'Purpose or Profit' / Millie Costigan
The catastrophic fires which engulfed much of south eastern Australia this summer, killing at least twenty-five people as well as decimating plant and animal populations, have left Australians heartbroken and disempowered as we reckon with the reality of climate change and the consequences of its profound political mismanagement.
City folk are usually privileged to some degree of cognitive dissonance by virtue of our geographical detachment from rural Australia, but the eerie smoke haze looming over Melbourne city this week ruptured that. We watched as our air quality plummeted to “very poor” on Tuesday, obscuring our city skyline with smoke. The acrid air being a stark symbol of catastrophe. As individuals, the total despair of watching as bushfires ravage the country can leave us feeling powerless with the promise of compounding danger and destruction to come as we enter the most intense period of the fire season.
Social media offers a stunning platform to spread information and awareness and raise global alarm for the dire, unprecedented situation our country currently faces. It has been widely utilised by celebrities and influencers as well as friends and family over the past week to raise money for important charities and organise to protest for climate action. But for those of us removed from the life-threatening potential of these fires, social media undoubtedly offers a platform to assuage our guilt and anxieties of existing and thriving within the shackles of consumerist, capitalist society. Hashtags and reposts constitute an easy form of political fulfilment, particularly for those of us without substantial financial means to contribute and donate to the fire relief – which we understand is, particularly at present, one of the only ways to effectively support the relief effort.
Consuming goods from local brands who will donate the profit to charity has manifested as one means of contributing to the aid effort. Local brands like Sister Studios have been sewing Joey pouches for rescued kangaroos. Cosmetics brand @itsall.fluff made a post on Instagram yesterday which seemed to reject this notion of consuming to support, that read: “we don’t believe we need to gain in order to give”. Such is an articulation of a common ambivalence: consuming products during a natural disaster, which is indisputably exacerbated by the machinations of consumer-driven capitalist excess, feels sort of wrong. And maybe it is – but the overwhelming heartbreak of watching our country burn seems to colour every action at present.
It’s outrageous that it has fallen to ordinary people to financially support emergency services after federal money and resources have been actively diverted away from firefighting and emergency services for years. So, while shopping to help bushfire victims can feel like a gross paradox, consuming conscientiously and in the service of charitable contributions feels like a significant way to work within our consumerist structures and make a meaningful contribution. New initiative ‘Spend With Them’ (@spendwiththem) aims to promote businesses in bushfire-affected communities, to put money back into the pockets of the individuals affected, without adding more waste and plastic and crap to our weary planet.
Social media can sometimes be an impediment to noble goals of awareness and fundraising: out of date photos of survivors and inaccurate fire maps have been widely shared, including by international celebrities and probably by people on your feed. It seems stunningly sinister that such a time of visceral human loss, and need, would be highjacked by this familiar pattern of online misinformation. Yet articles lazily stating arsonists and the Greens have been responsible for the fires are circulating widely: one far-right American figure’s wildly inaccurate claim that ‘eco-terrorists’ were responsible for these events has been shared over 100,000 times. Inevitably, this misinformation reaches our loved ones, acquaintances or colleagues. In a time of heightened national emotion: misinformation spreads. This media cacophony that has ensnared us all compels the question of whether we should be sceptical of everything, engage critically with every news story we encounter, consume virtuously, or not at all. In this climate where every action feels fraught, supporting local artists whilst simultaneously donating may constitute a small act of good.
Nearly a year ago, Greta Thenburg said: “our house is on fire”. Beyond donating, collective action offers us a singular opportunity to express our discontent and rage against the woefully inadequate response of our government to this climate disaster. Friday’s nation-wide protests will be a moment of fury and heartbreak, as we demand a response to our climate emergency: because our house is on fire.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Verve Zine.