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by John Galt
July 8, 2013 05:00 ET
The story which follows is completely fictional. It is neither this author?s prediction nor projection for future events. Any real people depicted in this fictional work are done so only to enhance the reality of a potential outcome of America?s future.
Just Outside of McRae, GA, aka ?Lillianville?
The chill of the evening was offset nicely tonight as the troopers from the old Georgia Guard left Lillian enough gasoline to crank up the generator and turn on the satellite television receiver. Her household had a fifteen year old twenty-six inch tube style television, the only working set in the area, which meant that every family within five miles would be at the house when word got out. Lillian wanted to reward everyone she could who helped with the farm, treating wounded troopers, and saving this part of Georgia from becoming another victim of General Sherman. Her idealism sometimes made her seem weird, but her zest for life and willingness to keep giving made her a saint to all who knew her.
?Tom, get that kettle corn going,? Lillian yelled out, ?and child get off that sofa and help your husband. He?s been in the field all day and looks like hell. With winter coming on hard, you?ve got to do more, there ain?t no more days of gettin? your hair done on Thursdays and gossip with the girls.? Sandy looked as if she had aged five years and was ready to break down and cry again but knew better after the last chewing out she got for whining about washing the horses down. ?Momma,? Sandy said looking at her mother with those big blue eyes, ?will things ever get back to the old days?? Mama Lil walked over to her daughter and hugged her, then kissed her on the forehead and softly whispered, ?No baby, it?s changed forever. Now go help your husband, there will be a crowd over here tonight as we haven?t had T.V. night in several weeks.?
Tom started filling up plastic buckets with kettle corn and handing them to Sandy to carry inside when the first truck pulled up to the gate. ?Tom, y?all get it fired up yet?? the voice yelled out from the old pick up truck. ?Not yet Wilbur,?? Tom yelled back, ?and how many folks did you bring with? you?? Wilbur turned around looking over his shoulder and sarcastically yelled back to Tom, ?All of them!? Tom just grinned, stirred the corn and shook his head as Sandy walked back over to him. ?Take over honey,? he said to his wife, ?I?m going to go mind the gate.?
The neighbors started to assemble in Mama Lil?s new living room with all of their family members in a hurry because it was getting close to eight o?clock and that meant the usual fight between the news and the new ?International Idol? television show which caused consternation among the older folks and gave the young ones a distraction. Tom set up the dish and programmed the hack code the soldiers gave him so they could use the set top receiver. The television set warmed up and the teens and younger children all started to chant in unison, ?Idol, Idol, Idol, Idol.? The parents and Lillian rolled their eyes and? of all the people were stunned to see Tom play the role of peacemaker when he said first half hour news, second half hour that stupid talent show and that was that.
The slightly scrambled signal always required a little tweak here and there and after getting the Voice of America/CNN news service tuned in, Tom began to wish that he had never seen what was coming. Tom sat down in a chair in silence but before he could work up the words one of the grandparents of the neighbor?s kids said ?All you kids get upstairs now, leave us adults alone to watch this.? The children began to whine but started to run up the stairs when Wilbur stood up and took off his belt. Meanwhile, the eyes of all the adults focused squarely on the screen where the entire region in southeast Georgia, including the area they lived in, was highlighted in a massive flashing box on the map behind the female news reader. ?Turn up the sound Tom,? Lillian asked in a subdued voice. Tom nodded, grabbed the remote and turned it up very loud so everyone could hear the news.
?Welcome to the Voice of America News and we welcome our CNN viewers tonight. This is Linda Hidalgo and we have breaking news from the CDC about an expanding outbreak of a new strain of airborne Hantavirus and dramatic action necessary to contain it, which may be announced as soon as tomorrow. Let?s go to our correspondent in Atlanta, Frank Billings for the details.? Tom looked over at Lillian in horror and two of the wives were crying their eyes out already before the next word was spoken. The reporter from Atlanta appeared on the screen with some clown in a laboratory coat and began to speak.
?This is Frank Billings live from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and a horrifying outbreak of a new, deadly airborne strain of Hantavirus is believed to be killing hundreds, perhaps thousands, in the restricted zone south of I-16 in southeast Georgia. With me is Doctor Ling Chu Zou from the People?s Republic of China who is working with the CDC and has been kind enough to take a few minutes to explain what course of action might need to be taken to contain this disease outbreak. Doctor Chu, is it true that the military has offered to spray should this outbreak expand into the Freedom Zones north of the interstate?? Doctor Chu Zou took his glasses off and nodded, ?Yes, it is possible we may have to spray an agent which terminates all livestock and small mammals in selected geographic areas to prevent this new disease from spreading. A contingency plan is in place and despite the poor communications in that region, we shall attempt to advise the human population to remain indoors should such spraying be required.?
Lillian, in her typically blunt fashion screamed at the screen, ?BULLCRAP!? Tom and everyone else just nodded and her daughter said, ?Calm down Momma, you?ll give yourself a heart attack. We?ll ask the old guard when they come buy for supper tomorrow what the truth is.? Their momentary distraction from the broadcast ended however as the female reporter came back on the air and said, ?and as the disease spreads, isolation is the key word so whatever illegal commerce being conducted with residents in the quarantine zone will now be met with martial law enforcement, including the penalty of death for violating state orders. VOA/CNN news prays for those poor souls inflicted with this disease and reminds them that if they come forth now before the symptoms appear, they can simply arrive at any of the check points or clinics in the Macon, Georgia area for treatment and processing. We?ll be back after these commercial words with a special feature on the New Wall Street which will help you invest your money wisely in selected government instruments and equity programs that maximize your golden years.?
