1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: By the time the heat waves subsided, at least a 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: thousand people were dead. Those are the official numbers, at 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: least the numbers no one trusts. The city government and 4 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: the police denied breaking up homeless encampments during the disaster 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: and only acknowledged a handful of outdoor exposure deaths. On Twitter, 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: someone shares a video of what might be a mass grave. 7 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: You're not sure if it's real, and you don't really 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: have time to find out. After the grid overloads, it 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: takes weeks for the power situation to normalize. Bottled water, 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: abundant at the start of the disaster becomes scarce. In 11 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,919 Speaker 1: conversations with friends and snippets of time online, you learn 12 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: that much of the Midwest has been subject to titanic 13 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: mudslides and flooding. Hurricanes hit the Southeast, driving up demand 14 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: for disaster supplies even further and putting more stress on 15 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: interstate commerce. Work is basically impossible for days. You're not 16 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: even really sure if your job is going to exist 17 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: much longer anyway. Outside of a few high end shopping districts, 18 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: life just hasn't gone back to normal for most people, 19 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: so you've settled into a new normal using your car, 20 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: and you're now copious free time to ferry supplies to 21 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: and from a handful of collection points in new encampments. 22 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: You felt bad for days after fleeing when the cops 23 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: broke up the first camp. Aaron, your community organizer friend, 24 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: told you not to worry about it. Not everyone's ready 25 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: to go face to face with riot cops. Tom the 26 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: former marine, said the same thing, but then offered to 27 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: give you some self defense training if you wanted it. 28 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,279 Speaker 1: He and a couple of other combat vets had started 29 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: organizing regular self defense sessions in one of the camps, 30 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: based out of an old apartment complex abandoned when it's 31 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: holding company went bankrupt. For a couple of weeks, you 32 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: lose yourself in the work. Gradually you realize that the 33 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: network of encampments you and your new friends have been 34 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: working to support have become something more than just a 35 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: stop gap. For one thing, The number of folks without 36 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: housing just keeps on rising. All the added stress on 37 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: the power of bread and the questionable ways some people 38 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: dealt with it led to a spate of urban fires, 39 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: which forced hundreds of people out of their homes. The 40 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: local economy is in free fall too, you're not the 41 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: only one whose work just disappeared. And while you've got 42 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: enough saved for a little while, you're ever aware that 43 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: you won't be able to pay rent forever. That possibility 44 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: doesn't scare you as much as it did before. It 45 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: helps that you're spending half your time in one camp 46 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,519 Speaker 1: or another. Anyway, you decide your best bet at any 47 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: kind of comfort in the future is to make sure 48 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: life in the camps is as comfortable for everyone as possible. 49 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: To that end, you and Tom scrounge up a crew 50 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 1: and spend days flitting in and out of abandoned buildings, 51 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: scrounging solar panels, batteries, and wiring. None of you know 52 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,679 Speaker 1: much about how to use that ship, but a collective 53 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: of electricians and engineers put together a list of the 54 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: parts they needed and how to safely get them. By 55 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: the time summer comes to an end, almost three thousand 56 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: people are living in camps with regular power and cooling stations. 57 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: Other collectives have spent the weeks building solar stills to 58 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: filter waste water and deal with the drinking water shortage 59 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: that's still endemic across the southern half of the country. 60 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: Life is by almost any measure harder than it was 61 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: a year ago. But the stories of wildfires in the 62 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: Northwest and massive police crackdowns across the Great Lakes region 63 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: make it clear that you're not struggling alone. You feel 64 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: lucky that it's been weak since you've so much as 65 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,399 Speaker 1: seen a police patrol. There's been a lot more property 66 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: crime in the parts of town where the economy is 67 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: still functioning somewhat close to normal. You've heard shootout several nights, 68 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: and you've grown increasingly glad to be off on the 69 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: margins with a good community of people who take care 70 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: of each other and don't have much worth stealing. And 71 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: then in late September, things take a turn. Some right 72 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: wing live streamer visited the largest of the three camps, 73 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: now almost fifteen hundred strong. He stitched together in narrative 74 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: blaming a series of downtown arson's and burglaries on organized 75 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: Antifa extremists in their war camp. One of Tom's friends, 76 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: who's been doing armed security at night, shows you a 77 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: handful of posts from far right extremists threatening to raid 78 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: the camp. You hear rumors the police might finally be 79 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: planning a crack down. Two ever fired a gun tom asks. 80 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: You shake your head no and he nods, well, that's 81 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: probably about time you learn. I'm Robert Evans and this 82 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: has been an excerpt from the continuation of my podcast 83 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here, which is now a daily series. 84 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: Listen to It Could Happen Here daily, starting on August 85 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 86 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.