Raising Hell: Issue 70: Suffer The Middle Managers
"Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness," - Joseph Welch, army lawyer, saying the lines that would end Joseph McCarthy's career, 9 June 1954
One of my earliest and clearest lessons about the reality of climate change did not come from a scientist, but a farmer. We were sitting out the back of his property, somewhere around Quirindi, New South Wales, sipping ice water and talking about the Black Summer Bushfires.
Around us a field of cabbages seemed to extend out in an infinite radial plain and the old man sitting in front of me was a farmer’s farmer. He was tall, his skin weathered by work and the sun. He wore flannel and muddy boots. The first thing he made clear was that he was no scientist — though he may as well have been. He had contributed to generating models that mapped water systems within the region to prevent overuse of critical systems. Over the last however many years he had contributed, quietly, to government inquiries and projects, always with the keen understanding that climate change was an existential threat.
His consistent message was that climate change was already here. As politicians quibbled and governments looked for the least-cost solution, the farmers in his region were already noticing changes. If humanity depended, precariously, on the clockwork nature of the seasons, the capacity of these cycles to feed everyone began to break down the more they became unpredictable. Just because advances over the last couple of decades meant no one alive in Australia to date had experienced famine, doesn’t mean the farmers had forgotten.
The way he told it, the farmers of his region had begun to notice something changing half a decade ago when the stable microclimates they had optimised their farms around began to shift. Each little valley and every region, he explained, had slight variations in weather patterns and local temperatures. Not only did this make particular crops more or less productive, and so more profitable, in some regions, it also meant those regions attracted a specific set of plant diseases, insects and weeds that had to be managed.
Now that has started to change. The farmers had noticed it first in the falling productivity of their operations. A couple years back a couple of operators decided to switch out their crops to try something that hadn’t been traditionally been grown in the area. Much to their surprise, they thrived. As their profits increased at the end of the season, they just carried on without thinking too much about it.
When someone bothered to actually investigate what was going on, what they found were these weather patterns were being pulled south overtime. The microclimate that used to exist around one farmer’s property was now being enjoyed by a colleague a few kilometres south, while he was now experiencing what his neighbours up north once enjoyed. Those who adapted early had caught a slight bump to their bank balance; but then came additional problems. As the microclimate changed, so did the bugs, germs and weeds that moved into their fields.
The point was, the farmer said, is that it didn’t matter how many anyone “believed” in climate or change, or not. Or even whether they were serious in doing anything about it. Whether people realised it or not, people were already changing their behaviour to adapt to a new and unsteady reality without really knowing it.
This was a moment that has stayed with me. When people think about climate change, the default is to think about extreme weather events, juiced by increased heat on the ocean and not the accumulation of subtle changes that alter everyday life. The implication, of course, was that the in the early stages of climate shock, these sorts of effects are manageable. Confronted with a failing crop, a farmer could switch it out for another and rebound next season. The small, incremental changes could be made on a reasonable time scale. As the effects of climate change ramp up, it will however become much harder to make these adaptations and for them to not be immediately be overwhelmed by the next thing — like a catastrophic flood.
It is worth keeping this mind as Tuesday, 28 February marks the anniversary of the Lismore flood. Australia isn’t a country that likes to think about itself as having internally displaced persons, but as of 2022, there were 49,000 Australians who had been displaced due to extreme natural disasters made worse by climate change. It’s with this in mind that I packed my things and have come here, to Lismore to see what’s what a year on from the disaster. And what I’m finding now is that the water may be gone but many people are still living in a disaster zone.
More on that another time.
Like investigations? Love politics? Walter Marsh, friend of Raising Hell, has a new book about on the early days of Rupert Murdoch through Scribe. Walter delved into the archives to find out when the future media baron broke bad. Pre-order now.
For the Fortnight: February 15 to February 28
Reporting In
Where I recap what I’ve been doing this last fortnight so you know I’m not just using your money to stimulate the local economy …
I’ve written the bulk of this newsletter while on the road to Lismore for the anniversary of the flood, both for a story in The Saturday Paper and for book research — so keep an eye out for, so I’ve tried to keep it short and simple.
This last fortnight, I took part in a writers room on a proposal for a document. I recall signing a bunch of forms which I presume means I’m sworn to secrecy but it was a great time all time and I learned a bunch.
I have, however, received some good feedback — and a reminder that people actually do read my Tweets.
It’s also been hot as hell in AdHellAide and I’m in the process of moving house so there may be some trouble getting the next issue of Raising Hell out — though I’ll be covering what we saw on this trip.
You Hate To See It
A dyspeptic, snark-ridden and highly ironic round-up of the news from our shared hellscape…
The Good Shit
What do you think of when you think of ballet? Civilisation? Sophistication? Taste? Well, let Marco Goecke, director of the Hanover State Opera’s ballet company, shatter any illusions you may have had when we tell you how he responding to a negative review of his production In The Dutch Mountains by smearing feces in the face of his reviewer. In a truly scathing review, the theatre critic described the experience of sitting through the production with the immortal line, “one alternates between a state of feeling insane and being killed by boredom”, and so incurred Goecke’s wrath. The excrement was provided by Geocke’s dachshund, Gustav, moments before the attack. As it happens, Gustav is a pooch of considerable distinction, having dined with notables such as Princess Caroline of Monaco. Here is the pooch in question:
The Ultimate Grift
“In COVID a lot of people lost their jobs, they lost their family, and the last thing they have is their house,” Carrie Rios, former Las Angeles traffic cop, tells a group of property managers and landlords at the start of her self-defence session. “You’re taking the last thing they have. This is their worst day. I’m not trying to scare you, but you need to be prepared for that,” she says. Why have the eleven put-upon souls gathered together? A self-defence class to learn how to defend themselves against “irate tenants”, “transients” and homeless people who may take issue with being turfed out of their place after a landlord’s association sued the City of Las Angeles to kill eviction protections. The courses include proper application of tourniquets and how to strike at a tenants noise with an open palm in the midst of a fight. “People wanted to be Robin Hoods,” says the head of the landlords association without a hint of irony as the group simulates a mass shooting. “They want free rent. Now they say, ‘Housing is a human right.’ I mean, it’s crazy. Unless the government provides the housing. Can you imagine?” Yeah, can you?
