1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: All Zone media. 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 2: Hi, everybody. Margaret Kiljoy here recording on a bad microphone 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 2: because I'm on tour, but I feel like I need 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 2: to interrupt your regularly scheduled podcast to talk about something 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 2: that's happening right now as many people are awhere. Hurricane 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 2: Helene hit western North Carolina as well as southern Apalachia 7 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 2: and Florida very badly over well. I guess last week 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 2: if you're listening to this when it comes out and 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 2: people need your help. And one of the mutual aid 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 2: organizations that is doing an incredible amount of work that 11 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 2: I can personally vouch for is mutual Aid Disaster Relief. 12 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,919 Speaker 2: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a network of people who 13 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 2: are locally embedded and know the area and are very 14 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 2: good at what they do. They are a grassroots organization 15 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 2: that get supplies and people and money to where they 16 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 2: need to go. I would encourage you to search out 17 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 2: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief on various social media to find 18 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 2: more information about how you can donate money, gear, or 19 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 2: potentially your skills and time if that is something that 20 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 2: you're interested in. However, it is important to know that 21 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 2: despite the importance of grassroots and DIY disaster preparedness. It 22 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 2: is still substantially better to work with existing grassroots and 23 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 2: DIY organizations because there's a lot that you need to 24 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 2: know before you can go into a disaster zone and 25 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 2: help people instead of wind up being someone who needs 26 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,279 Speaker 2: to be helped. And so I would highly encourage people 27 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 2: to get involved, possibly by donating or by whatever is necessary. 28 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,839 Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Hello, and welcome to Cool People 29 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 2: Did Cool Stuff? Your podcast? That's it. I'm your host, 30 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 2: Margaret Kiljoy and my guest is Katie Stole. Hi Katie, 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 2: how are you? 32 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: Hello? 33 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 3: I'm doing well. I'm doing great. I'm excited for part two. 34 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 4: Yeah. 35 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 2: Now, I'm like I always after I do the real dark, 36 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 2: long ones that are still about cool people doing cool stuff. 37 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 2: But I still sometimes I'm like, I just I mean, 38 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 2: obviously dark things are happening in this but and now 39 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 2: I feel like a jerk being like this lighthearted thing 40 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 2: where thousands of people have died. 41 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 3: So I don't know, right, I get you. But to 42 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 3: bring it back to where we were last week, it 43 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 3: is hopeful, It is inspiring, and it brings comfort because 44 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 3: we know that bad stuff is. 45 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 5: Going to continue to happen. 46 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 3: We see it happen all the time, especially with climate change, 47 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 3: with our. 48 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 5: Wild politics. 49 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 3: But the fact that the one through line is that 50 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 3: people support each other and show up in times of need. 51 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 3: I think at the end of the day, that's the 52 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 3: scariest part. It's like the unknown what's going to happen. 53 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 3: But if you can count on the fact that there 54 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 3: will be people, that there will be options, then that 55 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 3: it is. It's comforting for me. It is. 56 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 2: You ever heard a shepherd's tone, I feel like we 57 00:02:50,720 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 2: should splice this in so no matter how long you 58 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 2: listen to that sound, it'll keep going up. 59 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 3: Wow, that's intense. 60 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 5: That's cool. 61 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. They actually use it a lot in movies and 62 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 2: things like that. And you can also design them to 63 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 2: go down as well. The idea of it is you 64 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 2: can make something always sound like it's getting higher or 65 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 2: lower by having their multiple tones are playing at once, 66 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 2: and they're all going up and then down. Their sine 67 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 2: waves they go up and down, up and down, up 68 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 2: and down, right, but you put the volume emphasis on 69 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 2: the ones as they're rising. In this kind of complicated way, 70 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 2: your ear will always hear the one that is rising, 71 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 2: or always hear the one that is lowering. Okay, that 72 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 2: happens to us with the world. I think things are 73 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 2: always getting worse, things are always getting better. Yeah, and 74 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 2: it depends on where you put the emphasis. Now, there 75 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 2: is still real worse and better. Right, There's obviously things 76 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 2: that are worse, you know. World War two is a 77 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 2: worse time overall to be alive than almost anything that's 78 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 2: happened in human history. But then there's lots of other 79 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 2: stuff that's really bad too, right. I think about this 80 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 2: a lot. I think about how what we choose to 81 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 2: focus on literally changes as things get both better and 82 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 2: worse what we choose to focus on. But I don't 83 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 2: advocate us therefore being like only focus on the positive. 84 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 2: That's nonsense, right, because there's all this horrible stuff that's 85 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 2: happening that needs fighting. But we can be aware of 86 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 2: the bad stuff while still not losing track of the 87 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 2: stuff that's fighting it. Yeah, that's my hypothesis with my 88 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 2: strange metaphor. 89 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 5: Absolutely no, that totally works. 90 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 2: So the story that we're going to talk about today, 91 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,679 Speaker 2: I want to think our producer Sophie, who I hadn't 92 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 2: introduced yet. Hi, Hi Sophie. 93 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: Hi. 94 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 2: Sophie is the one who brought the story to my attention. 95 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 3: Good job, Sophie in advance. 96 00:04:59,680 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: Thanks. 97 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 2: He also to do the rest of the credits because 98 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 2: I forgot our audio engineers Rory Hi Rory Hi, Ri 99 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 2: Hi Rory, and our theme music was written for us 100 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 2: by unwoman. And then the sort of credit I think 101 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 2: for sort of bringing this story to more people's attention 102 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 2: right now is the TikToker Kalia Please, who made a 103 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 2: short video about this story and got people talking about it. 104 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 2: And that's the chain of events that led to you 105 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 2: hearing it here. Maybe you've already heard it elsewhere, but 106 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you probably a bunch about it 107 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 2: that you haven't heard. Who knows here we. 108 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: Go, Yeah, I have several friends that grew up in Portland. 109 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:34,919 Speaker 1: They had no idea. 110 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, So we're gonna tell a story about mutual aid, 111 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 2: about how the city of Portland broke its own rules 112 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 2: to get seventy water workers and essential equipment to New 113 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 2: Orleans during Katrina. It's also though a story of the 114 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 2: bravery of the Sewerage and water Board of New Orleans. 