Prelude to World War Three: The Rise of the Islamic Republic and the Rebirth of America

The Stage is Set

Some news creeps over time; it may not steal headlines because of its slow progress, but its significance can come to overshadow all other events in the world. Beginning in the 1960s, the border between India and Pakistan started to become one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world. Tensions over who would ultimately control the resources and water flow of the Kashmir Province were compounded by a natural distaste of each group for one another along religious lines. The more radical Muslims of Pakistan found the idea of the thousands of Hindu gods in India to be disgraceful and repulsive on a level that inspired widespread hatred. For decades, the only thing that kept these countries from engaging in all-out warfare was the knowledge that each country possessed nuclear weapons. However, this standoff was bound to end eventually. There was simply too much loathing and abhorrence existing between the two parties for peace to really be successful. By 2024, both sides had deployed numerous intelligence assets into each other’s countries to try and detect weak points in security; it was only a matter of time until one was found and then exploited.

During the late 2010s and early 2020s, the various Islamic extremist groups began to steadily unite under one banner and organization, the Islamic State. This merging of groups and resources strengthened their ability to influence politics, policies and various regimes throughout the world. Their strategy of violent and continuous conflict had shifted to that of education and the spreading of extremist teachings and the infiltration of various political offices in Europe and North America to further their agendas. This dramatically increased their support base and political influence across the globe. Like the Mafia, they enforced their rules and positions within their organization and like the Mob, they had a front man with the true leader hiding in the shadows.

Their leader was a man named Mohammed Abbas. He was a distinguished Saudi prince in his late 50s and was responsible for diversifying the Saudi Arabian economy so it would not be solely dependent on oil. In his younger years, Mohammed had fought with Al Qaeda forces in Iraq and then later in Afghanistan before he was wounded and forced to return back to Saudi Arabia. Mohammed maintained his allegiance with Al Qaeda (albeit secretly) while he leveraged his position in the Royal family to pursue a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics. Upon completion of his education, he returned to Saudi Arabia and worked his way through the ranks of the Ministry of Industry and Science. In his secret life, he became very influential within the Islamic State and led the change in strategies within the organization.

After a decade of planning, the Islamic State was planning their first major military operation in Pakistan. The next few weeks would set in motion a series of events that would change the world. The air was rife with anticipation. If things went according to plan, then the ensuing war between Pakistan and India would be the first pawn to fall in his global game of chess.

Mohammed woke up early one morning shortly before it all began and opened the laptop in his apartment bedroom for a video chat with the Director of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Zaheer Akthar. As the window opened up, Mohammed could see his ally take a seat in his office chair, a leather seat that was a little too expensive for his position. Influence could be gained in many ways; Zaheer liked the finer things in life, and was willing to do quite a bit in order to take a shortcut to prosperity.

“As-Salaam Alaikum,” began Mohammed. The greeting had all the fervor of a truly devoted man.

“Alaikum As-Salaam,” replied Zaheer.

“Are your operatives in India ready for the big day?” asked Mohammed.

“Yes Mohammed, my most trusted commanders have ensured the assets are in place all across India; the weapons are in place and everything is ready for the coming operation.”

“Zaheer, it is imperative that this operation goes according to the plan; this is the first domino of many that needs to fall for our strategy to work.”

“My men understand, Mohammed, as do I. Once the shooting starts, this conflict will turn nuclear quickly. Once this happens, I will ensure that the President launches our nuclear weapons in retaliation. I have guaranteed that enough evidence will be found to directly link these attacks to the ISI, which will force the Indians to respond,” said Zaheer confidently.

“Just make sure you are at your safe location when this starts; I will need you here in Saudi Arabia for the next phase.”

“As you wish my Caliph. Peace be upon you, and Allah Akbar.”

During the 2030 opening session of the Indian parliament, the plan was put into motion. The ISI had smuggled hundreds of Islamic State and ISI operatives into India to prepare for the day when they would decapitate the Indian government. On the day of the inauguration of the new Indian government, a group of 50 operatives dressed as security personnel snuck high-grade explosives into the ornate meeting hall in the parliament building, strategically placing them for maximum carnage.

While the country was watching their versions of C-SPAN and CNN to see the newly elected officials sworn in, they had no idea they would be watching the murders of hundreds of people. The explosives were detonated as soon as the most hated of the new parliament members, the Prime Minister, took the stage; at least his death would be swift. Most of the parliament building imploded in on itself as the explosives destroyed the numerous support structures. As surviving and stunned members of parliament began to flee the building, the militants started executing them, firing their machine guns into the crowd and using knives on those who happened to be at a close range. Those who were smartest among the group tried to appear as lifeless as possible, hoping this would save them from certain death. Sirens began to wail as alarms began to sound all across the government buildings and the city. As help began to arrive, along with additional security members, they were met with a barrage of small arms fire from the militants.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the capital, another group of five suicide bombers, each driving an ambulance packed with 3,000 pounds of explosives, began to drive with all swiftness towards their intended targets — the five largest hospitals in New Delhi. Upon reaching their objectives, all five-suicide bombers successfully detonated their cargo, effectively destroying the hospitals in the capital and causing thousands of additional casualties.

Over the next several hours, Islamic State militants and ISI operatives began conducting coordinated terrorist attacks all across India in what would be known as Bloody Monday. Over 53,000 people were killed in two days of intense terrorist attacks across the country before the militants inexplicably dropped their weapons and blended back into society. What was left of the Indian government went into hiding in underground bunkers and began to piece together the information to determine who was responsible for these dastardly attacks.

Horrifying and shocking as these attacks were, they were only the beginning. In every catastrophe there is always an opportunist to take advantage of the situation; the attacks on India were no exception. During one of the terrorist attacks, an Islamic State member was captured; in the course of his tortured interrogation, he admitted to receiving training and assistance from the ISI. This left the remainder of the Indian government with some tough choices as to how to respond to this brazen attack by the ISI and Islamic State members.

This violence, however, was just the beginning; it was a signal to the other cells to begin their part of the grand plan. Mohammed had mentored, recruited and manipulated hundreds of individuals in key positions across the Middle East and Asia as part of his master scheme to unite the Islamic world under one command and one mission — to recreate the Islamic Caliphate with Mohammed Abbas as its leader.

In Indonesia, the regional spiritual figurehead for Islamic State, Ismail, had been following the news closely, watching every second of 24-hour news coverage that he could stay awake for. Weeks of being holed up in a dirty warehouse awaiting his turn were about to pay off. He grabbed a dusty seat, brushed it off, and sat down across a dilapidated table from his military commander, Mohammed Jamal, to discuss their plans.

“Ismail, it is time for us to begin our phase of the operation,” said Mohammed Jamal, eagerly puffing on a cigar.

“We have worked long and hard to have our people infiltrate the various key positions within the government and military. Now that our brothers in arms in India have successfully conducted their attack, we must hold up our end so Mohammed can initiate his plan and bring in the new Caliph.”

“Is there anything that I should worry about? Are all the pieces in place?” questioned Mohammed Jamal.

“Inshallah, there is nothing that has not been prepared for,” replied Ismail confidently.

“Then, Inshallah, the next time we meet we shall have a true celebration my brother.”

On Thursday of the same week, with the world still reeling from the massacre in India, Ismail’s group of Islamic State militants broke through the security detail surrounding the president of Indonesia. Their attack was so swift and well-coordinated that none of the agents wounded any of the assailants as they abducted the entire presidential family from their motorcade. Only moments later, citizens watched in horror as they were strung up from light posts and then riddled with bullets. Signs that read “Infidel” were attached to their bloody bodies, making them appear to be a very horrific form of scarecrow made to warn the people of eminent doom.

Within minutes, key military figures all over the country were being assassinated quickly and pre-selected candidates were filling in the power vacuums that were made across the military and in key ministries of the government. Within days, Ismail announced to the world that he had taken over as the new Caliph of Indonesia and had assigned Mohammed Jamal as the new head of the military, solidifying his hold on the country.

