Thread by @Suzi3D

THREAD:

I have people close to me stuck in the Aussie bushfire zone - which is spread over more than 500 MILES & counting

We need to understand what they're going through

Because many of them are living a reality where government doesn't save you & no electricity = no internet

Yesterday I retweeted a guy who was aghast after having discovered that he'd been issued an evacuation notice by his local government, in a town which had no diesel fuel. How am I supposed to get out of here? He asked.

This is the reality they're facing

https://twitter.com/bill81904733/status/1212389016877711365

Even for those lucky enough to have fuel, many have no idea which roads to take or how to get out. Why? Because they have no electricity and therefore no internet, no Google maps, no functioning GPS.

You can't call an Uber to get you out of a fire zone

https://twitter.com/shayne_chester/status/1212548007679283200

Others still are finding that they have no access to funds. No electricity = no credit card processing. In an increasingly cashless society, how do you buy common goods when the societal infrastructure fails you?

Choices like this are becoming common:

https://twitter.com/_timwatkins/status/1212547564970500097

For years, my work has centred around how the "Global Network" (as the NSA terms it) undermines democracy & empowers authoritarianism. But in a disaster zone like Australia, the Global Network simply fails. No electricity = no Matrix. People find all they have left is each other

They learn the core truths of our existence:

1. Money is only as useful as your access to it or its value to those who you wish to receive it - in a case such as this, it is often worthless

2. Tight binds of governance fall away very swiftly in times of crisis (think Katrina)

3. The great behemoth of the internet may as well not exist (and ceases to) when the plugs get pulled (or melted in this case)

4. Within a very short space of time we can be reduced to our primal state: hunters & gatherers, living off whatever can be found or utilised at hand

The reason Occupy had such a huge impact on me is it was the first time I ever saw citizens banding together to create a functioning community without the involvement of a) money, or b) government, or c) a formal leadership structure.

Humans *are* capable of self-sufficiency

We actually *don't* need to be ruled, even though we're constantly propagandised to the contrary.

In disaster zones that self-sufficiency isn't chosen, but forced upon victims, by the inability of government/leadership to meaningfully intervene at the precise moment of crisis

But what we do need is solidarity. The caring and support of each other. Australians need that right now, and by in large don't seem to be getting enough of it.

They don't need the privileged few to have a debate about politics. They need food, shelter, the fires to be doused.

They need the immediacy of the crisis to be addressed, before the strategic can be.

The magnitude of this crisis is on a scale never before seen in my lifetime.

twitter.com/search?q=austr…

When a hungry child shows up on your doorstep, do you debate the politics that lead to social deprivation and child poverty, or do you feed the child?

I'd feed the child.

When Australia is burning, do you argue re CO2, diplomacy & government? Or do you help put out the fires?

I don't want to see or participate in a Climate Change "debate" or have my followers assume I'm picking a "side" in it because I'm daring to say "hey Australia is on fire and Australian are dying"

I want to see firefighting resources from across the globe flocking to Oz to HELP

I want to see people stuck in this hell being rescued, I want to see massive international networks mobilising to support them. I don't want to see people expecting a global system that has already failed to step in to be the saviours here. They aren't & they won't be. It's on us

The people who are surviving in Aussie right now are the ones who use cash & have vehicles that aren't dependent upon electrical systems, who have paper map books and know their local area, who have relationships with their neighbours and who don't depend on Uber Eats for meals.

And those aren't just my sentiments - those are the sentiments of my close friend who is stuck in the middle of it.

When Hurricane Sandy devastated the Eastern US - this is how regular people formed @OccupySandy - a large scale humanitarian relief organisation, virtually overnight.

This is what I'd love to see for Aussies right now:

vimeo.com/53155081

@OccupySandy And international supporters *can* use the internet to coordinate building alliances to get that support to Aussie. We can assist them, just as my team from New Zealand assisted the Eastern US during Sandy.

occupysavvy.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/ano…

@OccupySandy Together we turned the tide on that disaster, in a historic and important way. Even the NYT was forced to acknowledge it:

"Where FEMA fell short Occupy Sandy was there"

nytimes.com/2012/11/11/nyr…

@OccupySandy And more: progressive.org/dispatches/occ…

@OccupySandy The models exist, for us not to just be human witnesses to these disasters, but to intervene and provide direct aid for the benefit of the victims.

People power isn't just about changing policy or influencing government, it's about changing outcomes for ourselves and each other

@OccupySandy The greatest tweet during @OccupySandy was from a now-suspended account. It read:

"At times like these we all band together and do whats right, differences in beliefs/politics do not matter."

While people are dying I don't want to hear about politics. I want to hear about help.

@OccupySandy I'm going to have a think about how myself and my team can best act to support the people going through hell in Australia right now, and then I'll be back.

I urge you all to have a think about how you can support them too.

WE are the future. Together. All of us.

/end thread