115 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 2: Like I started off just looking at the Portland Angle, 116 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 2: and I loved the Portland Angle, And I'm still going 117 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 2: to go with that. But then I was like, learning 118 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 2: more about the sewerage and water board of New Orleans, 119 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 2: and they are fucking heroes. Yeah, they are the first 120 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 2: responders who get no credit. Never seen anyone fly a 121 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 2: thin sewerage and waterboard line flag off the back of 122 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 2: their pickup truck, although forty percent of cops do fly 123 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 2: that flag. If you want more information about that, just 124 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 2: google forty percent of cops. Okay, yeah, okay, anyway, if 125 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 2: anyone wants to know what joke that is, just google 126 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 2: forty percent of cops. 127 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, go for it. 128 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,679 Speaker 2: Anyway. The waterboard, the good waterboard. 129 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: The good waterboard. 130 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 4: There we go. 131 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. I kept wanting to call them the water borders 132 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 2: in this, and then I'm like, I probably can't, but 133 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 2: maybe I will anyway. The city of New Orleans has 134 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 2: always had water issues. It is shaped like a bowl, 135 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 2: it is right in a place that hurricanes like to go, 136 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 2: and most dangerous of all, it's poor and predominantly black. 137 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 2: So the infrastructure has been criminally underfunded since forever. During 138 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: the seventies, eighties, and nineties, there were record floods all 139 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 2: of the time, and the city desperately needed to update 140 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 2: its pumping stations and shit. They developed this whole big 141 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 2: plan in the federal government was supposed to pay for 142 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 2: about seventy five percent of the improvements, and then they 143 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 2: kind of and the infrastructure was underfunded. And then Hurricane 144 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 2: Katrina hit in two thousand and five. At the time 145 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: that that hit, the Sewerage and Water Board of New 146 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 2: Orleans had twelve hundred employees and seven hundred vehicles, but 147 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 2: five hundred of those vehicles were destroyed by the storm. 148 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 2: Pretty much immediately. A skeleton crew of three hundred employees 149 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 2: stayed for the storm, staffing various pumping stations and shit. 150 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 2: And then while they were doing that, the crisis of 151 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 2: a lifetime hit. The levees broke. Eighty percent of the 152 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 2: city was suddenly underwater, and as we talked about in 153 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 2: a common Ground episode, you saw some white folks from 154 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 2: richer neighborhoods forming militias and going through the streets and 155 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 2: killing black people, while black people, with the help of 156 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 2: some white people, wound up in armed standoffs to save 157 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 2: people's lives. People came out of the woodwork to help 158 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 2: one another. The national media, though, speaking of this elite 159 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 2: panic stuff, they panicked and they talked about like rape 160 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 2: and murder, gangs in the Superdome where people were hiding 161 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 2: from the storm. This was entirely a fabrication. The New 162 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 2: York Times, the paper that lost all of its credibility 163 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 2: over and over again, but you know whatever, we still 164 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 2: read it. Sometimes. They said that the city was quote 165 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:33,599 Speaker 2: a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, and marauding thugs. 166 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 5: Unbelievable. 167 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is completely a lie. Like the Superdome thing 168 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 2: was just like entirely a fabrication. It's just all rumors, 169 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 2: you know. Yeah, except for the white supremacist gangs defending property. 170 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 2: Those are the only people doing any of the things 171 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 2: that they were talking about. But that's not what New 172 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:49,439 Speaker 2: York Times was talking about. 173 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 3: Especially in contrast to what we know about what was 174 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 3: going on, which is just the most horrific tragic. Yeah, 175 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 3: loss of life, loss of property, people panicked, scared. 176 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, absolutely, And then the looting overall was organized 177 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 2: groups getting together to get things that people couldn't get, 178 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 2: you know. 179 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, there's always that the idea, is it looting or 180 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 3: were people desperate to survive? 181 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 2: Yeah? Come on, and frankly, I would be in a 182 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 2: bad position to be mad at someone who was also 183 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 2: like and while I'm mad at I'm getting a TV 184 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 2: because I've been for my entire fucking life. But whatever. 185 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 2: But that's not what we actually. 186 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,959 Speaker 3: Saw by and large there, right. 187 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 2: But the Waterboard they had three hundred people, and they 188 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 2: were trying to do the work that took twelve hundred 189 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 2: people when the city wasn't in crisis. Yeah, and I 190 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 2: spent an awful lot of time this week reading their 191 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 2: reports about the whole thing, and I'm going to read 192 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 2: to you a bit about it. First of all, when 193 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 2: Katrina hit, this made eighty percent of the Waterboard homeless. 194 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 2: Their homes were destroyed by the storms. Yeah, they had 195 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 2: three hundredployees at first, while about fifty others returned within 196 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 2: a few days. By the end of the sort of crisis, 197 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 2: only about five hundred out of twelve hundred employees returned. 198 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 2: So they're working with like skeleton crew. 199 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 3: Yeah. 200 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 2: They set up a home base in the Algiers Wastewater 201 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 2: Treatment Center, which is right across the river from the 202 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,079 Speaker 2: rest of New Orleans. It's actually the same neighborhood that 203 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 2: Common Ground was set up in, because this is this 204 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 2: was the neighborhood that wasn't underwater. The wastewater treatment center 205 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 2: there was the only functioning station in the city, and 206 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,719 Speaker 2: it provided most of the water for relief efforts and 207 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 2: firefighting and all of that. So they have to maintain 208 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 2: it right and keep water, which is classically the only 209 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 2: thing we need more than that is air you know, yeah, 210 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 2: I mean love, No, I actually need air water flow. 211 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 2: It probably has air water food. No air water love food, 212 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 2: that's probably yeah. Yeah. 213 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 5: And our order of needs, hierarchy of needs. 214 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. And so they provided all of the water for 215 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 2: firefighting and all that shit, and they worked NonStop throughout 216 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 2: the city. Best as I can tell, they were like 217 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 2: only sleeping when they realized it was the best way 218 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 2: to help was to like get the fuck to sleep 219 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 2: for a couple hours. 220 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 3: You know, be rested. Yeah. 221 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 2: They lived in these disaster relief tents that get called yurts, 222 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 2: and they set up their offices under pavilions, and they 223 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 2: had no way of knowing if they would ever be 224 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 2: paid for this work. Years later, FEMA was still fucking 225 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 2: the contractors over that they like worked with Wow. And 226 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 2: so I'm not actually sure whether the issue was resolved 227 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 2: or not, because what happens is the press release eighteen 228 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 2: months after Katrina is like a condemnation of FEMA, and 229 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,320 Speaker 2: then their later reports are less confrontational. They're like implying 230 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 2: FEMA still owes the money, but kind of trying to 231 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 2: softball it a little bit, and he's like corporate speak. 