Fearing deadly retaliation similar to the recent incidents in India, the majority of the military quickly backed the leader of the coup and martial law was imposed across the country. Panic, however, had spread rapidly throughout the nation. Most of the opposition was smart enough to stay silent during the transition, but those politicians and military members who did come to the aid of the former government were dealt with swiftly and made into public examples in a brutal show of force.

Still, various factions of the military and police fought against the army units that were supporting the coup and the Islamic State militants. Though they had the passion and spark of those who were fighting for their very survival, they lacked adequate firepower to combat Ismail’s forces and quickly became outnumbered. The rebels were quickly pushed into the backwoods of the countryside, unable to emerge for fear of annihilation. By Saturday, Ismail Mohammed was running the new Indonesian government.

As Indonesia fell, the next piece on the chessboard was moved and it was time for the Malaysian group to act. Islamic State militants waited until the dead of night to approach Kuala Lumpur, dressed in urban camouflage and hoisting large amounts of explosives. However, even with months of planning and with moles inside the inner circle of leadership, there was a wrench in their best-laid plans that they had not anticipated.

Two nights before the attack, the Commander in Chief of Malaysian Armed Forces woke up in a cold sweat after a vivid nightmare…and since he held the dream world in high esteem for its power to inform, he quickly set a plan to change patrol routes along the outside of the city. The Islamic State walked right into a network of Malaysian Forces, and were met with swift action. The explosives they brought with them were quickly turned against them, and with their diminished forces, the men were prevented from attacking the capital directly and were forced into a house-to-house fight in the suburbs.

The Malaysian Army quickly squashed the uprising within their country, rooting out the Islamic State extremists within the military and the government who had participated in the plot. While Indonesia fell to the militants, Malaysia was able to hold out.

Back in Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Abbas was watching the news about India and Indonesia on Al Jazeera with particular delight. As the unofficial leader of the Islamic State, nothing brought him greater joy than to see infidels lose their power and their lives. He stepped out on his balcony and smoked a cigarette, quietly looking out at the city. Then he answered the evening call to prayer before getting a surprisingly restful night’s sleep; he had a busy day ahead of him.

Mohammed woke up the next morning to his usual routine. However, unlike most days, Mohammed had a morning meeting with the King to discuss the modernization of the Saudi economy. Saudi Arabia had followed the same path the United Arab Emirates had chartered in the early 2000s, and had begun a transformation of their economy from being heavily reliant on the oil industry to being a banking and manufacturing hub. They had built an intricate network of high-speed rail networks linking the country, and more importantly, the major ports and manufacturing hubs. Saudi Arabia (under Mohammed Abbas’s influence within the Royal Family) had developed the first Middle East automobile industry, providing reliable and inexpensive vehicles for numerous Middle Eastern and African nations.

Saudi Arabia also developed an intricate banking sector that handled the majority of the financial dealings of OPEC and the Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth fund. Unlike most countries in the world, the Saudi banking system refused to share information of their account holders with the American Internal Revenue Service and the EU financial governing bodies. The IRS and EU had threatened to cut Saudi Arabia out of the global financial world, for which Saudi Arabia leveraged their influence within OPEC to retaliate against such a move by imposing an oil embargo against the US and EU. Ultimately, the American de Blasio administration and the EU backed down from their threat.

This firmly established the Saudi banking system as the most secretive and protective way to hide the wealth of the rich elites of the world as these individuals sought financial safe havens away from their own governments and taxes. This became a financial boon for Saudi Arabia, and led to a rapid expansion of their new banking system, bringing in trillions of dollars to the country.

It had taken Mohammed decades to build an intricate network of loyal workers across the country and throughout the Arabian Peninsula. While he was at his day job, he managed to maintain the façade of loyalty towards the royal family; in his spare time, his only focus was fomenting anger and insurrection against the various monarchs that ruled the Middle East, and preaching the need for a new Caliph and Caliphate to emerge and lead the Islamic world. Despite his secret private life, he had slowly worked his way into the upper echelons of the royal family’s inner circle through his economic modernization plans.

Before Mohammed left for the Royal Palace, he drafted an email and saved it to his special account; across the city and country, other members of his cell were logging in and looking at his message. Because it was never sent to a recipient, it could avoid security checks and monitoring, which was critical to the secrecy of their group and future plans. The plan was on schedule, and the world was about to change.

At the palace that morning, the first few hours did not differ in any noticeable fashion from any other day. Appointments were made, mail was sorted, cleaning personnel managed, and a feast that was called breakfast was brought to the King and Mohammed while they discussed the modernization of the Saudi economy. As the meal was being cleaned up, one of the staff members received a phone call that the new yacht the King had ordered was going to be made with oak cabinets instead of mahogany; the man quickly left to personally see to the “fixing” of this situation. Following breakfast, the King and Mohammed began drinking a cup of coffee before going over the redevelopment plans for a new manufacturing plant.

The King was not accustomed to having coffee without a cigarette, and he made a motion to Mohammed to join him and light his cigarette. Of course, Mohammed obliged and opened a fresh pack of Marlboros for the King, igniting the end with a 24 carat gem-encrusted lighter the King had given him as a gift several years back. However, as the King of Saudi Arabia took that first drag, he would be making his last move. As the smoke came from his mouth, Mohammed slipped his right hand into his suit jacket, and pulled out the knife that had been hidden in the inside pocket by a janitor earlier that morning while he was eating breakfast with the king. In one seamless motion, he slit the infidel pig’s throat.

A shockwave hit the room. The genuine disbelief that this could have occurred on their watch caused a momentary delay in response by the King’s body guards. What seemed like a minute went by, but less than five seconds later, three men pulled their guns and aimed them at Mohammed. Just as they were about to shoot him, men loyal to Mohammed (who had been secretly planted in order to be in the room at this time) killed the body guards. All of the routine actions of the day had been carefully orchestrated to ensure a maximum number of men loyal to Mohammed’s cause would be present in the room; the Saudi royals never saw it coming as he had been one of them for so long.

One of Mohammed Abbas’ men pulled out his smart phone and began to record a short message from his fearless leader, and proudly displayed the dead body of the King. Soon the group was sending out a broadcast showing their victory to all television channels across that region and signaling for the other attacks to take place. In between declarations of “Allahu Akbar,” it became clear that this day would end with the death of more than one Saudi royal. All across the country, selected members of the Saudi military (who were secret Islamic State members) began to hunt down and kill members of the royal family wherever they could find them.

Mohammed Abbas proudly proclaimed the following day that he had assumed control of Saudi Arabia as the new Caliph. He sat in the King’s chair, sending out a broadcast to the world. Taking a deep breath and smiling, he turned to the camera and boldly declared, “At long last, the land of the Prophet will once again return to Sharia law and be ruled by a true and just Caliph. This nation will no longer be occupied by or made to be a puppet for the West and their influences. All US Forces must leave the Kingdom within three months.”

May of 2030 was a bloody month of revolution and change across the Middle East and Asia. Despite the West’s best attempts to try to contain and stabilize the regions, many feared that the next World War was looming on the horizon.

President de Blasio and his administration were caught completely flatfooted by the events. There had been no intelligence reporting of something like this happening, and they were left with no real option but to accept the new changes being made in Saudi Arabia. The American President called for calm and dialog between the various factions vying for power, but refused to directly involve America or the military. In compliance with the new Caliph’s request, President de Blasio ordered all US Forces to withdraw from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, relocating the majority of these forces to newly leased land and facilities in Israel.

Many Americans saw this as a capitulation by the President to Islamic extremists now that the Islamic State had announced they were responsible for the regime change in Saudi Arabia. However, even many of the more moderate Muslim Americans supported the President’s move to recognize Mohammed Abbas as the Caliph of Saudi Arabia.

With the loss of infrastructure and key leaders, it took India a full three weeks to determine how they would respond to the horrific attack on their capital and to position divisions and aircraft accordingly. Without consultation with his allies in the West, the newly sworn-in Prime Minister of India launched an all-out attack against Pakistan in retaliation. Within the first four days of the India-Pakistan war, an Indian armored division had penetrated through the Pakistani defensive line at the border and was driving fast and hard, rolling up the Pakistani defensive positions.

