a Bowl 374 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: took matters into their own hands. And I want to 375 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: quote now from a wonderful write up in The Baffler 376 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: titled how it Feels Confronted by the complete breakdown of 377 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: the state's health care infrastructure, Ordinary civilians did that most 378 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: Indian thing jow god, a commonly used Hindi word referring 379 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: to a stop gap solution or using limited resources. Innovatively, 380 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: volunteers mobilized on WhatsApp, discord, Twitter, Instagram, and any number 381 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: of social media platforms to connect COVID nineteen patients and 382 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 1: their families somehow to some form of medical care. Civil 383 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: society groups, nonprofits, students, journalists, and lawyers started fielding distress 384 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: messages posted online. Informal coalitions formed based on hashtags like 385 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: s OS city name or hashtag COVID emergency volunteers scrambled 386 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: to procure drugs they knew little about and couldn't pronounce 387 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: bar siddonip, toxl zoom. App Lists were compiled of hospitals 388 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: with available beds, chemists who had rim disavere in plasma, 389 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: hospitals admitting patients in the I c U. Every what 390 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: I knew was glued to their phones. We will probably 391 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: never know how many people survived because of stopgap efforts, 392 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: and people like Ritty dested Are who wrote the article 393 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: I just quoted. These folks were heroes, but between one 394 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,239 Speaker 1: point six million and four point two million Indians are 395 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,640 Speaker 1: still likely to have died of COVID, most just this year, 396 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: the official government count hovers it just over four hundred thousand. 397 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 1: And while mutual aid did save untold lives, the trauma 398 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,479 Speaker 1: of responding to such a calamity on the fly has 399 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 1: left permanent marks on Ready and their peers. Quote. We 400 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: have tried to fill in the blank where the government's 401 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: public health response should be, working ourselves to the bone 402 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: and missing paid work opportunities. I know volunteers who have 403 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,399 Speaker 1: physically arranged ambulances and transported elderly patients who are alone. 404 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: Many have been infected themselves or lost family, including my 405 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: friends Fetha, whose grandfather passed away in November. In the 406 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: last two weeks of April and Delhi, volunteers barely slept 407 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: or eight more than one meal a day. Nights were 408 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: the worst, with the most critical cases arising after ten pm, 409 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: when government officials tap out. There were instances where Sweater 410 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: reached out to top state officials who told her they 411 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: would return in the morning. I have nightmares of hospitals 412 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: and people crying. I remember passing out on the floor 413 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:14,159 Speaker 1: of my hall at four am and waking up at 414 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: eight am to the news that my patient had died, 415 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: she says. I remember texting my friends to say I 416 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: need some time to cry. I want to cry. There 417 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: is no time to cry. Like many volunteers, I've become 418 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: alienated from my own body. I cry involuntarily before even 419 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: realizing I'm sad. I wake up repeatedly throughout the night. 420 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: I think of patients who died while I was trying 421 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: to help, and my throat chokes up even now. I 422 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: returned to the moment I texted Magna saying, why isn't 423 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: he breathing. Where is his cylinder? What are his oxygen levels? 424 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 1: And she replied, my father is expired. When disasters are 425 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: singular limited in scope, like that earthquake and anchorage, mutual 426 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: aid can be enough. People pull together and help each other, 427 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: the calamity passes and life goes on. That is not 428 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,479 Speaker 1: the situation we find ourselves in today. Mutual aid alone 429 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: is not enough because the central disaster we face has 430 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: no end point. There is no going back to normal, 431 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 1: because we now live in post normal times. Post normal 432 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: is a term created by a British philosopher and an 433 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: Argentinean mathematician in a paper about the new conditions of 434 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,959 Speaker 1: science in a time of increased turbulence and uncertainty. In 435 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: that document, I recommended the Gonzo Futurist's Manifesto. The author 436 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: quotes scholar Zayad and Sardar when he describes post normal 437 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: times as characterized by uncertainty, rapid change, realignment of power, upheaval, 438 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: and chaotic behavior. We live in an in between period 439 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 1: where old orthodoxes are dying, new ones have yet to 440 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: be borne, and very few things seem to make sense. 441 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: A transitional age, a time without the confidence that we 442 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: can return to any past we have known and with 443 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: no confidence in any path to a desirable, attainable, or 444 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: sustainable future. Post normal times require post normal solutions. This 445 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,120 Speaker 1: means moving beyond merely meeting needs and disasters and doing 446 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: something bolder, building a new social safety net and a 447 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 1: new society capable of anticipating need, preparing for disaster, and 448 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,880 Speaker 1: providing people with a way to get care and give 449 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: care in a persistent manner. This is necessary because the 450 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: only way to force our civilization back from the edge 451 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,800 Speaker 1: of catastrophe is something very much like a revolution. Before 452 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: you make assumptions, I want to be clear that I 453 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: think dreams of violent overthrow of the government, red flags 454 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,680 Speaker 1: and a K forty sevens and the like are foolish. 