232 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 2: You know, I'm going to quote from the eighteenth month 233 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 2: later report because I love a good salty report. And 234 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 2: so this is a government agency being like, you know, 235 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 2: FEMA's not doing their fucking job. Quote, FEMA isn't posing 236 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 2: a national flood Insurance charge on all work perform totally 237 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 2: to date twenty million dollars. This situation leaves the Sewerage 238 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 2: and water Board short of funds to pay contractors for 239 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 2: work already performed. Later in the report, they say quote 240 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 2: FEMA's lack of action and bureaucratic malaise leaves the Sewerage 241 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 2: and water Board with thirty three of sixty six East 242 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 2: Bank sewer pumping stations operating on temporary and unreliable pumps. 243 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 2: And then the report ends, it must be realized that 244 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,439 Speaker 2: if there is no water, no sewer, and no drainage, 245 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 2: there is no New Orleans. It must be further realized 246 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 2: by all that if the present FEMA response to our 247 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 2: ongoing crisis is not immediately heightened and sustained, we will 248 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 2: very soon find ourselves in a city with no potable 249 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 2: drinking water or wastewater services. 250 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 3: Wow, that is salty. 251 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 2: This is eighteen months later. Yeah, good for them. 252 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 3: That's absurd and unacceptable. Yeah, obviously. 253 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 2: And so when the flood hits, everyone is working non stop, 254 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 2: much like we're working NonStop to get you the best 255 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 2: deals ever on your ads. 256 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 3: It's all I can think about. 257 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 2: Here they go and we're back. 258 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 5: Those were some ads, all right. 259 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 2: I know they sure advertised. That is one thing I 260 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 2: can say about them. Love, unless you have cooler Zon media, 261 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 2: in which case the only ad you hear is me 262 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 2: making the ad for a product you already have. 263 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 3: Cooler Zon media. 264 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 2: Experts around the country were telling the water board that 265 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:47,839 Speaker 2: it would take them months to dewater the city. They 266 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 2: did it in eleven days. So basically, they did the impossible. 267 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 2: This is like a very like I know, I keep 268 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 2: saying I watch a lot of like Star Trek and 269 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 2: things like that, but I do. And you know, you 270 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 2: have that scene where they're like, we gotta repair the ship. 271 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 2: We're all gonna die, it's going to take us three weeks, 272 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:02,839 Speaker 2: and they're like, okay, well we did it in three 273 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 2: days by climbing into dangerous particle water whatever. You know. 274 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 2: That's what these people did. 275 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 5: They actually did it. 276 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:11,959 Speaker 3: Yeah. 277 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. A lot of employees were literally stranded in their 278 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 2: various pumping and treatment stations when the storm hit, and 279 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 2: they were kept working despite having no escape. Wow. To 280 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 2: quote a report from the Waterboard, quote, operators of two 281 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 2: pumping stations on the Industrial Canal clung to the rafters 282 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 2: for days with no food or water until teams of 283 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 2: employees in the coast Guard could reach them. In a 284 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 2: lot of cases, the coast Guard never reached them. Basically, hay, 285 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 2: were on our own. Call went out to all the employees, 286 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 2: and so waterboard employees, the water boarders, if you will, 287 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 2: went out in their personal boats to rescue their fellow workers. Yeah. 288 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 2: One of the stories I'm going to quote from the 289 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 2: winter two thousand and six edition of The Tulanian, which 290 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 2: is the magazine from Tulane University, and as talking about 291 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 2: a waterboard worker named Gerald Tilton who'd worked at the 292 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 2: Waterboard for twenty four years when this happened, about repairing 293 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 2: a pump. At the very start of the flood, quote, 294 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 2: water came over the flood wall surrounding the station. It 295 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 2: filled the pits in the station, and the water kept 296 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 2: rising and came within about a foot of the third 297 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 2: level of the pumping station, which is raised about fifteen 298 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 2: feet high. At the back of the pumping station, Tilton 299 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 2: and three pump operators walked in ankle deep high water. 300 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 2: Fearing that they might be electrocuted if the water rose higher. 301 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 2: They dismantled the motor and blades of a big ventilation 302 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 2: fan to make a potential escape hatch, but seeing a 303 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 2: vortex of swirling water beneath the pumping station, they realized 304 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 2: it would be impossible to escape the building. 305 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 5: That's terrifying. 306 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're just in a literal succeed or die straight 307 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 2: out of fucking star trek. Yeah, these are the conditions 308 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 2: that they're working in. They look out and they see 309 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 2: the city as flooding, that the levees of broken in 310 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 2: without pumps running. They realize everything's going to be fucked, 311 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 2: so their work is essential. While they're there, they get 312 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 2: the call saying that they're on their own, that Coastguard 313 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 2: was not coming, that National Guard was not coming. So 314 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 2: they quote swam through floodwater to the generator building, not 315 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 2: swim out to go get somewhere safe. They quote swam 316 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 2: through the floodwater to the generator building next to pumping 317 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 2: station nineteen, hoping to start the generator necessary for the 318 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 2: pumps to work two feet down in the dirty, foul 319 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 2: smelling water where valves essential to the pumping operation that 320 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 2: had to be opened. So Tilton and another man dove in. 321 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 3: They got so heroic they got what. 322 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, they got the pump fixed, but they still had 323 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 2: to wait for the levee to be repaired to get 324 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 2: to draining the city. But they like did their piece 325 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 2: of it, you know. Yeh, fixing the levee isn't enough. 326 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 2: You also have to fix the pumps. Yeah, But then 327 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 2: New Orleans wasn't completely on their own obviously, as we've 328 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 2: talked about with other you know, in terms of the 329 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 2: people of New Orleans, all these relief organizations and like 330 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 2: Common Ground and you know, and also formal organizations are 331 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:08,360 Speaker 2: showing up to try and help, and some are helping 332 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 2: someone getting in the way. But in terms of fixing 333 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 2: the water, you need specialists. Right. Three other cities helped 334 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 2: out the city of Lafayette, Louisiana, about two hours away, 335 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 2: since some cruise since their facilities were still working, they 336 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:30,639 Speaker 2: ran the bacteriological samples in its lab. Wow. Okay, Little Rock, Arkansas, 337 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 2: the town that no one ever thinks of unless they're 338 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 2: thinking about. I think Bill clinks from there. 339 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 3: Yeah. 340 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 2: I went to a pretty good puncture there once. Really Okay, Yeah, 341 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 2: I was kind of jealous because everyone's rent was like 342 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 2: two hundred dollars for a house, because it's like this, 343 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 2: this is a while ago. But also it was a 344 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 2: real cheap place to live. 345 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 5: I bet it's still cheap. Yeah, maybe not that cheap. 346 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's probably up to six hundred dollars for I 347 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 2: don't know whatever. Maybe it's awful and gentrifying. Who knows, 348 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 2: I don't. But Little Rock, Arkansas is about seven hours away, 349 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 2: and they sent some staff and equipment and trucks. Both 350 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 2: of those cities are fanked. In every post Katrina report, 351 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 2: the water board is put out, or at least the 352 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,879 Speaker 2: three to four that I read. But one city above 353 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 2: all earned the love of New Orleans and their water board, 354 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 2: the city of Portland, Oregon. And now you ever heard 355 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 2: of Portland, Oregon? 