The Pakistanis saw no other alternative to stopping the Indian Army once they had broken through their line of defense than to do the unthinkable and consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons. At first, this decision had been ruled out; however, the Pakistani Intelligence Service (who at this point had been thoroughly infiltrated by Al Qaeda) had persuaded the Prime Minister that this must be done or Indian forces could be on the streets of the capital within weeks. The Prime Minister, feeling that it was Al Qaeda militants responsible for the attacks in India and that his own intelligence service had nothing to do with it, felt that India was using these terrorist attacks as an excuse to invade Pakistan. The use of tactical nukes was authorized.

On June 3rd at 1835 hours, the Pakistanis deployed the first of five 30-kiloton tactical nuclear weapons against the Indian Army. Initially stunned, the Indian forces quickly scattered and dispersed to minimize the chance of them being hit again with another tactical nuke. Throughout the decades of conflict up to this point, the Indian Prime Ministers had warned that if Pakistan ever used nuclear weapons against India, they would respond and their response would be unequivocal in nature. It was time for this threat to become a fulfilled promise.

Less than eight hours later, at 0132 in the morning, India launched ten 300 kiloton nuclear missiles and thirty 20 kiloton tactical nuclear weapons at suspected Pakistani nuclear missile locations, four military installations and their six largest and most strategic cities. Mushroom clouds filled the sky.

Deep below the earth’s surface, some Pakistanis were safe in their bunkers. From the comfort of their cots and sleeping bags, they still possessed the power to respond to the attacks. Mobile launchers had been dispersed across the country for some time; they were finally put to use.

Forty-five nuclear missiles were launched at Indian cities within range of those weapons’ capabilities. Being mobile missiles, the largest of the warheads was 200 kilotons — the “city killers” that the Indians feared. The Indians responded with a second launch of thirty more 300 kiloton missiles and 50 smaller 20 kiloton nuclear weapons at their remaining military bases, while the “city killer nukes were heading towards the remaining large cities of Pakistan. By 0257 on the morning of June 4th, a combined 160 nuclear weapons had detonated across Pakistan and India, killing over 800 million people. The carnage was grotesque and extensive.

Pakistan as a nation ceased to exist; however, the Islamic State had just sacrificed their last chess piece for the greater good. The vast majority of the Pakistani people had been killed during the nuclear exchange; what few remained were left to die of radiation poisoning and starvation. India had twenty- eight of their own cities seriously damaged and three were destroyed outright. The nuclear weapons hit across the north and northwestern portions of the country, sparing the lower half of the nation from the destructive power that had just been unleashed. In comparison, the loss of a few military bases seemed trivial. Though the south of India had been spared Pakistani nukes, over one-tenth of India had been devastated by the nuclear attack.

Following the nuclear exchange, Indian forces moved into what was left of Pakistan and absorbed the country into a greater India. It would take years (if not decades) to decontaminate and rebuild the areas that were hit, but India began work immediately and was determined to rebuild and restore what was lost.

Though the war between India and Pakistan was brief, it shook the world to its core with the sheer devastation that had been wrought on that region. The global economies began to feel the immediate effect of the nuclear exchange as well as the massive changes in governments in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Within a couple of days, the price of a barrel of oil had gone up to just over $400 as speculators swooped in to try and take advantage of the situation; overall investor confidence was severely shaken.

Throughout the 2020s, the United States and the European Union became bogged down with a severe sovereign debt crisis and were struggling just to provide basic services. The US had to begin a series of tough austerity programs to try and balance the budget; the US had already borrowed over $45 trillion, and there just wasn’t any more money left to borrow. The European Union was in the same shape, with numerous countries having defaulted on their debts in the late 2020s.

The new leader of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Abbas, and the Mullahs of Iran saw this as an opportunity to squeeze the West further by cutting the production of oil. This caused the price of oil to stay over $400 a barrel for an extended period of time. The United States and the European Union began a massive shift in consumption from oil to natural gas, which the United States had an immense reserve of. Converting power plants, semi-trucks, and trains to run on natural gas as an alternative to diesel was going to take a long sustained effort, but the people and their leadership were all in agreement to make that goal a reality.

The economies of the West suffered even further in the wake of the nuclear devastation of India. With the explosions, went not only political stability in the region, loss of infrastructure and slaughter of life, but also the destruction of numerous call centers, manufacturing cities, software development companies, and numerous research and development departments for many major global corporations. India had been an economic and intellectual powerhouse prior to the attacks; the conflict had brought them backwards more than a few decades as they began the process of rebuilding and caring for the tens of millions of injured.

When the affected corporations announced their losses, the economic tragedy of the situation truly began to unfold. The stock markets were already shaky due to the political climate, and instability began a steep decline. The US even closed trading on several days when run-offs were initiated because of immense single-day losses. With the steep oil prices staying steady, consumers dropped off all unnecessary spending; as shipment costs began to increase exponentially, so did the cost of goods and services. Unemployment rose, GDP fell, and the income tax revenue of all major nations fell dramatically.

President de Blasio instructed the Treasury Secretary to do whatever was necessary to restore confidence in the market and to stabilize the American economy. The US began a series of continuous Quantitative Easing (QE) to improve liquidity in the market; the problem was that no governments or private financial institutions were buying the US bonds, forcing the Federal Reserve to buy bonds that the Treasury was issuing.

At first, sovereign debts began to default across the third world nations; those defaults soon spread to Eastern Europe and the European Union. By the winter of 2026, when things didn’t look like they could get any worse, people across Europe and the United States began to lose confidence in the banks and the governments’ ability to keep things under control. Fearing the worst, the public began to pull out their money from the banks.

At first, the bank withdrawals were kept to a minimum, but somewhere a panic set in and within a week there was a full-blown run at banks all across the United States, the likes of which had not been seen since 1929. Within a week, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Bank of the West and CitiBank had to close their doors and stop people from withdrawing their money; they simply did not have the reserves to cover everyone’s accounts, and given the current economic climate, there was little faith in FDIC to return cash to the average bank account holder.

As the banks across the US and Europe began to fail, the global economy began a tailspin that no one could have envisioned. By the spring of 2027, the world had fallen into a global depression; the price of food had skyrocketed and other commodities and precious metals had also become completely unaffordable; gold had risen to over $12,000 an ounce. The costs of transportation, manufacturing and even farming had risen with the cost of fuel and with the devaluation of the US dollar; people simply could not afford the basic necessities of life.

Glaciation, as a result of the massive use of nuclear weapons in Asia, was also starting to take its toll as once fertile farmland was now susceptible to late winter thaws and early freezing, reducing the growing seasons and diminishing the amount of food that could be grown. The loss of crops caused by the environmental issues was just the beginning of the world famine. While once bananas had been shipped from Central America to the United States, the cost of fuel made them too expensive to export. Grain that had been grown in the U.S. was no longer being sent to Asia and China. People across the world had to begin coping with eating only the food that could be sourced locally.

As transportation systems began to break down, nations had to turn inward to provide for themselves. As a last dig at Saudi Arabia and Iran, the U.S. ensured that any food or commercial exports that could have been sold to them were quickly diverted to other markets, causing Saudi Arabia and Iran to suffer immense food shortages. They may have made enormous profits from keeping oil above $400 a barrel, but they were paying the price now as the US and the EU refused to sell them any food products.

As the crisis continued to go unchecked, hundreds of millions of people began to starve to death. The global population began to shrink; entire nations were simply famished, lacking the basic necessities to provide for their people. This caused immense amounts of civil unrest all across the world, but was particularly felt in the “previously developing world,” as they had fewer resources from which to draw. Rather than migrating to areas in the country that could support them, most people continued to stay in areas that could not sustain the population without outside help.

