January 3rd, 2039
Mankind has not changed. The mathematical constant in the equation of man seems to be war, and with each advance in weaponry and military prowess brings a false promise of a less bloody, quicker war, with less lives lost, and to bring about peace to the world sooner. The United States declared a war on terror almost 40 years ago, and has claimed that the war has been won. But how can one kill Terrorism? Terrorism is the idea that if your enemy is too overwhelmingly powerful, and you cannot defeat them, you slowly break them down psychologically. This involves the use of violence - violence to put fear in the hearts of every one of their people, so that the people will eventually grow weary of their fear, and demand that their government make peace.
You cannot, however, win against a nation that practically reinvented warfare. America borrowed it's weapons and tactics from the most brilliant German minds in World War 2, and refined them over time to build an incontrovertible military force, so that when the Terrorists struck, America's citizens did not yield to quivering fear or break down psychologically. Rather, America crushed the Terrorists, obliterated their organizations, and wiped them clean off the face of the Earth. The price, however, was quite high. The United States of America reached it's breaking point in 2025 when it's economy collapsed, and the American military was greatly reduced in size, despite having to fight another war in West Africa during a depression. The cause of the war was very unclear to the American public, who quickly grew weary of hearing about politicians rant on about such-and-such Nigerian Dictator needing to be stopped, but the official reason was "To destroy tyrannical regimes committing genocide" and each warlord toppled was applauded by the American media, which functioned primarily as a unified propaganda machine, and was ridiculed by the American public. Everyone knew the reason for the war. It was to make money for America, because America desperately needed money.
America had two primary exports: Weapons and drugs. A popular comedian from that age even joked, "America sells drugs to make the world crazy, and then gives the crazy people weapons to kill each other. Eventually, all the crazy people die, and we need to sell more drugs."
American weapons were still the best in the world in 2030s. A popular saying at the time was, "If you want to win a war, you buy American weapons. If you want to lose a war, buy them from somewhere else." The success of America's arms trade was so successful that by 2035, the economy of the United States came all the way back from disaster, but the depression had changed the country. The government was broken up into two conservative political parties and two liberal political parties, and one small independent political party. The government often went long periods without a majority party being formed to lead the Senate or House of Representatives, rendering the U.S. government useless.
Xavier Kates was the head of rapidly-growing liberal American Community Party, and had appeal. In the 2030s, politicians were considered by the public to be the very scum of the earth, but Kates had appeal. His regular show on the popular media website Feed became very popular with young people, because Kates had an unusual mix of humor and charisma that seemed to transcend the stereotypical dullard politician who took themselves too seriously. Of the U.S. Government, Kates said "Look, to put it frankly - the government is pretty fucked-up. I don't like going around giving people history lessons, so I'll just say this: 10 years ago, we were selling guns and drugs to people, and today we're selling guns and drugs to people, and where has it gotten us? You have money again... well, some of you do - but besides that, we're not doing a very good job in the United States government. Who's fault is this? It doesn't matter anymore! It really doesn't... this government is supposed to be FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, which means you're supposed to be in charge. You pay the taxes, you put the votes in the ballot boxes, you should get to get what you want, but that's not the way it works. It should be YOUR government, but instead, you end up working for them. That's completely wrong. The Libertarian Party agrees with us on this, and although we have differing viewpoints on the specifics of how a government that you, the people, will own and control works, that's not for us to decide. It's for you to decide. This is why our party is growing so fast: because we have a good idea, and when you have a good idea, people come together for a common purpose, and this purpose today is FREEDOM. The purpose today is liberty. The purpose today is equality. These are the things we are striving for, but I am the only politician today who will tell you that I cannot promise you these things, or hope to deliver them. You have to raise your voice, and when you raise your voice, the American Community Party will stand by your side, and that is the only thing I can promise. God bless all the people of the world!"