The smiling face of Jim Cramer almost seemed like a relief to the listeners and viewers assembled in Mama Lil?s home. It brought back memories of the wild times and days of our economy when life was normal and no one really had a care in the world. Alas, it was not his usual preaching and tossing of toys but a commercial for GovBond, the new ?citizen?s? way to play the world treasury markets sponsored by the North American Reserve Bank (NARB). ?Ugh,? Tom uttered out loud, ?do these people not realize we want nothing to do with their damned con game any longer??
????? ?Welcome to the Money World portion of tonight?s Voice of America CNN International newscast with Tim Blair and Ellen Sildas for the citizens within the time zones of North America. The markets today finished with another firm finish to the upside with the Dow Jones North American Index up seventy-five point sixteen to close at nineteen thousand, four hundred and seventy Union Dollars. The NASDAQ closed up one hundred and fourteen points to close at six thousand forty-seven, while the Standard and Poors North American Select five hundred finished up eight and change to close at two thousand forty-eight. The Ministry of the Treasury fixed the Standard ounce of gold to a price of one thousand fifteen hundred and six Union Dollars while silver was fixed to twenty-five Union Dollars. Trading in copper is still suspended on North American markets until the International Monetary Fund releases the analysis and approves of the proposed New York Mercantile Exchange trading system.
?Mama Lil,? Tom yelled, ?get back in here, they are going to cover the commodities now.? Lillian waddled into the room as fast as she could and told everyone to ?Shush? because this was the only part of the news she cared about. The male announcer continued, ?In today?s commodity markets the IMF trade dollar once again gained two percent against the Union, causing distress for the livestock and grain pits in Chicago. Let?s switch to Susan Vistovich for more coverage of the situation.? The young lady with long blonde hair appeared on the screen with a look of consternation on her face and began to speak, ?Thank? you Tim Blair. Today all livestock and grain markets stopped trading by noon today when they hit and froze at their limit down prices. The pricing panic was triggered when the IMF imposed a penalty on the Union due to missed interest payments by the Ottawa and New York central banks on the restructured loan programs, or ReStrucks, as named after the bonds issued to repay debts of the prior governments before the six nation unification. The penalty resulted in a three percent devaluation of the Uni and triggered a massive commodity sell off.
In other news, the currency exchange rates were re-pegged at fourteen point three six nine to the Trade Dollar and seventy-three point sixteen to the Yuan.?
Everyone in the room stared at each other in amazement as the quotes for currencies, cattle, pork, and grains were flashed up on the screen. Lillian blurted out, ?that?s fifty percent off the price they paid a year ago. They are putting the farmers out of business on purpose.? Tom just nodded in disgust as the young announcer continued.
?In a more positive note, the travel restrictions for citizens of California, Oregon, and Washington have been lifted and the boom in international travel to the Union is believed to be a boost to the already improving economic outlook. The boom in tourist travel should help bring much needed foreign currency into the Pacific region which in concert with the expanded oil drilling off of the California coast by the Sino-Canadian Energy Corporation? could improve the unemployment from the already record low fourteen percent to levels unseen since late 2008. Tom, back to you.?
Tim Blair?s smiling faced appeared on the screen again with an almost snarling look as he said, ?Thank you Susan. Ellen I believe you have some breaking news which should cause some relief for workers in the Midwest and manufacturing sector.? Lillian stomped out of the room muttering, ?Enough of this bunk,? and with that she went mumbling into the kitchen. The rest of the room was fixated, dying to find out more about the breaking news at the top of the show when Ellen Sildas began her piece, ?Tim, breaking news at this late hour from the North American Industrial Consortium where the announcement was made to workers for John Deere as it became official today. The nationalization of John Deere and Company plus all affiliates via the sale of fifty-one percent of the parent company to the People?s Bank of China and the NARB guaranteed that no employees will be laid off and that no factories will be closing over the next thirty-six months. In fact sources inside the PBOC and NARB assured us that all three shifts will be reinstated with full pay and benefits with some possible expansion plans in Canada to help ?boost output from the North American region. China assumed full control of all overseas units in the deal plus an equitable share of profits to help pay for their contributions and purchases of RTU bonds. The retirement of these Rebuild the Union bonds was considered the deciding factor in the deal as they originally were sold with a yield of twenty-nine percent along with penalties for missed installments which add an additional two percent to the annualized interest payment.? Thankfully this retires the entire July issuance of RTU bonds and buys more time for the NARB to complete the restructuring of the old American corporate and Treasury debt to terms that are less onerous to future growth. Back to you Tim.?
Blair began to speak, ?While this might appear to some as a blow to the pride of the Union, the Parliament in Ottawa and Legislature in Washington both agreed this was a viable move to improve the North American balance of payments. Other corporate entities are now under review for similar restructuring to assure that the creditors of the Union do not continue to impose this overbearing debt demand and impediment on future growth.
After this commercial word, we?ll cover NFL football, NBA basketball, and of course the weather. In depth regional news coverage begins at ten o?clock Eastern time tonight. We?ll be right back.?
The children began streaming downstairs as it was almost time for their reality show as one of the seven year old boys looked up at his father and asked, ?Dad, why are? you sobbing?? His father just shook his head and said, ?My stomach?s upset son, let?s just head on home.? Sandy and Tom handed him a brown paper sack full of kettle corn and a piece of Lillian?s peanut brittle for the child. ?It won?t help your stomach,? Sandy said, ?but it might help the little one?s spirits.?
The Year After the Dollar Died by John Galt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://johngaltfla.com/wordpress/2013/07/04/the-year-after-the-dollar-died/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at johngaltfla.com.
Source: http://johngaltfla.com/wordpress/2013/07/08/the-year-after-the-dollar-died-chapter-3/
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