As the only group to really profit from all of this chaos, radical Islam began to spread across the rest of the Middle East, and then the philosophy became much more popular in Europe and Africa as well. Young people were disenfranchised by their governments and started to feel a sense of hopelessness. Mohammed Abbas of Saudi Arabia was using this restlessness to his full advantage. On many of the remaining functional television stations, Mohammed appeared on a continual loop preaching his message. “Let us overthrow these non-believing governments! These nations must turn to Islam, the one true religion, and ask for Allah’s divine help and guidance through these tough times. Only through turning to Islam will the world begin to right itself and prosper once again.”

Had he been preaching a message of peace and not of violent overthrow of governments, Mohammed’s plea to turn to Islam might have worked on many more people. As it was, most European and Western powers (as well as China) saw his message as nothing more than a direct threat to their own power and their nation’s way of life. Slowly and steadily, the world powers were heading on a collision course due to religious differences and conflicts over how to manage what resources of the world remained.

During the height of the crisis, Mohammed’s message of radical Islam led to the overthrow of the King of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Throughout this turmoil Saudi Arabia fomented hatred and infighting against Shia Islam and began to unite these countries under a new country and banner, the Islamic Republic (IR). After the formation of the IR, several other countries (Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Indonesia) were quick to align themselves with this new coalition of nations. The unification of these countries would allow them to pool their collective resources to survive the Global Depression and emerge a much stronger country.

The de Blasio administration was caught completely off guard by this turn of events, and to the dismay of America’s remaining allies in the Middle East (Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Turkey) he ordered the withdrawal and repositioning of the US 5th Fleet to Eilat, Israel. With the economic conditions in the US on the brink of disaster, the administration did not feel America should continue to protect the Middle East (or the rest of the world) and began a series of military withdrawals, leaving a power vacuum in a number of global hotspots.

Although not every country was ready to submit to the leadership of radical Islam, the entire world was feeling the pinch of the Global Depression. By spring of 2027, tensions between nations over livestock and agriculture were commonplace. On the border of Russia, the provinces of the South Caucuses were growing more and more disconnected with Moscow; the citizens of that region were practically being forced into slave labor to grow food for the greater Russian Federation while being allowed to keep very little for their own use. With every bead of sweat that ran down their foreheads while tilling heavy soil on an empty stomach, the farmers were growing a hatred for Moscow. This anger burned, becoming the only fuel that would awaken them in the mornings. Alliances were shifting.

During that spring, a Russian convoy of vehicles that was transporting food was ambushed near the border of Kazakhstan; the drivers and other support staff were mangled and left to die on the side of the road. At first this was treated like an isolated incident. Hunger had certainly caused an increase in violence across the globe. However, over the next couple of months it became clear that this attack was not the act of a rogue group of thieves. Insurgent forces from Kazakhstan and the South Caucuses began to regularly interdict food supplies on their way to Southern Russia and reroute them to their own nation and people. Perhaps they were a little careless in drawing attention to themselves; however, when the same groups began to siphon off larger and larger portions of Caspian Sea oil for their own use, Moscow began to get more heavily involved.

After this supreme miscalculation of the risk, the insurgent rebels would not have such an easy time. The Russian government produced a military show of force that would cause James Bond to tremble. The political dissidents that were caught were tortured and publicly humiliated, using primetime news coverage to increase the “shock and awe” factor; an example had to be made. Russia (like the rest of the world) was struggling to feed its people, so having a couple of provinces revolting and not producing food was something they simply could not tolerate.

Unfortunately for the Russians, the strong response was the wrong play on their part. Their actions spurned even more anger, and pretty soon the situation began to spiral out of control until the entire southern half of Russia was in a full blown revolt against the government. Within a month, no trucks could transport food from the South Caucuses or near Kazakhstan to Russia without being robbed. As food supplies were further disrupted and the one resource that was producing income for the government — oil — continued to be interrupted, the government crackdown became even more severe and urgent.

The winter of 2030 came with a blistering, brutal chill that had not been seen in decades. For seventy plus years, environmentalists claimed world temperatures were increasing, until the 2030s, when it became clear the world was going to be facing a period of global cooling, not associated with carbon emissions. Artic vortexes from the North Pole were becoming common place across North America, bringing sub-zero temperatures and blizzards that were striking remarkably far south; people in Florida were caught completely off guard by the first serious snow they had ever seen. Around the globe, there were fuel shortages and food was in short supply. The frost and ice killed crops with a vengeance, but didn’t hesitate to kill the old, weak or sick of the human kind as well. The global cooling was also effecting the rest of the world, causing a decline in global food production and further extending the global famine.

Russia was beginning to splinter as a nation; more and more provinces were revolting against the central government. Europe was struggling with the massive influx of refugees fleeing Eastern Europe and Africa, all looking for food, safety and shelter. The European Union was beginning to buckle under the strain of both the human and economic suffering. The leaders of the EU shut down the borders with military troops, closing all entry into the EU and turning people away by the hundreds of thousands.

America was fairing no better. The harsh winter had hit the northeast the hardest; tens of thousands of people were being reported dead, frozen to death in their homes because of fuel shortages and inability to afford purchasing what little heating oil was available. Those people that could afford it had to contend with rationing, as well as desperate citizens knocking on their doors begging to be let in. People were beginning to lose their patience with the government and their leaders.

It was during this time of despair and struggle that a new political party was formed in the United States. Its leader was a businessman from Florida named Henry Stein. He christened the new group the Freedom Party (FP) and, in 2030, won the governor’s race as a third party, which drew more attention to the FP. Like most people during this turbulent era, he had lost faith in the political parties of America; therefore, he decided to form his own party as a means of trying to save the once great nation of the United States of America and leave behind the political parties of old.

Henry Stein had served in the U.S. military and fought in the second Iraq War in the mid-2000s; afterwards he became a successful businessman and self-made billionaire. Stein, like most Americans, had become disenfranchised by both parties and the level of corruption that seemed all too rampant in both factions, especially since the Global Depression had begun.

The Freedom Party began as a local political party in Florida, but by the summer of 2032, it had spread throughout Florida and was rapidly expanding across the United States. Over ten million Americans had died from starvation and lack of basic services since the start of the Global Depression. Voters had become so distraught by the warring political parties and the state of the US economy that they began to look for anything, anyone, that could provide them with hope for some kind of better future.

Henry Stein’s group started out as a small state-wide political party in Florida, funded mostly out of his own money. However, with a leader promising measurable change and a country that was rife with political discontent, the group soon turned into a nationwide movement. People wanted strong leadership; they wanted a leader who could turn things around and wasn’t beholden to various political lobbyists and interest groups. While Stein may have had an unassuming appearance on the outside, he was a genius entrepreneur, and he had something that no one else really had at that time — a legitimate plan to restart the economy and the country.

Governor Stein immediately began leveraging the natural resources of Florida to turn the economy around and provide jobs. He incentivized the construction of numerous offshore wind farms to begin. In order to increase manufacturing jobs and help reduce fuel and energy costs for Floridians, Governor Stein started a major project to advance the development of sugarcane ethanol. Slowly and steadily, the Florida economy was starting to grow and even the media was starting to notice that this politically independent governor was starting to make a difference.

In time, the media was fawning over Henry Stein like Barack Obama in 2008; he represented something different. Governor Stein began holding FP rallies across the country, attracting tens of thousands of supporters, waving signs and willing to plaster their entire neighborhoods with as much propaganda as they could get their hands on. After winning two terms as governor in Florida, it became inevitable that he should be a candidate for President of the United States in 2036.

Henry was a man of above average intelligence, having graduate degrees from Harvard, Oxford and Wharton; he was an incredible organizer and extremely business savvy. He was also an exceptional orator and a skilled communicator with not just the average person, but with the media as well. He knew how to deliver his vision for America in layman’s terms, and could also present his message at a PhD level, depending on his audience. As a student of organizational theory, Henry realized that he could not be an island unto himself. He spent a great deal of time recruiting and vetting candidates with like mindsets to run for Congress and Senate under the new Freedom Party banner. By the end of the 2036 elections, Henry Stein’s Freedom Party had won control of not just the Presidency, but also control of the Congress. They also had a strong minority control of the Senate, splitting the Democrat and Republican Parties.

