Further disasters
The business of ongoing crisis.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s wreckage, I revisited this piece that I wrote last summer after historic and devastating flooding in Vermont.1
By all accounts, what’s happened in North Caroline (and Florida, and Virginia, and…) is far far worse than what we experienced here. And then I catch myself wondering if this sort of comparison is even useful? It’s all horrifying and unimaginable if you’re there. Climate disaster had seemed abstract until I lived through the flood, and now that we’re experiencing these places we thought were “safe” being ravaged, this truly is our future.
Last summer I wrote:
We’re going to keep experiencing disasters. Our businesses and livelihoods are going to be impacted by forces outside of our control.
Vermont flooded again this past summer. Twice starts to look like an annual pattern. I was in Montpelier— the state capitol which was completely underwater in 2023— a few days ago, and the post office there just finally reopened, over a year later.
Disasters like these are where we, if we didn’t already understand, acutely learn of the inadequacy of our current system2, while also learning about the strength of mutualism. I saw networks and groups that formed during the summer of 2023 activating quickly this year; last year’s organizing didn’t make the experience easier, but we had some muscle memory and literal infrastructure and practice that facilitated efficacious action.
Kyla Scanlon recently wrote a nuanced and helpful piece about the Longshoremen Strike. The strike ended up resolving pretty quickly, and has entirely faded from the news, but that wasn’t a clear outcome when Kyla wrote this:
In particular, she takes up the sticky conundrum of a group of workers who are rightly worried about their jobs, wanting to block any automation at all as a contract demand:
The path forward is not clear, but what is clear is that we need a more democratic, inclusive approach to implementing new technologies. It’s all uncertain, creating ripples that can be harmful in the long run. Nothing can be smooth sailing, but the key is to support workers through changes, not just replace them with machines.
In addition to higher wages, the longshoremen were (are?) most concerned about automation. I learned that the US lags behind almost every port in inefficiency; but the longshoremen are rightly worried about losing their jobs. No job, no paycheck, no health insurance, no retirement…
I’ve been thinking about these two events together, finding a a connection between climate disasters and a striking workforce worried about job security: that we’re running into a giant wall with the individualist, (supposed) meritocracy model of the economy.
Small businesses can’t take on debt every time a disaster strikes and expect to survive long term.
Individuals and businesses can’t GoFundMe their way out of annual, recurring disasters.
While, yes, there are things you can do to run a more resilient business3, ultimately, we’re talking system level. Someone wrote into Ask A Manager last week about what to do as a remote worker dealing with the hurricane. The comments are super thoughtful and worth reading for ideas on how to approach work during a disaster, as an employer or employee. The letter really underscored how unprepared we are, as an entire economy, for the present and future we’ve created.
We need jobs, businesses, incomes, to pay for our lives, but disaster, automation, all these upheavals disrupt our livelihoods. Our expectations of productivity, on both the individual and the macro level, seem to be increasingly out of sync with reality.
What does it mean to maintain a business, a livelihood, in the face of ongoing disaster and disruption?
Forgive the articulation in motion, I certainly have no answers for you, but here’s a thread:
Right now, we need longshoremen to keep ports open, or the economy, dependent as it is on goods moving around the globe, will be (to use the technical term) fucked.
The longshoremen need jobs, because jobs = income, so they’re going to fight efficiency and automation that would lead to fewer workers. Would automation make everything work better overall? Sounds like probably, but at the expense of lost livelihoods.
See where I’m going here? The economy, whether or not it’s ever been set up well, it’s definitely not set up for the world we’ve engineered. Humans have complex needs for goods and services, some necessary, some most definitely not. Yes, food, water, clothing; a self-paced course on how to increase engagement on LinkedIn? not so much. But we live in precarious times, and online courses are a seductive means to make an income.
But then of course, climate disaster is sped up by extraction: business, industry, a quest for wealth building, development. Turning on dormant nuclear reactors to feed the insatiable energy needs of LLM’s that nobody asked for! I mean, what?!?
This is where I get dizzy: running in circles through this conundrum.
Amidst the uncertainty, I find it worth remembering that any particular private business doesn’t really need to exist; there are myriad other ways to organize economies and meet human needs. Privately held businesses are one way, but in some sense they’re part of the wall we’re running into: each one of us can’t keep figuring it out on our own.
I don’t have a crystal ball, but I do I have hopes. I know the solidarity economy has some answers. I know the mutual aid networks have others. I know that we cannot maintain a relentless focus on growth and productivity. I know we don’t need another online course about being online.
How We Can Help
Here are a few reminders of how we (all of us at Wanderwell!) can help.
BOOKKEEPING & ACCOUNTING SERVICES with a strategic backbone to provide you thoughtful, clear financials. We specialize in creative problem solving for growing companies led by non-finance-nerd founders.
ADVISORY SERVICES to help you transform your business and your relationship to your business: navigating leadership and business growth, (re)designing your business model, structuring your people and systems, and projecting and benchmarking your financial performance. I have one spot left before next year, get in touch.
Whiskey Fridays PODCAST season 2 kicked off last week with an episode exploring the controversial topic of Non Competes.
ZINES to expand entrepreneurial imagination, including exploring post-capitalist business models and the purpose of profit for a radical enterprise.
If you’re interested in any of the above, I’d be delighted to start a conversation.
A few more things:
Patrice: The Movie, a ‘documentary rom-com’ by our longtime clients All Ages Productions, just came out. It tells the story of Patrice and her beloved, Garry, who want to marry. But marrying, or even living together, would risk their losing their disability benefits. Reader, I cried. It’s a beautiful film. ( I also noticed that the release of the film prompted a pointed statement from the Social Security Administration… )
Disaster music: I’ve been playing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings new album on repeat. An interview with the duo about the album, made after a tornado tore through their Nashville Studio.
A timely post from a friend:
revisits adrienne marie brown’s Emergent Strategy today, for some ideas about the future.
Part of a series titled Enough is Enough: A Summer of Failure. I don’t always write in such a downer mode, but also, I am committed to keeping it real.
Two things can be true at once: FEMA grants can be both inadequate and necessary. The conspiracy theories and calls for violence, the threats to government employees, are truly breaking my brain.
Things like: making sure to have clear and abundant leave available. Enough savings and profit. Not running a business where everyone’s busy within an inch of their lives. Does your business need a disaster fund? That’s easier said than done, but I think more than ever, we need margin and buffer in all sorts of directions.