356 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: I have. 357 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 5: I actually heard about it at the end of the 358 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 5: last episode that we did on this topic. 359 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 2: Oh right, Well, most people know about portlanduse of Portland, Maine, 360 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 2: or they all know about Portland, Arkansas, Portland, Colorado, Portland, Connecticut, Portland, Georgia, Portland, Indiana, Portland, Kansas, Portland, Kentucky, Portland, Michigan, 361 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 2: New Portland, Maine, Portland, Missouri, Portland, New York, Portland, North Dakota, Portland, Ohio, Portland, Pennsylvania, Portland, Tennessee, 362 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 2: or Portland, Texas. But it turns out there's a city 363 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 2: in Oregon named Portland too. 364 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 5: Jesus Christ, that's wild. 365 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 3: I can guarantee you I didn't know about any of 366 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 3: those other Portlands. So unoriginal. 367 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 2: Good Lord, Okay, but at least Portland, Oregon is a 368 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 2: port What the fuck is Portland, Kansas doing. 369 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 3: Dreaming of ports It's not the land of ports I'll 370 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 3: tell you that. 371 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: No. 372 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 2: The first time I moved to Portland, I was like nineteen, 373 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 2: and I like climbed up the hill in Forest Park 374 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 2: and I like looked out and there was like another city. 375 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 2: It's probably Tigered or some shit. I don't know, but 376 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 2: we were like but we left Portland, but there's another city, 377 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 2: and so we decided it was land Port and it 378 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,199 Speaker 2: was the inversion of Portland. There you go. That's funny. 379 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 2: And maybe Tigered is the inversion of Portland. I'm not sure. 380 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: Landport is a cooler name than Tigered because nobody can 381 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: pronounce Tiger correct. There's so many arguments about how that 382 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: town is the name of that town. Pronunciation on that. 383 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 2: I haven't heard it, and I'm afraid of the other pronunciations. 384 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: They say seven different ways on the news here. 385 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 2: I believe you, yeah that. 386 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I won't make you say them. 387 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, Katy. 388 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 2: So even before New Orleans put out a call for help, 389 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 2: the Water Bureau of Portland started putting together a plan 390 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 2: to help, and the plan was that we're going to 391 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 2: send thirty five engineers and other specialists to live and 392 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 2: work in New Orleans and help their waterboard, plus send 393 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:08,239 Speaker 2: as much equipment as they could. And as soon as 394 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 2: New Orleans was like yes, please, can people help, they 395 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 2: were en route and they did this illegally, as was 396 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 2: proven in court later. 397 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 4: And it's funny they had to go to court later. 398 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, how dare you do that good thing. Yep, 399 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:27,159 Speaker 4: that's what happened. They did it with approval from the 400 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 4: city government, but the city government was found in court 401 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 4: to have broken its rules about money spending in order 402 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 4: to do this. And I think they knew that they 403 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 4: were breaking all the rules when they went in and 404 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 4: they were like, Yeah, we just got to do this. 405 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 2: We don't care, we'll figure it out later. Yeah, people 406 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,160 Speaker 2: are dying. All of the people who went seventy people 407 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 2: in total, and two teams of thirty five were volunteers, 408 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 2: and nearly all of them were union. It seems to 409 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 2: have happened by basically the unions in the city being like, 410 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 2: all right, you want to break all the rules and 411 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 2: get this done. Yeah, I'll break all the rules and 412 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 2: get it done. You know, they broke you union rules 413 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 2: and city rules both. 414 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:02,440 Speaker 1: M hmm. 415 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 3: Good for them. 416 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 2: Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard said during the sendoff of 417 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,880 Speaker 2: the first volunteers, quote, we're violating about one hundred provisions 418 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 2: from each of their contracts, and we couldn't do it 419 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 2: without our union brothers and sisters. 420 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 3: Yeah. 421 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 2: The first team included sixteen members of the American Federation 422 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 2: of State County Municipal Employees Local one to eighty nine, 423 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 2: two members of the Electrical Workers Local forty eight, two 424 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 2: members of Operating Engineers Local seven oh one, and three 425 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 2: members of the City of Portland Professional Employees Association. I 426 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 2: don't have the numbers for the second team. The first 427 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 2: team gets all the glory. That's when the photos in, 428 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 2: you know, like, but but there were two teams, yep, totally, 429 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 2: that's what's important. Yeah, the equipment was sent on October third, 430 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 2: and on October eighth, people flew there. And now this 431 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 2: is not right away like, this is the like slow 432 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 2: grinding gears of bureaucracy to make things happen for belief, 433 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 2: which still matters, right Like, it was not too little, 434 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,360 Speaker 2: too late. It was a still in time, very useful thing. 435 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 2: But Katrina hid in the end of August. Red tape 436 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 2: slowed them down, but it didn't stop them. And when 437 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 2: they showed up, they stayed in those same tents at 438 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 2: the command center at the wastewater Treatment Plant Algiers and 439 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 2: they worked twelve hour shifts and a second group replaced 440 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 2: them on November sixth, thirty days later. They did the 441 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 2: same skilled labor that the water boarders were doing. They 442 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 2: fixed things. They completed three hundred and seventy seven work 443 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 2: orders in the sixty days they were there. They rebuilt 444 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 2: pumps and motors and fixing vehicles, and they also what 445 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 2: all of the formal relief groups had to do. They 446 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 2: spent a lot of their time going around and documenting 447 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 2: things so that FEMA would ostensibly pay for repairs. And 448 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 2: then the thing about having, you know, sent a whole 449 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 2: bunch of its workers to New Orleans is that it 450 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 2: wasn't just the people who went to New Orleans who 451 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 2: had to work hard as a result, because everyone who 452 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 2: stayed had to do that much more work. Michael str 453 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 2: the now former director of the Water Bureau, told Portland 454 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 2: dot gov, which is the official blog of the city, 455 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 2: I wonder if all the other Portlands are mad about that. 456 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 3: They might be, They really might be. 457 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,479 Speaker 2: Maybe they all share it. Maybe there's like a like 458 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 2: Portland Arkansas has like, you know, a little page on there. 459 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:15,360 Speaker 2: I don't think it does. 460 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 5: It's like Portland dot go click your. 461 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 2: State, Yeah, totally, which Portland. Michael Sturr said, it was 462 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 2: more than just the people who went down to New Orleans. 463 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 2: In some ways, that was almost the easy part. Then 464 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 2: there were the people back here. We were short the 465 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 2: number of crews usually had to do our daily business, 466 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 2: and everyone picked like basically, it's like everyone had to 467 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 2: pick up the load. Yeah, and I think that that 468 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 2: part matters too. In the end, Moltnomah County Circuit Court 469 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,959 Speaker 2: Judge Stephen Bouchong ruled that the Portland taxpayers shouldn't have 470 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 2: had to pay the two million it cost, and it 471 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 2: should have come from general funds instead. FEMA eventually reimburses 472 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 2: the city for one point eight million of this, Butuchong 473 00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 2: has since been elected to the Oregon Supreme Court, where 474 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 2: he currently serves, and I can find nothing about his politics. 475 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 2: He carefully is not saying that. 476 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,320 Speaker 3: Two million dollars. I know that that's a lot of money, 477 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 3: but for a city, and yeah, the size of this catastrophe, 478 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 3: that's like nothing. 479 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm looking at the Portland City budget annual right now. Yeah, 480 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 2: eight point two billion dollars. 481 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: Is and and how much of that goes to the cops? 482 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 3: I know, right, yeah, two million, that's like pennies for 483 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 3: each citizen. 484 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 2: But okay, yeah, and in the end, I think that 485 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 2: it was two hundred thousand dollars that wasn't reimbursed by 486 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 2: FEMA in the end. 487 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 3: That's okay whatever. 488 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, have you seen that like TikToker, I don't know 489 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 2: what thing was originally on, where the guy is like, oh, 490 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 2: who wants their tax money to pay for these Tongu 491 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 2: group people? I do. That's what I want. 492 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, I do. That's literally what I would like it 493 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 3: it's spent on. I would like it spent on things 494 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 3: like this, please, that's what it should be spent for. 495 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. 496 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 3: Also just not for not them, but just the cost 497 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 3: of like having some sort of hearing trial or taking 498 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 3: people out of work for the day. But you just 499 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 3: wasting our time and our money. Yeah, fucks anyway. 500 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm willing to bet if you ask, if you 501 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 2: just like did a little quick direct pull of the 502 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 2: people living in Portland. Are you proud of your city 503 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 2: or are you mad that four dollars out of your 504 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 2: paycheck went to this? Like, Yeah, the easiest four dollars 505 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 2: I've ever spent in my life is to feel good 506 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 2: about the city I live in. 507 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 5: Best money I've ever spent. 508 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, for sure. 509 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 2: There's not a lot of positive Portland stories in the news, 510 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 2: my guy, Yeah wild Okay, Katrina was in essence a 511 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,359 Speaker 2: wake up call for disaster relief for groups big and small, 512 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 2: bureaucratic and day. But what really is a wake up 513 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 2: call is deals. Oh thank god, Yeah, they just get 514 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 2: me out of bed in the morning. These deals, I know, 515 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 2: I know, what do you do? You could have been 516 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 2: buying long swords. 517 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 3: I could have been maybe I still have time. 518 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, a good arming sword, which is distinct from a 519 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 2: long sword by certain people's pedantic views. You know, if 520 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 2: you want to spend a lot of your time on 521 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 2: YouTube watching people talking about medieval weaponry, that's up to you. 522 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 2: But you don't have to do it, because we've done 523 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 2: all of that work for you, and that's why we 524 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 2: advertise only the finest medieval weapons. If what we advertise 525 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,159 Speaker 2: doesn't sound like a medieval weapon, it's actually code for 526 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,640 Speaker 2: a medieval weapon. So whatever you buy from these following sponsors, 527 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 2: including sports betting, it'll somehow come to you in sword form. 528 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 2: I don't promise. I'm lying. Here's ads and we're back. 529 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 3: Well that was fun, but I am dying to hear 530 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 3: how this results. 531 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean it did more or less. Okay, 532 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:55,719 Speaker 2: so actually some really amazing things come out of it. 533 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 2: With Katrina, it was a wake up call for disaster 534 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 2: relief right and small. That's what I already read in 535 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 2: my script, and here I am reading it again and 536 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 2: figure out what I was trying to say, and to 537 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 2: common Ground in New Orleans was a major inspiration for 538 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 2: matter mutual aid disaster relief. The group I was talking 539 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 2: about last time, as for the various water boards. Because 540 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,400 Speaker 2: of Katrina as well as nine to eleven and some flooding. 541 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 2: In two thousand and seven, they formed worn Water Slash 542 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:29,080 Speaker 2: Wastewater Agency Response Network. Their goal basically, they're doing the 543 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 2: same thing. They're creating these national networks. To quote their 544 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 2: press release from two thousand and seven, their goal is 545 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 2: to quote encourage local utilities in every state to establish 546 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 2: intrastate mutual aid and assistance agreements between both drinking water 547 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 2: and wastewater utilities. It basically exists to streamline the red 548 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 2: tape that was slowing everything down. They are like looking 549 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 2: at the failures of bureaucratic stuff and trying to figure 550 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 2: out how to get around it. And it allows them 551 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 2: all to quote sign a single agreement covering issues such 552 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:04,400 Speaker 2: as indemification, workers' compensation and reimbursement, and it quote allows 553 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,160 Speaker 2: for utilities to share equipment, personnel, and other resources required 554 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,679 Speaker 2: to respond effectively to any crisis. WARN helps utilities reduce 555 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 2: the typical response gap end quote. 556 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 3: That's rad. I know, I should talk to my My 557 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 3: brother works for the water department. Yeah, in his city, 558 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 3: his town, not saying where. 559 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, I should talk to him about Portland, Colorado, Portland, 560 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 2: color We all live in Portland. 561 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 3: We all live in Portland somewhere. Yeah, one way or another, 562 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 3: we all live in Portland. 563 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, it's this is the first 564 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:43,239 Speaker 2: I had heard about WARN, because it's like, there's this 565 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 2: thing that happens where like I do this, at least 566 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 2: I don't know if other people do it. Where I 567 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 2: see some of the DIY projects and then I see 568 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 2: some of like the failures of the large scale projects, 569 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 2: but I don't necessarily always see the wastewater worker who 570 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 2: is hanging on by rafters and fixing pumps, you know, 571 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 2: like the specialized person doing their professional job that is 572 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 2: a working class job that exists to serve the people. 573 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 3: Like well, and the truth is, I mean, and I 574 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 3: mentioned my brother, but I don't even think about it 575 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 3: that closely. But yeah, my brother's right now, going through 576 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 3: a period, there's always somebody on call and stuff does 577 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 3: go very bad, and training is significant because they're handling 578 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 3: stuff that could kill us if wild water isn't treated properly, 579 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 3: or if something goes wrong a busted pipe. There're as 580 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 3: much as storms in There was a huge pothole and 581 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 3: it busted up some pipes, and you know, I mean, 582 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 3: they're always on call trying. It's a different kind of 583 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 3: emergency response than I've ever thought about, just our water department. 