The Freedom Party’s near-complete domination in the elections assured that their agenda was going to meet little opposition. Even before they were fully in office, all the FP candidates journeyed to a small resort in West Virginia to spend the week identifying the new party leaders, legislative priorities, political appointments, committee chairs and members based on their skillsets. They outlined a very detailed plan for delegating who within the party would be responsible for pushing specific items of the FP agenda. These men and women were working together like no other Congress before them to try and craft legislation and executive orders to hit the ground running and take control of the situation in the United States. At a time when hope was at an all-time low, the Freedom Party was determined to restore optimism once again in America.

The winds of political change were also moving elsewhere. The EU elected a new Chancellor, Heinrich Lowden from Germany. Like President Stein, Lowden was a strong leader. He pledged to keep Europe united and to take control of the dire situation that was facing the European Union. Despite the full political and fiscal union being less than six years old, Lowden was convinced a combined European government with a close relationship with the US could succeed.

He had a lot more to deal with than the first Chancellor, who had been elected in 2030, but he was not the kind of man to back down from a challenge. His main platform had been securing the European Union’s borders against the massive influx of refugees who were trying to enter from Eastern Europe and Africa; there was simply not enough food and shelter to take in hundreds of thousands of new immigrants. The people of Europe, who had traditionally been rather involved in foreign aid to needy countries, knew that it was time to help themselves before they could be of any real value to anyone else.

Lowden’s thoughts on a potential conflict with a militarized Russia were notably absent from public view during his campaign. While the main focus was certainly going to be on feeding the people of Europe and getting them back to work, the Chancellor knew that he had to do whatever was necessary to prevent Russia from threatening the rest of the EU. After a series of harsh crackdowns throughout the country, the Russian central government had consolidated power and was once again ruling with an iron fist. Russian nationalism was at an all-time high, and so too was their continued military modernization, which had continued virtually unabated since the early 2010s. Though Lowden did not tout his furor against Russia publicly, he was constantly planning what his next move would be against them.

During this time period, the British people elected Stannis Blair as Prime Minister. PM Blair was a cousin to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and like his cousin, he too was a visionary. Blair knew Great Britain was facing a turning point in history; its demographics were heading in the wrong direction, and the great nanny state was no longer able to support the current system with its finances in the shape they were in.

Once President Stein, Chancellor Lowden and PM Blair had all been elected to office, they began to work closely with each other to right their economies. All three governments began aggressive infrastructure and work programs designed at both improving and repairing roads, bridges, rail and power networks; more importantly, they began to put people back to work.

Michael Montgomery, or “Monty” as most people called him, had been one of Henry Stein’s closest friends for over thirty years. The two of them had worked together a number of times, and more recently, Monty had taken over as CEO of two of Stein’s companies once he was elected Governor. Now that Henry was President, there was no one else he would rather have at his side than Monty, and so he was a natural pick for Chief of Staff and senior advisor. Sparked by a sense of personal loyalty, Monty did not hesitate to accept the position.

After the first full week of Stein’s administration, Monty strode into Henry’s office with a sense of urgency; the Economic and Congressional Leadership meeting later that day was going to hold great significance for this administration. As he stepped into the Oval Office, he could not help but feel a sense of awe and excitement. Today they were going to change America.

“Mr. President, the Congressional leadership and your economic advisors are ready,” he announced with a broad smile on his face. Monty always knew that Henry would one day become President, but he had no idea that he would one day become his Chief of Staff.

The President looked up and smiled at his friend. “Excellent, Monty. It’s time to start putting people back to work.”

Monty handed him a folder while they crossed the hall at a brisk speed, heading towards the Cabinet Room. The President glanced at the first two pages while they walked, and then nodded to his friend. No other words were spoken. The two men had formed an almost telepathic form of communication that was nearly indiscernible by strangers who had not observed them together during their long tenure together in the private sector.

Henry entered the meeting room, placing his folder in front of his chair. The idle chitchat that had been filling the room suddenly ceased and there was complete and total silence.

The president began to speak, first towards his economic advisors, and then he turned towards the Congressional leadership. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your hard work and determination in creating this economic plan. This is going to be difficult and challenging for us to accomplish, but with your help, I feel we can do it.”

Pivoting in his chair, the President said, “I’ve asked the Speaker of the House and the Senate Minority Leader to be here as well. What we have to discuss is important and it is now time to begin the congressional coordination aspect of this plan.” Several of the economic advisors glared at the “intruders” in the room, but the president didn’t seem to mind.

“Part of this plan is to put forth not just a new economic plan, but also a fundamental change in the way our country does business and how it runs. There will be no more compromises and no more arguing and debating for months while lobbying groups threaten to pull their support if politicians don’t support or kill a proposal. We were elected to fix the problems that both the Republican and Democrats were unwilling to fix, and fix them we will.”

“Gentlemen, the first of these economic measures being enacted is a complete change and rewrite of the tax code. Let’s face it; the country is broke and we need revenue. We need a fair system that promotes growth while still allowing the government to have the operating capital it needs to provide basic services and fund a military. Monty, will you please pass out the folders to everyone?”

The silence in the room was broken as each person received their packet and began to frantically rustle through the papers. This noise did not bother Henry in the least, and he continued on undistracted.

“I want you all to look over this information and to provide us with your thoughts on it; this folder contains the details of the economic plan, and is going to be used as a rough template for putting the country back to work. It is by no means the complete answer to all of our problems, but I believe it will be part of the solution.”

“Mr. President,” interjected the Senate Majority Leader Joyce Landrew (D), “I think you are trying to pursue too aggressive of a program. You haven’t even given your State of the Union address and frankly, I’m not sure there will be enough support in the Senate to take this forceful of an approach.” Joyce Landrew was your typical idealistic California liberal who believed the government was the answer to all of the people’s problems and that the ills of the poor could be solved if the rich would just pay their fair share.

“Senator Landrew, if you feel the proposals I am making are too radical, you are welcome to oppose them, but they will be pushed through in the Congress and you will either be with us and part of the solution, or be a part of the problem. Either way, these changes are going to happen with or without your support. The American people are tired of politicking; they are tired of leaders who will not lead and who only say what needs to be said to be elected. The Freedom Party is different, and you are about to see that difference now that the new Congress has been sworn in.”

Senator Landrew didn’t reply out loud, but in her head she was thinking, “Who does this guy think he is? If he thinks he can go around the Senate, then he is in for one nasty surprise.”

President Stein continued, “As I stated before, the first step of the plan is to reform the tax code. We need to start generating income and we need to start encouraging growth again; unemployment is hovering near 23 % and that is intolerable. The first order the Congress will take up when they come into session on Monday is the tax code. We will effectively eliminate the existing code and restart it with a new one, a much simpler tax code that will bring in more taxes while evening the playing field.”

Tax reform had been discussed by previous Presidential administrations and Congressional leaders with little actual reform being done. The Federal deficit had continued to climb at an exponential rate until it had surpassed $40 trillion, at this point the money in the Social Security trust fund was now being used to buy government bonds to offset the record deficit spending.

“The plan calls for a 10 % tax on all income earners and a 10 % sales tax on all goods purchased, with the exception of food and medicine. Corporations will pay a flat 10 % (with no deductions) and any corporation caught not paying their 10 % share will be fined by having to pay a 20 % tax for the following three years. The days of corporations not paying their fair share are over. There will also be no further personal deductions; a flat tax of 10 % on all income earners is fair to both the people and the government. There will also be a 5 % debt reduction tax which will be a part of the sin tax on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and high fructose corn syrup.”

“Excuse me, Mr. President, did you just say corn syrup tax?” asked Sen. Landrew. Even with her freshly Botoxed face, she could not hide her thoughts as her eyebrows raised incredulously.