The Real Circular Economy
To Australia now where the Australian Labor party, so thoroughly destroyed during the Rudd era, is now making big promises about its plan to refurbish Tony Abbott’s safeguard mechanism as a central plank of its plan to deal with climate change. Depending who you ask, the policy is either an awkward and inconvenient compromise that’s better than nothing, or yet another instance of Australia trying to barter with the physical realities of climate change like a dodgy accountant trying to squeeze out a few extra bucks on a tax return - but then we’ve known the Albanese government basically wants to drill baby drill when it comes to new gas developments. Keep in mind that this all comes at a time when Santos has posted a 221% increase to its after-tax profits despite not producing anything and BP has abandoned its pivot to renewables because it’s making eye-watering amounts of cash right now — almost like all those grand promises to help make a better world was just hot air.
Money Talks
Pity the Coalition. Even when they try to do the right thing, the party of the free market and free ideas just can’t catch a break. Consider the candidacy of Moira Deeming, Victorian Liberal MP who, in emails obtained by FOI from her time on the Melton City Council, claimed she could secure $100,000 in donations if pre-selected, thanked a constituent who blamed Covid-19 on abortion and homosexual and believes God “arranged” her preselection. The election of Deeming isn’t exactly out of place in a party that also seems desperate to import the anti-trans discourse that has driven the UK insane and seems totally out of place in a country like Australia which gave the world Priscilla Queen of the Desert and, as has been pointed out by better minds, you can open a surf shop in Alice Springs and no one questions it.
Death By Middle Management
It’s been another block of hearings at the Robodebt Royal Commission where former staff from the Department of Social Services and Department of Human Services have continued to be grilled about their involvement in the scheme. Among the most compelling moments was the impassioned appearance by Jeannie-marie Blake, a former compliance officer who was well aware of the monstrosity she was being asked to oversee and had waited for this moment to unleash on those that compelled her to carry it out. Another memorable moment was the exchange between Commissioner Homes and Scott Britton who headed up the compliance team that implemented the rollout of Robodebt and now works for the NDIS. Asked whether the colossal fuck up that created Robodebt could be considered a matter of the “blind leading the blind”, Britton responded, somewhat sadly, by saying that’s “a bit harsh”.
Failing Upward
Where we recognise and celebrate the true stupidity of the rich, powerful and influential…
Dr Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is a perennial in the Australian landscape who, every so often, dips out of the limelight before blossoming once again in new and unexpected ways. One of those ways — besides starting a beef with fellow billionaire Kerry Stokes — has been in a curious investor call where, among other things, Forrest spent a lot of time talking about a frolic in Gabon where he has been asked to develop a new mine and a “membrane” he claims that will allow his company to extract iron ore, carbon-free. What about that court-mandated multi-million dollar compensation payment his company is required to make to the Yindjibarndi for mining their land without permission? Don’t worry about little things like that! Forrest he wasn’t about to give the Yindjibarndi “cash for nothing” — though he couldn’t stop talking about how much he respect he had for the aunties and uncles around the pastoral station where he grew up. Will any of this stop Forrest from being consulted on public policy? Will it stop his charity from recruiting former Premiers? Will it put a dent into his mining billions? Not bloody likely.
Good Reads, Good Times
To share the love, here are some of the best or more interesting reads from the last fortnight. If some are behind the paywall, get yourself a 12ftladder…
Cory Doctorow, writing in The Atlantic, has this write up on why Google is so bad at ideas.
A year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and there has been a run of pieces examining the cost. First there is this story by The Guardian’s Andrew Roth looking at how ordinary Russians are thinking as their sons come home in coffins. This should be paired with this other piece reporting on how the Russian elite are responding to the war by Max Seddon, Christopher Miller and Felicia Schwartz in the Financial Times that is full of juicy quotes from Putin’s inner circle.
To mark this anniversary, Associated Press has this story about the images left on the cutting room floor from what the war in Ukraine — though just a heads up, some are extremely graphic.
Before You Go (Go)…
Are you a public sector bureaucrat whose tyrannical boss is behaving badly? Have you recently come into possession of documents showing some rich guy is trying to move their ill-gotten-gains to Curacao? Did you take a low-paying job with an evil corporation registered in Delaware that is burying toxic waste under playgrounds? If your conscience is keeping you up at night, or you’d just plain like to see some wrong-doers cast into the sea, we here at Raising Hell can suggest a course of action: leak! You can securely make contact through Signal — contact me first for how. Alternatively you can send us your hard copies to: PO Box 134, Welland SA 5007
And if you’ve come this far, consider supporting me further by picking up one of my books, leaving a review or by just telling a friend about Raising Hell!