WEBVTT - Introducing: It Could Happen Here Daily

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<v Speaker 1>By the time the heat waves subsided, at least a

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<v Speaker 1>thousand people were dead. Those are the official numbers, at

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<v Speaker 1>least the numbers no one trusts. The city government and

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<v Speaker 1>the police denied breaking up homeless encampments during the disaster

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<v Speaker 1>and only acknowledged a handful of outdoor exposure deaths. On Twitter,

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<v Speaker 1>someone shares a video of what might be a mass grave.

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<v Speaker 1>You're not sure if it's real, and you don't really

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<v Speaker 1>have time to find out. After the grid overloads, it

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<v Speaker 1>takes weeks for the power situation to normalize. Bottled water,

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<v Speaker 1>abundant at the start of the disaster becomes scarce. In

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<v Speaker 1>conversations with friends and snippets of time online, you learn

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<v Speaker 1>that much of the Midwest has been subject to titanic

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<v Speaker 1>mudslides and flooding. Hurricanes hit the Southeast, driving up demand

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<v Speaker 1>for disaster supplies even further and putting more stress on

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<v Speaker 1>interstate commerce. Work is basically impossible for days. You're not

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<v Speaker 1>even really sure if your job is going to exist

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<v Speaker 1>much longer anyway. Outside of a few high end shopping districts,

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<v Speaker 1>life just hasn't gone back to normal for most people,

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<v Speaker 1>so you've settled into a new normal using your car,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're now copious free time to ferry supplies to

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<v Speaker 1>and from a handful of collection points in new encampments.

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<v Speaker 1>You felt bad for days after fleeing when the cops

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<v Speaker 1>broke up the first camp. Aaron, your community organizer friend,

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<v Speaker 1>told you not to worry about it. Not everyone's ready

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<v Speaker 1>to go face to face with riot cops. Tom the

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<v Speaker 1>former marine, said the same thing, but then offered to

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<v Speaker 1>give you some self defense training if you wanted it.

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<v Speaker 1>He and a couple of other combat vets had started

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<v Speaker 1>organizing regular self defense sessions in one of the camps,

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<v Speaker 1>based out of an old apartment complex abandoned when it's

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<v Speaker 1>holding company went bankrupt. For a couple of weeks, you

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<v Speaker 1>lose yourself in the work. Gradually you realize that the

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<v Speaker 1>network of encampments you and your new friends have been

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<v Speaker 1>working to support have become something more than just a

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<v Speaker 1>stop gap. For one thing, The number of folks without

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<v Speaker 1>housing just keeps on rising. All the added stress on

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<v Speaker 1>the power of bread and the questionable ways some people

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<v Speaker 1>dealt with it led to a spate of urban fires,

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<v Speaker 1>which forced hundreds of people out of their homes. The

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<v Speaker 1>local economy is in free fall too, you're not the

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<v Speaker 1>only one whose work just disappeared. And while you've got

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<v Speaker 1>enough saved for a little while, you're ever aware that

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<v Speaker 1>you won't be able to pay rent forever. That possibility

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't scare you as much as it did before. It

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<v Speaker 1>helps that you're spending half your time in one camp

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<v Speaker 1>or another. Anyway, you decide your best bet at any

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<v Speaker 1>kind of comfort in the future is to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>life in the camps is as comfortable for everyone as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>To that end, you and Tom scrounge up a crew

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<v Speaker 1>and spend days flitting in and out of abandoned buildings,

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<v Speaker 1>scrounging solar panels, batteries, and wiring. None of you know

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<v Speaker 1>much about how to use that ship, but a collective

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<v Speaker 1>of electricians and engineers put together a list of the

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<v Speaker 1>parts they needed and how to safely get them. By

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<v Speaker 1>the time summer comes to an end, almost three thousand

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<v Speaker 1>people are living in camps with regular power and cooling stations.

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<v Speaker 1>Other collectives have spent the weeks building solar stills to

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<v Speaker 1>filter waste water and deal with the drinking water shortage

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<v Speaker 1>that's still endemic across the southern half of the country.

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<v Speaker 1>Life is by almost any measure harder than it was

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<v Speaker 1>a year ago. But the stories of wildfires in the

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<v Speaker 1>Northwest and massive police crackdowns across the Great Lakes region

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<v Speaker 1>make it clear that you're not struggling alone. You feel

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<v Speaker 1>lucky that it's been weak since you've so much as

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<v Speaker 1>seen a police patrol. There's been a lot more property

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<v Speaker 1>crime in the parts of town where the economy is

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<v Speaker 1>still functioning somewhat close to normal. You've heard shootout several nights,

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<v Speaker 1>and you've grown increasingly glad to be off on the

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<v Speaker 1>margins with a good community of people who take care

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<v Speaker 1>of each other and don't have much worth stealing. And

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<v Speaker 1>then in late September, things take a turn. Some right

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<v Speaker 1>wing live streamer visited the largest of the three camps,

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<v Speaker 1>now almost fifteen hundred strong. He stitched together in narrative

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<v Speaker 1>blaming a series of downtown arson's and burglaries on organized

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<v Speaker 1>Antifa extremists in their war camp. One of Tom's friends,

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<v Speaker 1>who's been doing armed security at night, shows you a

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<v Speaker 1>handful of posts from far right extremists threatening to raid

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<v Speaker 1>the camp. You hear rumors the police might finally be

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<v Speaker 1>planning a crack down. Two ever fired a gun tom asks.

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<v Speaker 1>You shake your head no and he nods, well, that's

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<v Speaker 1>probably about time you learn. I'm Robert Evans and this

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<v Speaker 1>has been an excerpt from the continuation of my podcast

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<v Speaker 1>It Could Happen Here, which is now a daily series.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen to It Could Happen Here daily, starting on August

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<v Speaker 1>on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts.