May 2036. The Second American Civil War has been ongoing for months and the United States as you know it is crumbling. The fascist and totalitarian New American Federation (NAF) has risen and taken over much of the country, whilst the former governm...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Citizens of the New American Federation. I speak to you tonight at a critical, yet exciting moment in our nation's short history. Our battle against the tyrannical and failed regime of the past is coming to a close. Our special forces have successfully pushed the enemy back further towards the Pacific coast over the last week, liberating many towns and other settlements in the process. With every mile of land we take, we offer a better future for those who preside in it. We offer a more certain future, full of undoubted economic prosperity and freedom from the previous government which has been the cause of the pain and anguish of the American people."
As had become tradition, Jensen Kaufman made his weekly address to the people in the territory held by the New American Federation. He was the self-proclaimed leader of both the new, fascist state and of the Party that had seized control of much of the country since the outbreak of civil war eight months ago, the American Action Coalition. A tall, confident man in his mid-forties, he stood proudly behind the lectern from which he spoke to the country. Wearing his dark black suit with red tie and red stitching, a colour combination that had become synonymous with everything associated with the AAC, he talked with passion and aggression; the same passion and aggression that had got him and his Party to the position they were in today.
Said position was far more significant than that of a couple of years ago. Kaufman and the AAC were not totally unknown but they had garnered very little support amongst the population. The majority of citizens initially had faith in the establishment to steer the country through the enormous economic crisis caused by the outbreak of war in the Middle East. The ceasing of the export of oil from the region led to spiralling fuel prices worldwide and hyperinflation of other products. Living conditions in many states across the globe became disastrous, including in wealthy economies and subsequently anger and frustration grew. By the summer of 2035, countries such as Brazil and China were among those that had experienced revolution and western European democracies were clinging onto power.
Many countries turned to the United States for help, hoping that the now third most influential country in the world could act as a mediator in the Middle East war and as a factor in securing the export of oil. The U.S found itself stuck between a rock and hard place, not knowing whether to focus its attention on its own people or on the worsening global situation. The superpower ended up doing neither, resulting in millions of people becoming unemployed, stock markets crashing and poverty rates soaring. Unless you were exceedingly wealthy, the United States had become near impossible to live in. The government, at this point a unity administration composed of both Democrats and Republicans was accused of not doing anywhere near enough, particularly President Katherine Dawson, and as such the consequences had become somewhat inevitable.
Support for Kaufman and AAC grew exponentially as the summer of 2035 went on. From just a far-right pundit that was regularly ridiculed in the traditional media, Kaufman quickly became a household name as conditions in the U.S deteriorated. Promising what he described as an 'alternative' to established government, the working classes and elites started to back him and his Party in droves. Those in the middle spectrum were vehemently against Kaufman though, as if they foresaw what was to come.