584 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't always notice the work that people are doing, 585 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 2: and in some strange ways, because we don't see what 586 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 2: they do, we don't notice climate change getting worse, at 587 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 2: least not as obviously as we would otherwise, because there's 588 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 2: all of these people getting this stuff done, making our 589 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 2: infrastructure more resilient. I mean, obviously our resilient. Our infrastructure 590 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 2: is also falling apart. Right, It's like both things are 591 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,160 Speaker 2: happening at once. It's that tone. It's the thing where 592 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,479 Speaker 2: things are always getting better and worse, and it's not 593 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 2: just an illusion where like it's all samey, samey, but 594 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 2: there are things that are people are trying to fix 595 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 2: and make more resilient. Yeah, and ooh, this chapter is 596 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 2: called conclusion. I never I usually subheadings, but I usually don't. 597 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 2: Usually they're not as like conclusion. This one is my conclusion. 598 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 2: In that voice up at top, I quoted a paper 599 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 2: by Stanford's psychologist Jamil Zaki, and then they conclude that 600 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 2: paper with for all the suffering they produce. Social behavior 601 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 2: during and after disasters provides a counterpoint to the prevailing 602 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 2: cynicism of our culture. Catastrophe compassion presents people with a 603 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 2: view of ourselves that might surprise us, driven by otherishness 604 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,640 Speaker 2: rather than by selfishness during crucially important moments. One way 605 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 2: to honor and extend this positive behavior is to not 606 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 2: be surprised by it any longer, but instead to realize 607 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 2: that pro sociality is common, and thus to expect and 608 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 2: demand it from others and from ourselves. Okay, I've been 609 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 2: watching the Internet terror part this like homesteader influencer couple recently, 610 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 2: and they're really cringing, annoying, and I like don't mind 611 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 2: the people tearing them apart because I think that they're posers. There. 612 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 2: There's like white couple that uses hand tools and is like, 613 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 2: oh the rusty saw. Yeah, yeah, totally mm hm. And 614 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 2: it's like, you know, there's photos where a woman with 615 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 2: brushed but not braided hair and clean clothes is like 616 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 2: moving manure around. And it's like anyone who's working outside 617 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,840 Speaker 2: with long hair for long enough is braiding their fucking 618 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 2: hair or like putting it up in some way. 619 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 5: Getting it out of their face in some capacity. 620 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: Yeah. 621 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 2: And the guy's like hand sawing a log between sawhorses, 622 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 2: which means it'll pinch the blade, and it sure doesn't 623 00:31:58,440 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 2: seem like he knows what he's doing, but people have 624 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 2: accused him of that. In the common this is like 625 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 2: what I spend my time doing is watching people make funs. 626 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 3: I saw a little bit of it, maybe because you are. 627 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 3: I don't know if Yeah, it doesn't matter. I saw 628 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 3: it briefly. 629 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, And I don't know. I don't know about these 630 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 2: two people one way or the other. They seem like 631 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 2: annoying and probably right wing based on their like, oh 632 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 2: we The real thing to do is everyone has a homestead. 633 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 2: They are selling a lie, whether they know it or not. 634 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 2: Homesteading the way it's sold is a lie. It is 635 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 2: a foundational lie in American culture. But forever and always 636 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 2: the supposedly rugged frontiersman has a few exceptions, been supported 637 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 2: by massive infrastructure that relies on those frontiersmen conquering territories 638 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 2: from indigenous peoples. It is nearly impossible to grow all 639 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,160 Speaker 2: your own food as like a nuclear family. Anthropologically, whenever 640 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 2: humans live in small self sustaining groups, they are bigger 641 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 2: than husband, wife and children. There are a lot of 642 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 2: extended families. There's like clan structures. There's all kinds of 643 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 2: shit happening. 644 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 3: Community, yeah, a commune sorts perhaps. 645 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, And they are generally trading with one another or 646 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 2: building infrastructure together. I am an introvert and as hermit 647 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 2: as it gets, I live me and my dog alone 648 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 2: in the mountains, but I am not lying to myself. 649 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 2: We rely on each other, and we rely on society. 650 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 2: The sort of father of mutual aid as an academic 651 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 2: topic of study is the regular friend of the pod 652 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 2: of the anarchist and evolutionary biologist Peter Kropotkin. He was 653 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 2: like a Russian prince who was like, I don't think 654 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 2: this prince thing is for me. I think actually we 655 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 2: should have a horizontal society of groups that help each other. 656 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 2: And I'm an anthropologist and I'm basing all of this 657 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 2: by watching all of these different groups. And his nineteen 658 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 2: oh two book mutual Aid, A Factor and Evolution. It's 659 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 2: a pretty literal title. It presents the idea that counter 660 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 2: to what social Darwinists at the time we're saying, mutual 661 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 2: aid is a factor in evolution. H He follows mutual 662 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 2: aid throughout the animal kingdom and then anthropologically through a 663 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 2: ton of different society and it's one of the foundational 664 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 2: texts of the modern study of cooperation. It's like understanding 665 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 2: how different species can have mutually beneficial relationships, right the 666 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 2: like birds that clean the teeth or the alligators or whatever. 667 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: The fuck. 668 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,280 Speaker 2: I don't know, it's been a while since read the 669 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 2: science books that talk about this shit. And it's not 670 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,400 Speaker 2: that competition doesn't happen or doesn't matter, but it's that 671 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 2: cooperation also matters. Like when you were talking about at 672 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 2: the very top of all of this, about how, like 673 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 2: many other things, we have this in it human desire 674 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 2: to help each other, we also have in a human 675 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:32,839 Speaker 2: desire to hurt each other and. 676 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:38,880 Speaker 3: Shit, right, absolutely, but like we can pick you know, yeah, 677 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:45,160 Speaker 3: that's part of evolving and culture and growth is understanding 678 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,920 Speaker 3: where some of our instincts come from. That's a benefit 679 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:49,680 Speaker 3: of where we live at this point in time. But 680 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 3: in general, I mean, we're hardwired to survive, but we're 681 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,759 Speaker 3: also hardwired for community. And at the end of the day, 682 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,280 Speaker 3: we've never not relied on each other, right to some degree, 683 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 3: depending on how big your community is, but that is 684 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 3: how we have arrived where we are today. Yeah, the 685 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:09,320 Speaker 3: evolution of society and culture. 686 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's it's interesting because it's like it it 687 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 2: turns out the argument is that it's not survival of 688 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 2: the fittest at each other's throats. Sometimes it's survival of 689 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,840 Speaker 2: the fittest communities, and the fittest communities are communities that 690 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,280 Speaker 2: are cooperative and so like, it's kind of interesting. Actually, 691 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 2: one of the first times I read about all this 692 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 2: stuff was I like, I'll probably talked about this on 693 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,000 Speaker 2: the show before, but it's like lives in my head 694 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,520 Speaker 2: a lot, you know. I found this article talking about 695 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,720 Speaker 2: like scientists. It was like a science journal talking about 696 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:40,919 Speaker 2: like why are there gay animals? Right? And I'm reading 697 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 2: this random science article and they're like evolutionary biologist Peter 698 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,359 Speaker 2: Krapacken writing about this thing, and I'm like, oh, my god, 699 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:50,600 Speaker 2: my guy, he's in the science and uh that like 700 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,799 Speaker 2: the gay animals and like the animal kingdom, I'm talking 701 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 2: about humans here. I mean humans are animals too, but 702 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 2: like the gay animals will like the gay couple birds 703 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 2: will adopt to the fucking birds that are orphans and 704 00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:05,560 Speaker 2: shit or like, yeah, animals that have lost their mate 705 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,440 Speaker 2: and aren't find you know, like they still find like 706 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 2: love and companionship with each other. Yeah, and so like 707 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,879 Speaker 2: even though they can't reproduce sexually, some of them can, 708 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 2: some can't, whatever, mostly they can't, they are still providing 709 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 2: that species to be more survivable. So it is literally 710 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 2: part of evolution that some of us are gay. 711 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 3: Oh that's beautiful too. All of this is beautiful. 712 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:36,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, and so the end of that book, Peter 713 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,759 Speaker 2: Kapokin writes, in the practice of mutual aid, which we 714 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:43,279 Speaker 2: can retrace to the earliest beginnings of evolution, we thus 715 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,239 Speaker 2: find the positive and undoubted origin of our ethical conceptions, 716 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,840 Speaker 2: and we can affirm that in the ethical progress of man, 717 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,719 Speaker 2: mutual support, not mutual struggle, has the leading part in 718 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:59,320 Speaker 2: its wide extension. Even at the present time. We also 719 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 2: see the guarantee of a still loftier evolution of the 720 00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 2: human race. 721 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:06,439 Speaker 3: Yeah, love that. 722 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. So taking care of ourselves in each other, it's 723 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,319 Speaker 2: what we evolve to do. We're good at it, we 724 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 2: should do it, and. 725 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,399 Speaker 3: That's how you grow too. I mean, there's so many 726 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:21,279 Speaker 3: thoughts swimming around in my brain about this tangential but like, oh, 727 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 3: I might not have so much in common with that 728 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:27,000 Speaker 3: person up the street, but we're going to come together 729 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,520 Speaker 3: in this situation and learn and be on the same team. 730 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:36,400 Speaker 3: And there's a humanizing element from that, And yeah, I think, yeah. 731 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's hard because, right, some people, some 732 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:44,200 Speaker 2: of your neighbors might be like fucking Nazis, Yeah, right, exactly, 733 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,759 Speaker 2: And there might be people who are trying to kill you. 734 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,720 Speaker 2: But by and large, there's people I disagree with about 735 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,200 Speaker 2: pretty major stuff that I do not want to see 736 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 2: starved to death, that do not want to see me 737 00:37:56,120 --> 00:38:01,320 Speaker 2: starve to death, right, like right, Yeah, And even the Nazis, 738 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,440 Speaker 2: I want them to just stop being Nazis, you know, 739 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 2: I want them. 740 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 5: To stop being Nazi. 741 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,319 Speaker 3: I'm not wishing physical harm on them unless it's I 742 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,680 Speaker 3: guess very well deserved here, But I'm not gonna cry 743 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:15,840 Speaker 3: myself to sleep. But I'm not out here wishing the 744 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:20,000 Speaker 3: worst for anybody or a traumatic experience. I'm gonna try 745 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 3: to help. There was this conversation and I remember in 746 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,600 Speaker 3: college this debate about altruism. You know what, I don't 747 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 3: need to go down that path, Okay, but well it 748 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:34,239 Speaker 3: just does altruism exist? If like, if you're is there 749 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,799 Speaker 3: any can you is there an altruistic act? And I 750 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:39,840 Speaker 3: kind of took up and I'm not sure if I 751 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 3: stand by this, but that there isn't. But it doesn't matter. 752 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 3: You can use that word because at the end of 753 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,840 Speaker 3: the day, for example, your friend hopping in that plane 754 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 3: that you referenced a very scary choice. A lot of people, 755 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 3: you probably wouldn't fault somebody for not wanting to do it. However, 756 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:02,880 Speaker 3: I bet your friend, and it meant so much like 757 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 3: I don't know how I would live with myself if 758 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 3: I had the opportunity to help somebody and I didn't, right, 759 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 3: And so maybe there's something selfish in that, But at 760 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 3: the end of the day, I don't think it's selfish. 761 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 3: It's just recognizing that what I want is the best 762 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:17,120 Speaker 3: for people. 763 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:17,760 Speaker 5: Anyway. 764 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 3: This is a tangent, but I have been it's been 765 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:20,759 Speaker 3: floating in my head a bit. 766 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,720 Speaker 2: This is such an important tangent because we get presented 767 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:27,440 Speaker 2: all the time, right, does altruism exist? Right? You can 768 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:30,920 Speaker 2: find the selfish reason. You know, I want to be 769 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 2: the kind of person who does not let fear prevent 770 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 2: me from doing what I believe is right. So therefore, 771 00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:37,840 Speaker 2: if I get in that plane, which I didn't, but 772 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,840 Speaker 2: like you know, I wasn't an option I presented to myself. 773 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:42,919 Speaker 2: It was somewhere else in the country. I don't remember 774 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,080 Speaker 2: where I was. But like, if I had gotten into 775 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:48,120 Speaker 2: that plane, I would feel good about myself later. I mean, 776 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:49,400 Speaker 2: at a time i'd be like, what the fuck am 777 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,440 Speaker 2: I doing? What's wrong with like terrified? But yeah, yeah, 778 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,479 Speaker 2: and so I would be proud, So I would get 779 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 2: something out of it. Right. But the argument that we 780 00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 2: get presented with all the time by society and the 781 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:04,000 Speaker 2: Cold War, this awful is the community versus the individual. 782 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,640 Speaker 2: And the thing that I love about mutual aida factor 783 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:11,480 Speaker 2: in evolution is he's not saying, oh, being good is good, 784 00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:15,320 Speaker 2: and anyone who doesn't sucks, and you know we should 785 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:19,120 Speaker 2: suffer for each other. Instead, he's saying, what is good 786 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 2: for the individual is to be good for the community. Yes, yes, 787 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:27,759 Speaker 2: so we need to find where it's not two polar opposites, 788 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 2: you know, And I just like deeply believe that, and 789 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 2: like basically I do too. Yeah, I want to be 790 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 2: part of a healthy community where people take care of me, 791 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:38,919 Speaker 2: and the cost of entry is to be a person 792 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:41,600 Speaker 2: who takes care of people. And then I feel good anyway, 793 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:44,160 Speaker 2: because like when I have like extra and I give 794 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:46,640 Speaker 2: it to someone, I am like, I probably got more 795 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:48,200 Speaker 2: out of that than they did. I'm like, I am 796 00:40:48,239 --> 00:40:50,680 Speaker 2: the best person. I just came twenty bucks to that guy. 797 00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:52,759 Speaker 2: I'm like a fucking here. They should make us. I'm 798 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:53,280 Speaker 2: a saint. 799 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:55,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, like but a statue up of me. 800 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:57,919 Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I'm floating all day. 801 00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:01,480 Speaker 3: And the thing is, as if you follow the trajectory 802 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:05,520 Speaker 3: of this entire conversation of these two episodes, I extend 803 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,839 Speaker 3: that to times of non crisis as well. Yeah, that's 804 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:13,840 Speaker 3: my whole philosophy about society and communities. And you know, 805 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:15,520 Speaker 3: part of the thing that I love about being in 806 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,840 Speaker 3: a smaller community at the moment is that there's more effect. 807 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 3: My individual actions have a bit more of an effect 808 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:24,719 Speaker 3: in here. But like I say this all the time 809 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:29,239 Speaker 3: when people talk about, you know, housing crisis or this 810 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:31,880 Speaker 3: that or the other, like different things. I'm like, well, 811 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:35,480 Speaker 3: whether you like it or not, this is all. 812 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:36,080 Speaker 5: Of our issue. 813 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:37,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally our. 814 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:39,560 Speaker 3: That's a selfish that's coming at it from a more 815 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:44,800 Speaker 3: selfish perspective, But it's like, we need to collectively approach 816 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:49,760 Speaker 3: this problem because if not, the downsides that are all 817 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 3: of us. We just because you're like, that's not me, 818 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,240 Speaker 3: doesn't mean that that's not you know, in cert different 819 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,960 Speaker 3: hazards or things that can happen. Again the selfish way 820 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:04,600 Speaker 3: looking at it, but I believe fundamentally that healthy community, 821 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 3: you know, where we don't ignore the problems, that the 822 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,600 Speaker 3: crises that people are going through, is better for all 823 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:12,839 Speaker 3: of us at the end of the day. Yeah, and 824 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,520 Speaker 3: just knowing that if something then happened to me that 825 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:18,719 Speaker 3: there are infrastructures or people places that I can't go 826 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,480 Speaker 3: out yeah for help anyway. 827 00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:23,719 Speaker 2: No, And I even wonder whether the reason that we're 828 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:26,759 Speaker 2: seeing like Elon Musk pretending like he's ever going to 829 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:33,719 Speaker 2: go to Mars or Facebook robot man buying all of Hawaii, Zuckerberg, 830 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:38,239 Speaker 2: you know, is like they're trying to find a way 831 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:41,000 Speaker 2: to nimby climate change. They're trying to be like or 832 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,279 Speaker 2: they're trying to find a way to make it not 833 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,239 Speaker 2: their problem, right, because it is everyone's problem, and so 834 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,480 Speaker 2: they're like, well, how can I be safe in this? 835 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:49,800 Speaker 2: And then the answer is like you kind of can't. 836 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,680 Speaker 3: Absolutely no, They're going to build their bunkers, and they're 837 00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:59,000 Speaker 3: different like things like advocate against policies because they're going 838 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:01,560 Speaker 3: to continue making as much money as possible, but shure 839 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,680 Speaker 3: up their own bunkers and their own backup plans. 840 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:06,799 Speaker 5: Yep, but that's going to only take you so far. 841 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:11,279 Speaker 2: But I love the like there was some report. I've 842 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,400 Speaker 2: only read the pop science version of this, but the 843 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:15,439 Speaker 2: you know, I read an article a long time ago 844 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:18,960 Speaker 2: that was talking about how when the super rich we're 845 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,319 Speaker 2: talking about all their bunkers. One of the meetings that 846 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:24,080 Speaker 2: they had at the convention was how the fuck are 847 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,040 Speaker 2: we going to get our security guards to keeping on 848 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,960 Speaker 2: our side when there's like no money in the world's over, Like, 849 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:31,520 Speaker 2: how do we make them still are subordinates? You know what? 850 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:32,920 Speaker 3: A good question and it seems so. 851 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,560 Speaker 2: Funny because the obvious answer is to make them your equals, 852 00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:38,680 Speaker 2: and you're like, weird little bunker cult, you know, but 853 00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:41,080 Speaker 2: they're like, oh, fuck, what are we gonna I mean, 854 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:43,560 Speaker 2: the answers, they're probably going to kidnap those people's children 855 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:45,879 Speaker 2: and shit, you know, I don't know because yeah, there's 856 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:47,920 Speaker 2: that other quote that I don't have source. That's like 857 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:51,680 Speaker 2: from like the nineteen hundreds or eighteen whatever, nineteenth century. 858 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:53,440 Speaker 2: That's like, oh, I can just hire one half of 859 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:55,600 Speaker 2: the working class to kill the other half. You know. 860 00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:00,840 Speaker 5: Yeah, anyway, probably is where they bring I'm focusing on that. 861 00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:02,719 Speaker 5: We've had a very hopeful conversation. 862 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:05,279 Speaker 2: Yes, I think, don't get hired just to kill the 863 00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:07,440 Speaker 2: working class. That is the takeaway. 864 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:08,160 Speaker 5: That's a bad deal. 865 00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:12,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, don't do that, and do use your specializations to 866 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:16,560 Speaker 2: help each other. And listen to even more news. 867 00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:19,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, listen to even more news and some more news. 868 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:22,840 Speaker 3: We're available as a podcast or the YouTube show for 869 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:27,160 Speaker 3: both shows. Some people weren't thrilled that we started putting 870 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,840 Speaker 3: the video of our podcast up on YouTube. 871 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 5: A lot of people were, yeah, it's weird. 872 00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:36,879 Speaker 3: Look, if you prefer just audio, just go listen to it. 873 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,320 Speaker 3: It's still in your podcast feed. I love you very much. 874 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,200 Speaker 3: But he got both options now, and that's a good thing. Yeah, 875 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:44,719 Speaker 3: so yeah, you can watch or listen to both of 876 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:49,040 Speaker 3: those shows. And we are in the throes of election prep, 877 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,280 Speaker 3: so busy. 878 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,040 Speaker 2: And if you want my take on random stuff, I 879 00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,760 Speaker 2: have a substack. It is Margaret Kildroyd at substack dot com. 880 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,720 Speaker 2: All of the posts that are like meaningful and about 881 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:04,759 Speaker 2: how I feel about election years and whatever. You can 882 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:07,520 Speaker 2: find that there for free. And if you want more 883 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:11,320 Speaker 2: of the like Margaret tells stories about hitchhiking or complains 884 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 2: about her day than those are for the people who 885 00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:17,240 Speaker 2: pay me. And that's Marta Kiljoyd at substock dot com. 886 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:19,879 Speaker 2: And also you should listen to the rest of cools 887 00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:25,720 Speaker 2: on media because Selfie's nodding this genuinely really good because like, honestly, 888 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:29,120 Speaker 2: I'm glad that more shows got added because sometimes at 889 00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:30,600 Speaker 2: the end of the week, I've listened to all of 890 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:33,560 Speaker 2: the cools on media that week, and I'm like, now. 891 00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:35,480 Speaker 3: What, Who's going to keep me company today? 892 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,719 Speaker 2: I know, like, while I'm you know, working on the 893 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:41,120 Speaker 2: land that I live on, I was about to say 894 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,440 Speaker 2: burning cardboard, but I would never do that. I totally 895 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:44,880 Speaker 2: don't have a barrel in my front yard where I 896 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:47,960 Speaker 2: burn all my cardboard. I don't know about the ethics 897 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:51,440 Speaker 2: or laws around that, so I don't do that. But 898 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:53,799 Speaker 2: if I did, I'd be listening to coolson Media while 899 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:54,160 Speaker 2: I did it. 900 00:45:54,719 --> 00:45:55,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, of course. 901 00:45:56,320 --> 00:46:02,319 Speaker 2: Yeah. Anyway, don't burn things during fire season. Yeah, and 902 00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:06,000 Speaker 2: put a great over your barrel and don't tell your neighbors. Yep. Absolutely, 903 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:07,799 Speaker 2: see you all next week. 904 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:15,759 Speaker 1: Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff is a production of 905 00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:18,879 Speaker 1: cool Zone Media. For more podcasts on cool Zone Media, 906 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:22,319 Speaker 1: visit our website Coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out 907 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,759 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get 908 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:26,600 Speaker 1: your podcasts.