“Yes I did. As I said during my campaign, one of many issues I stumped on was the health problems associated with high fructose corn syrup. Our people are becoming more and more obese, and this is caused in large part by the use of high fructose corn syrup in virtually everything we eat. I will never advocate banning it outright, but we will tax it in hopes that we can start to change people’s behavior and in time, get the food industry to move away from using it and move back to a more natural sugar,” said the President.

“Well at least he is keeping to one of his campaign promises; I know this will make a lot of people in my district happy as well,” thought Sen. Landrew.

“This new tax structure will allow the government to bring in more revenue and streamline things on businesses and people. The sin tax is going to be the big winner for people; the revenues used from this tax will be used solely for the purpose of paying off the national debt. We estimate that once we begin taxing high fructose corn syrup, we will save billions of dollars a year in healthcare costs associated with poor health from this product while earning an extra $143 Billion dollars a year in new tax revenues. This will go a long way towards paying down the debt.” Other than the sound of shuffling papers, the room was quiet with rapt attention. “The simpler tax code will also eliminate immense amounts of waste at the IRS and allow for job creation. In addition, we will be eliminating numerous tax breaks that corporations and high wealth individuals are currently able to use. The reduction in the capital gains tax from 30 % to 15 % will also generate increased investment here at home, which is greatly needed.”

Since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by President Bill Clinton, America had been losing jobs, manufacturing capability and other advantages America once held to subsequent “free trade” agreements. America always playing by the rules was being economically ripped off for decades by nations who did not value rules like America did. China and the rest of Asia had a particularly strong stranglehold on American manufacturing and the supply of rare earth minerals.

“The most controversial part of the tax plan is the tariffs. If a US corporation like Ford, Apple or GM choose to produce their final product abroad and bring it back into the US, they will pay a tariff equivalent to what it would have cost them to produce that same product in the US. Corporations are no longer going to be able to leverage free trade agreements to ship jobs overseas and then bring those products back into the US and pay no taxes on them. Corporations that also choose to establish their headquarters abroad are free to do so, but any money earned abroad has to be separated from money earned in the US and their US subsidiary if they want to avoid paying taxes. The cases of corporations like General Electric and others paying zero taxes will never happen again with this new tax code,” the President said with conviction.

“You almost sound like a Democrat, Mr. President,” said Speaker Fultz with a chuckle. Congressman George Fultz was a retired Army Colonel. He had joined the Freedom Party in 2029 after getting to know Henry Stein while he was running for Governor of Florida. Henry had recruited George to be one of the first party members to run for Congress and upon being elected, he was made Vice Chairman of the FP. In concert with Stein, he would run the party and focus on recruiting likeminded people to run for political office under the FP banner. Several Congressional members in both the House and Senate also joined the FP, but with strings. They were required to back the party and to not accept any Super Pac or special interest monies.

Speaker Fultz ran the party with an iron fist, carrying out Stein’s vision and keeping members in line with the FP agenda. The FP was not for sale, and Fultz ensured its members stayed honest or they were out. George was 6’4”, muscular, and possessed a commanding presence when he walked into a room. As a young officer he had served in the second Iraq War just as President Stein, so they had that shared experience in common.

“Well, I do not believe we need to raise taxes; we just need to establish a process that effectively collects the taxes due. That is what this new code will accomplish. The average person and corporation will pay less in taxes, but the government will bring in substantially more income, simply by ensuring corporations are not using an overly complicated process to cheat the system.”

“If you all will grab the blue folder; we will move towards the jobs program. Monty, please walk us through this next initiative,” said the President, nodding towards Monty.

“Certainly. Moving towards the jobs program…we have a large workforce that is currently unemployed, we are going to start putting them to work. We have bridges that need to be repaired, we have an energy infrastructure that needs to be upgraded, and we have roads and schools that need to be serviced. We are also going to begin immediate work on establishing high-speed rail throughout the country. So, taking a page out of FDR’s playbook, we are going to start government work gangs to put people back to work.”

“There will be a government bid for one hundred American companies to manage these projects; the pay for these contractors will be set in line with the government pay grade system of WS-7s, WS-9s, WS-12s, and WS-13s. Let me also emphasize these are not government positions; these are contractor positions with pay that is equivalent to those government pay bands. The President envisions this work plan having a ten-year shelf life, with positions gradually being eliminated as the program heads towards the ten-year mark and the projects are completed. The number of people employed will surge through the first six years with close to twenty two million people, and then decline during the final four years until it ends at the end of the tenth year,” Monty said as he guided the group towards the next section of the program.

The President interjected briefly to say, “While attending Oxford, I studied Program Management. This work program is going to be the largest major program ever conceived and executed in our country’s history, and perhaps the world. Because of the scope and size of this program (along with the price tag of $2.6 Trillion dollars), I have spoken with the director of the Oxford Center for Major Programme Management Studies, and they have agreed to assist in the management of this program. I am confident that bringing in an outside and world-renowned group to head up this project, we will see tremendous success. Sorry for the interruption; please continue Monty.”

“Yes, Mr. President. If the infrastructure projects are not completed and the program needs to go beyond the ten years, then it will have to be approved by the Congress and the President. This is not meant to be a new long-term government program or entitlement program; this is designed purely to put people to work on necessary infrastructure upgrades.” Monty paused for a moment to take a drink of his coffee before he continued.

“Make no mistake, people in this program will work and work hard. The Army Corp of Engineers, along with the Oxford Group, will manage the overall program for the government. This program will help give people a reason to wake up in the morning and will be the first step in rebuilding this country and putting people back to work. As things begin to improve, more and more people will leave this work program to go to work for other businesses. The program will be paid for by shifting monies from personnel currently employed at the IRS and other government departments as we continue to trim the government down to become more efficient and lean. The American First Corporation’s profits will also be incorporated into paying for this public works program. Before anyone asks me about that last part, we will discuss it shortly.”

Monty paused long enough to look at the President, and then continued. “Until such time as the long-term overarching goal of having people employed by the private sector can be realized, we need to do something to help stimulate the economy and put people to work.”

The President interjected at this point and said, “I refuse to pay people welfare and not have them work; people will be fed and taken care of, but they will work for it. Our nation has unfortunately created a nanny state where people believe the government has all the answers and will take care of everyone. This ideology has been implemented and tested for the last 70 years and it has failed. Particularly the last 40 years…people do not know how to do basic tasks such as balance a budget, plan a meal or work a 40-hour work week. 25 % of the country can no longer support the other 75 % — nor will it under my watch. Under this plan, there will be jobs for people to be able to work (both through the public works program and through America First Corporation), and unless they are physically or mentally unable to do so, they will.” Senator Landrew cleared her throat, a little too loudly. “Excuse me, Mr. President, but it seems to me that you will be taking people in the welfare system and throwing them out onto the streets. I mean, seriously — giving them one hundred and twenty days to transition? How can you do that?”

The President knew Landrew would be difficult and could throw a lot of hurdles to hold up his reforms, but he also knew that she had concerns similar to his that she wanted to address. Because of this, he knew they could find common ground and work within those areas, giving her something her branch of the party wanted in exchange for something he needed.

The President had prepared for this response. “If you will go through to page 23 of the packet in front of you, you will notice that we will provide something which should have been nationalized a long time ago — education on basic job and life skills. People leaving the government subsidy system will know how to balance a check book, create a budget, plan a family menu that is not dependent on fast food, go to interviews, write resumes and perform the functions of being an employee with the basic consideration that most supervisors would consider to be a minimum standard of efficiency. People will not just be thrown into a different way of life without being taught the necessary skills to survive in the world. There will also be ample job opportunities for them through this new jobs training and work program.”

Ms. Landrew interjected, “—but Sir, can you really expect a few months of education to change a lifetime of being under a broken system that has created entire generations who have never worked?”

The President paused for a minute before responding, collecting his thoughts. “I am sure there will still be some problems with those who have been under the welfare system for multiple generations, and I do anticipate some violence in the beginning from those who feel they are entitled to a free lunch. However, it is time for people to wake up. There is no money for the country to keep paying those who are capable of working but choose not to do so. That said, we need to foster an environment where they can find work, and that is what we are intending to create through the new tax code and the America First Corporation.”