455 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 1: They're useless too. You could perhaps lock the U. S 456 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: Military into a long term, multi sided insurgency, but such 457 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: a fight would not resolve in any reasonable time frame 458 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: and would cause the U. S Military, already Earth's number 459 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: one carbon emetter, to pump even more poison into the atmosphere. 460 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,400 Speaker 1: The only thing that will work is the political equivalent 461 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 1: of a heart attack, clogging the valves of capital with 462 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: a united mass of human beings who demand concerted action 463 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 1: not just on the climate, but on all the myriad 464 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,679 Speaker 1: injustices of our age. I'm talking about a general strike. 465 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 1: And if you don't think one can work, think about 466 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: the longest government shutdown in US history. It happened in 467 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen, if you can remember that far back, 468 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 1: when President Trump refused to sign a budget that didn't 469 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: include five point seven billion dollars in funding for his 470 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: border wall. The shutdown dragged on for thirty five days. 471 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 1: It ended, in large part because the American Association of 472 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: Flight Attendants called for a general strike. Hours after union 473 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: head Sarah Nelson announced that attendants were mobilizing to strike, 474 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: which would have effectively ground at all US air travel, 475 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: President Trump agreed to reopen the government. Now, what we 476 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,199 Speaker 1: actually need here is a true general strike, something that 477 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 1: brings together tens of millions of workers across the country. 478 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 1: That is a titanic undertaking and endeavor more ambitious and 479 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 1: complex than the moon landing. To even make it possible, 480 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: we will require national mutual aid infrastructure on a scale 481 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: never before seen. Striking workers need food, power, medical care, 482 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,719 Speaker 1: eviction defense, and much more. The best rubric we have 483 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: for how mutual aid on that scale might look comes 484 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,959 Speaker 1: from the island of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a 485 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 1: colony of the United States, and for decades as people 486 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 1: have languished as second class citizens, forced to pay into 487 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: the American Project but excluded from many of its benefits. 488 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: In two thousand and sixteen, the Obama administration placed a 489 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: Fiscal Oversight Board to manage the island's debt load. This 490 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: led to cuts to services that sparked a two thousand 491 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: seventeen students strike against austerity and cuts to public education. 492 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:47,239 Speaker 1: Activists organized community kitchens for socialized food distribution. This had 493 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: been a building trend in Puerto Rican organizing for a while, 494 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: but in when Hurricane Maria hit, it reached unprecedented scale. 495 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 1: From a rite up by Isa Soto quote tired of 496 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: watching people die after Hurricane Rhea, Puerto Ricans needed to 497 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: do two things. Filled the immediate gaps in order to 498 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 1: keep people alive, and at the same time continued to 499 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: demand accountability in actions from governments. Disaster relief funds and 500 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: supplies were slow to reach communities in need. Some people 501 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: buried their dead in their back yards. Thousands left for 502 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,239 Speaker 1: the US mainland and a year after the hurricane, some 503 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: people were still living without electrical service. It was evident 504 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: the state had collapsed. The protest signs that read only 505 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,360 Speaker 1: the people will save the people took on a new 506 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: and raw meeting. If Puerto Ricans were to wait for 507 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: the state, federal, or local to address the absolute devastation 508 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: and lack of resources, many would die waiting. During that time, 509 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: multiple organizations, mostly based on grassroots groups that existed prior 510 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: to the hurricane, quickly organized to channel aid. Puerto Ricans 511 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: have been abandoned by their so called government for a 512 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 1: very long time, and as a result, their mutual aid 513 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 1: solutions are commensurately grander than anything we've seen and say, Portland, 514 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: the network of community kitchens that formed after Maria had 515 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: no head, no NGO or govern are overseeing things. They 516 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: eventually cooked more than a hundred thousand meals per day. 517 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: An entire island was fed by its own people coming 518 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: together to keep each other alive, while the man who 519 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: called himself their president hooked paper towels into a crowd. 520 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: The example set by Puerto Rica gives us an idea 521 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: a glimpse of the scale of effort that will be 522 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,199 Speaker 1: needed to turn this ship around. It is a daunting task, 523 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: but this is thankfully a situation where we get to 524 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: kill two birds with one stone, because the thing that 525 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: got us into this mess, the social atomization, selfishness and 526 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: greed that lies at the core of capitalism, has only 527 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: one antidote, taking care of each other.