Monopolies Stories

The Northern Virginia Community College was a normal school until it wasn't. After a complete systemic collapse that followed the invocation of the Insurrection Act and the culmination of decades worth of unrest, the United States was divided into 14 separate territories, each with varying forms of governance. Some became the most welcoming countries on planet Earth. Others, like the Commonwealth of Atlantis, morphed into neocameralist "network states" led by billionaire despots. Neocameralism is a system where countries are run like businesses called sovcorps, each owning a neostate and prioritizing profit and deterrence against aggression. The Northern Virginia Community College had already been surrounded by government institutions and shady military contractors. Now, it's ground zero for post-dystopian policies. The college operates under the AI-enhanced EduCosmos framework: VR guidance counselors, deep surveillance, and a fully privatized discipline pipeline. All of it, supposedly, to "maximize freedom through optimization." Four students, Jade Montout, Luna Whittaker, Matt Kessler, and Tarmaan Eddin, are fed up with the rampant death and destruction. They want to know the truth behind it all.

Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The average life span increased from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries). The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. Of all work in 1850, 80% no longer exists. Think of electricity, railways, automobiles, aircraft, satellites, radio, telephones, cell (mobile) phones, TV, computers, the Internet and nuclear power. Today, each farmer in the USA feeds 300 people whereas 200 years ago 4 out of 5 Americans worked in agriculture. In 1900 farm workers were still 40% of the work force; while in 2016 they were less than 2%. Bill Gates and Paul Allen started the Microsoft Corporation in 1975 thereby creating three billionaires and about 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees. $1000 worth of Microsoft (MSFT) shares in 1986 were worth $2,800,000 in 2025. In 2016, shares of Nvidia (NVDA) were $1.32 adjusted for stock splits. In 2025 one share could be sold for $170. A $1000 investment in 2016 would have returned about $129,000 in 2025. Okay, so how do you start GETTING RICH? It is very simple. Few of us have the talent or tenacity to start a new business, but now it is easy to buy publicly traded shares of businesses that grow steadily and create wealth in the process. You might as well buy a small share and watch it grow. Get rich slowly by investing a regular amount of your income in a diverse range of companies and re-investing all interest, dividends and capital gains and holding for many years. You will first need to choose an on-line stock broker and set up an account. They all operate much like banks as they are legally required to know their clients and must report to government tax collectors on any income to your account.