“Simply put, if you don’t work, you don’t eat — simple as that. Those who voted the for the FP are tired of people who have new smart phones and freshly lacquered manicures asking for government assistance while there are people who would be happy just to have enough food to eat and who are willing to put in labor for that privilege. They will be given the tools on how to survive in the working world, and it is up to them to walk through the open door,” said the President, who at this point was clearly annoyed but still realizing he needed Senator Landrew.

“I am not ignoring the importance of what you are saying, Senator Landrew. However, we have a lot more ground to cover today. Do I have your permission to continue?”

With all eyes turning towards Senator Landrew she suddenly became very meek in her response, “Of course, Mr. President.”

The President took a deep breath and slowly let it out; the meeting was going well but he was definitely irritated with having to deal with a progressive liberal who just did not understand the financial situation these entitlement programs had placed the country in.

The President continued the briefing, moving on to the energy agenda. “Our economy is still dependent on fossil fuels, and so is the rest of the world. We have seen what $400+ for a barrel of oil has done to the global economy. America has fared better than others because we have energy resources, but they are not enough. We need to become 100 % energy independent and lead the way in finding realistic alternative energy sources in order to ensure the world is never again held hostage by one country or region.”

“Going forward, we are establishing a new energy plan and policy. Our new policy will be a multifaceted approach. We are going to move full speed ahead with ethanol-based fuel for vehicles. As a country we can produce enough crops to convert into sufficient fuel for our domestic needs. This will increase demand in the farming sector and reduce our need for gasoline. Oil is too important to the rest of the economy for us to use such a large portion of it as fuel for vehicles when there are clean renewable alternatives available.”

“We will also expand the exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas in our own country. Petroleum is used in nearly every aspect of the economy; to ensure economic stability, further exploration needs to be done.” The President stopped for a second to take a drink of water and turned towards the economic advisors and Congressional leadership before speaking again.

“The US has been sitting on an enormous surplus in oil and natural gas for the last couple of decades, yet we have never realized its full potential to increase our exports and revenue. This industry is also (believe it or not) a means to transform our economy into a more Green economy. For the last one hundred fifty years, administration after administration has federalized immense amounts of public land to turn it into federal parks; at this point, over 50 % of America has been turned into a federally protected park.”

The President paused for a second, continuing to gauge the response of the Congressional leaders who were not part of the FP, since they had not been made aware of the forthcoming Executive Order (EO). “With Executive Order 902, I am officially creating the America First Corporation, or AFC. The Congress will vote on this later in the year to make it a permanent organization beyond my Administration. AFC will be run like a private enterprise, with the exception that 60 % of the profits will be used to help fund the federal government. Ten percent of the profits will fund an internal R&D department with the sole purpose of creating new ways of capturing the sun’s energy and will include space-based platforms. There are no shareholders or other special interest groups to interfere with this type of research, so I am confident we will see an alternative to fossil fuels within next decade or two.” A few whistles could be heard in the room by one of the Republican representatives; even Senator Landrew smiled at the thought of finally being able to move away from fossil fuel-based energy.

“The remaining 30 % will be used to develop organic growth, employee training and community programs. AFC will initially be funded with $15 billion, and will have exclusive rights to drill and mine for minerals and resources on all federal lands except for certain specific National Heritage Parks, which will remain as pristine treasures for our future generations. CEO pay for AFC will be capped at no higher than 250 times the lowest paid employee. There will be no stock sold in AFC, and there will be no bonuses or dividends paid to banks or investors (as there will be none). All internal CEO bonus pay is also capped at no more than 50 times the lowest bonus given. This will ensure that AFC will remain a corporation that serves the people of America and the Government; there will be no excessive pay, yet it will still allow for merit pay and bonuses when warranted. We want the best and brightest to work for AFC.”

Seeing approving looks thus far, the President continued. “AFCs sole purpose is to earn money to help fund the federal government and entitlement programs, essentially a sovereign wealth fund. It will compete on the open market for materials and will receive no special privileges, with the exception of only being allowed to operate on existing federal lands. I am also authorizing the construction of ten additional oil refineries so as additional oil is brought to the market, we will have the refinery capacity to handle it and produce our own gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products in the quantities needed to be completely self-sufficient.”

America had trillions in unfunded liabilities, primarily Social Security and Medicare. If these programs are going to remain solvent, then a sovereign wealth fund solely dedicated to generating a profit to pay for them needed to be developed. The President also believed AFC would, in time, generate more than two hundred thousand new high paying jobs, which was greatly needed in the wake of the Great Depression.

“During the campaign, I said I would work to provide America with clean energy, and I plan on doing just that. As President, I am authorizing the construction of additional natural gas and nuclear power plants. As we build a new power plant, we will close down the dirtiest of coal plants, replacing them with natural gas and nuclear power. The goal is that over the next decade we will replace virtually all coal plants with clean natural gas and nuclear power. Most of these new power plants and AFC facilities will also be located in coal producing states and counties to help offset the job losses that will occur as we move away from coal.”

“I have directed the Department of Energy to work on increasing America’s generation of nuclear power by 22 % to 40 % within the next ten years. Each of the new plants will have a built-in capacity to handle the nuclear waste they generate in a safe and guarded manner until scientists are able to find a better means of disposing of it.”

Monty quickly interjected to point out, “—Older nuclear plants will be replaced by the new ones, with the increased waste storage facilities so that they can be decommissioned or rebuilt.”

After years of working together with Monty, President Stein was used to him bringing up important points during his presentations, and continued completely unfazed. “As part of the Clean Energy Act, we are also going to begin construction of eight large-scale wind farms, both onshore and offshore. We will expand and build new solar farms in the southwest and geothermal plants as well. I’m also determined to put the devices that harvest wave energy on the market; this has been held up too long because of lack of funding. These initiatives will take time, but over the next decade we will reduce America’s carbon footprint and bring cheap inexpensive power to the marketplace through common sense energy policies, thus lowering the production cost of manufacturing and increasing job growth. This comprehensive approach will increase renewable energy generation by 30 %, nuclear power by 40 % and natural gas power by 30 %.”

The President saw Senator Landrew looking as if she wanted to say something, so he gestured to her to invite her to speak.

“Mr. President, we may not agree on a lot of the issues we have been discussing. However, I am surprised and excited to hear you speak so confidently about this renewable and clean energy plan and policy. I had figured all that talk on the campaign was just a way of drawing Democrat voters to your party,” said Senator Landrew.

With the liberal Senator starting to come around to the FPs agenda, the President was more congenial in his response. “Senator, I was clear on how I would run the country if elected, and expanding and building a clean renewable energy plan is something America needs; it is not just a matter of financial security — it provides a way to protect ourselves from dependence on other nations. Likewise, we need oil and natural gas, not just for our vehicles but also for manufacturing, and unless we can bring down the price of oil and begin to get ourselves independent of the use of foreign oil, we will continue to be entangled in the affairs of those regions of the world. I want to bring to a conclusion our endless involvement in small conflicts over resources and bring our country truly into self-reliance. I hope that I can count on your support for all of these initiatives which will benefit our country?”

With a look that was neither approving nor disapproving, Ms. Landrew began a very metered political response, “Mr. President, it will be hard for me to gain support from the Democrats in the Senate on your oil drilling and the America First Corporation initiative. However, I do feel that if the legislation includes all of these green energy projects you mentioned, I think I can get them to agree to support your legislative agenda. They would be hard-pressed to vote down legislation that includes some of their cornerstone ideas and projects.”

The President knew that this was the closest thing he could expect to a glowing approval and show of support, and smiled before responding, “Excellent. Then that is the approach we will take. These initiatives will be put into a single bill. It will provide your colleagues with a victory of their own and still allow us to move the country in a direction that will end our dependence on foreign powers for energy and resources.”

The President surveyed the room for a minute, gauging the mood and response thus far to this extraordinary legislative agenda being discussed. For the first time in who knows how long, the leaders of America were talking civilly about how to address the problems facing the country and coming together with solutions to fix them.

“Monty will hand out the next set of folders; I would like to discuss the new monetary policy.” He motioned to a new player in the room. “Joyce Gibbs, our new Treasury Secretary, will lead the next discussion and explain how we are going to restructure our debt and rebuild our currency. Before we begin, let’s take a short 30-minute break. We have some sandwiches and drinks being brought in as well.” The President nodded towards an aide just outside the door. As the group began to stand and stretch, the President stood up and walked into the hallway to talk briefly with Secretary Gibbs.

“Joyce it’s good to see you. Everything is still ready on your end, correct?” asked the President nervously.

“Yes, Mr. President. The markets will be closed tomorrow and will remain closed until Tuesday. This will be more than enough time for us to have the initial batches of the New American Dollars (NADs) ready for circulation. Within two weeks the banks will only have NADs for distribution to the general public. We anticipate it will take us about six months to fully convert all of the world’s dollars to the NAD,” Joyce said with excitement in her voice.

“Do we really have the needed gold to cover the currency? I heard that part might be a bit iffy,” the President said.

“We just secured the last order of gold needed to cover everything. Short of several countries actively trying to convert all of their NADs into gold, we should be fine. Even if they tried that, we have sufficient rules in place to ensure they are not allowed to receive any new NADs unless they back their request with gold. Most people, even in the government, do not realize how immense the gold stashes held by the Federal Reserves are.”

The President seemed to relax as he replied, “Excellent. When the break is over, I’ll introduce you again to everyone and then you can begin to inform them their world is about to completely change.” Stein let out a slight chuckle.

“Yes, Mr. President.”

Joyce Gibbs had been a long-term member of the Federal Reserve, and was an outspoken critic of the previous administrations’ continued use of quantitative easing and of the government printing money and then buying and issuing debt with that new currency. She had been a strong advocate for a return to the Gold Standard and a massive restructuring of America’s debt and currency. When the Freedom Party formed, Joyce provided then-Governor Stein a lot of economic advice. So, when Stein became President, she was his obvious first choice for Treasury Secretary.

Once the break concluded, the President signaled for everyone to take their seats as he introduced the new Treasury Secretary again. “Joyce, if you could go over the new monetary policy for us…” the President indicated as he took his seat at the center of the table.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to address in private the senior leaders of the Congress. I feel this is important to discuss discretely as these changes are going to have a profound effect on everyone and the economy.”

Secretary Gibbs continued, “The US Dollar, along with the other world currencies, have been in a race to the bottom for decades. As a consequence, they have been so devalued as a means of dealing with their sovereign debts and increasing their own domestic exports that drastic actions need to be taken to right the global currencies.”

“Economists have warned in the past that we are on the verge of a hyperinflationary event; if that happens, I believe it will not only destroy the dollar, but will cause the world currencies to completely collapse. The depression we have been experiencing — and still are — will become even worse as society will soon have no means to conduct commerce except through direct trade between parties. The proverbial ‘can’ may no longer be kicked down the road.”

“This needs to be solved, and with the leadership of President Stein, we are going to resolve it. However, what we are proposing is also going to cause certain short-term problems and have an enormous ripple effect in the market and around the world. If we are to right our financial house (and the world’s), then it is necessary.”

Pausing for effect (and to collect her thoughts), Joyce looked at the President before letting the other shoe drop. “The Treasury is going to begin printing the New American Dollar or NAD. The old US Dollars will be converted to new NADs at a price of five old US Dollars for one NAD. As you can imagine this will have a profound impact on people’s savings accounts, debts/loans, 401ks and investments; it is also going to shore them up. The NAD will be pegged to the price of gold, and will initially be set at $8,500 NAD per ounce, but the currency will be allowed to fluctuate with changes in the market. The Federal Reserve has enough gold at the new NAD price to cover the currency that will be in circulation and the Federal Reserve will have preferential buying power within the US to purchase gold at the new NAD price and will do so on a continual basis to stabilize the NAD and increase its value.”

Monty raised his hand to quickly interject, “—People will still be allowed to own and purchase gold; we do not want anyone to think this is like 1929 all over again when the government required people to turn in their gold and made it illegal to own it. People can turn their gold in for NADs if they would like, but they will not be forced to do so.”

Secretary Gibbs smiled at Monty and thanked him for clarifying a point she had forgotten to mention. “The Treasury will begin printing the NADs in enough quantities to absorb the number of US Dollars in circulation and allow foreign governments to have ample time to convert the old currency over. I’ve also worked with the Federal Reserve, and they will reduce interest rates from 18 % to 6 % to lower the borrowing cost for people and businesses. This is an aggressive and radical approach; however, we believe it is time to start thinking unconventionally and try something altogether new,” said Secretary Gibbs as she reached for a glass of water.

Seeing an opening to talk, the Speaker of the House interjected, “Madam Secretary, I’ve read your research papers on this idea when you proposed it while working at the Federal Reserve five years ago. Won’t this cause some problems with our creditors abroad?”

“Mr. Speaker, this will cause some of our lenders to become angry, yes — but there is simply no way we can repay what we owe, and neither can they as long as we continue to operate on the old currency. A new balance needs to be struck to right the worlds’ currencies. This endless circle of debt has finally caught up with the world; through this currency revaluation and conversion, a sound fiscal policy for the world currencies can begin.”

“I am not naïve enough to believe this will not cause problems in the global market, and I do foresee foreign governments not lending new money to the US for a while. In all reality, we can’t borrow enough to keep up with the current inflation of our own debt payments. The creation of AFC and the new tax code will help to balance our budgets, but it will take a couple of years before we see the full effect. At this moment, with the current financial situation we find ourselves in, we have to do this,” said Joyce.

“When is the Treasury going to announce this change?” asked the Speaker.

“This evening, after the market closes — this is why it was imperative to speak with you all today. We couldn’t inform you sooner for fear of it being leaked while the markets are still open. The U.S. markets will remain closed tomorrow and will not reopen until next Tuesday…when they do open, they will reopen with the new values displayed,” said Joyce. Clearly annoyed at this new information and drastic monetary change, Senator Landrew pouted, “I really wish you would have consulted us about this before you unilaterally made the decision to do this. I mean, this is the end of the first full week of your Presidency, and already you are one-sidedly making a decision that is going to radically change the country.”

Seeing that the conversation was about to get nasty, the President interceded for Secretary Gibbs and cut in. “Senator Landrew, in all reality, would informing you have made any difference? It only would have allowed for people to disclose the information to the media, and that would have further hurt the economy, if not crashed it. This had to be done in secrecy,” said the President.

Considering that the Republican and Democrat Congressional leaders were clearly feeling blindsided with this new monetary policy, the President quickly moved to end the meeting and to incorporate them into the implementation of the various plans and policy directions discussed throughout the day.

“We’ve talked about a lot of information today, and we have a lot more details that need to be gone over. I’m going to ask that you all stay into the evening tonight so we can work as a team to begin putting these ideas into action. Senator Landrew, I would really appreciate it if you could help to lead the discussion and plan on how AFC can conduct environmentally-friendly ways of drilling for oil and natural gas. I would also like your input into the renewable energy aspect of this plan. Your insight would be greatly appreciated.”

“Thank you for the offer Mr. President. It would be an honor,” said Senator Landrew, who still looked a bit angry over the financial news and not being able to spread the word to her contacts before the changes went into effect. She knew that her constituents and donors would make her pay for this transgression.

The President was clearly tired, but excited that the plans had been disclosed and put into motion. “With that being said, I will return later in the evening to see what progress has been made before dismissing everyone for the evening. I will need you all back here again tomorrow for the entire day while we work out the rest of the details. We are radically changing our economy and financial system, so we need all hands on deck. I’ve asked the kitchen to prepare everyone some “good brain food” for the next couple of days, so we won’t have to worry about anyone’s energy level.” said the President, hoping to soften the blow of all of the changes by diplomacy through good grub.

“Yes Mr. President,” responded the team.