Future History
A cultural revolution has taken place in the year 2048. The by-word of the new establishment is Equity. Government positions are not filled by haphazard popular elections but by merit; or, if not merit, then at least by test score. Brodie Carter, an unassuming mailman, finds himself sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. He soon discovers the truth about the saying, “Heavy lies the crown”. Worse, there’s more going on than meets the eye, and the goals of the revolution are being secretly undermined. How can one man deal with forces larger than himself? Will he be able to navigate the ship of state through these troubled waters?
The History of
The New World Order
2048
Pre-Reform Presidents
Democrat Republican
1989-1993 George H. W. Bush (41)
1993-2001 Bill Clinton (42)
2001-2009 George W. Bush (43)
2009-2017 Barack Obama (44)
2017-2021 Donald Trump (45)
2021-2025 Joe Biden (46)
2025-2028 Donald Trump (47)
2029 J. D. Vance (48)
Note: The re-election of ex-president Donald Trump is a prediction and not a preference.
Note: The prediction that Ex-president Donald Trump will win the next election was made before President Biden dropped out. It is a whole new contest now, and revisions as to the identity of our next president may be in order.
Note: Notice the back-and-forth nature of our politics to date. Our political environment should not be a game of ping pong.
Future History of the Reform
Presidents of the Reform Era with new Party designations:
SaneDinestas OldForts
(Widely referred to derisively as the Pollyannas! and the OldFarters!)
Citizens disagree violently in the streets about what to call the country. Those who identify as SaneDinestas insist on SANE (Sustainability, All-truism, Nurture, and Empathy) while Oldforters will have nothing but their preferred States Rights name, New Independent Lands of Like-mindedness, or NILL. Independents shout “USA!” as their battle cry. Hospitals are overrun with citizens who have suffered injuries in these riots.
2029 Alexandra Ocasio Cortez (49)
2029-2033 Ilhan Omar (50)
2033-2037 Ivanka Yael Trump Kushner Medlow(51)
2037 Robert Hunter Biden (52)
2037-2041 Robby Novak AKA Kid President (53)
2041-2045 Nathan R. Somebody (54)
Nathan R. Somebody is tracked down and assassinated. Nobody is brought to trial and nobody claims responsibility. His Vice President, Barron Trump, becomes President and shuts the federal government down.
2045 Barron Trump (55)
In January of 2045 President Barron Trump and the OldForters declare the Federal government obsolete and ineffective, shut down all federal agencies, and turn the country over to the 48 state legislatures. President Trump abdicates and moves to New Mexico. A Constitutional Convention is called and after many fist fights and broken noses, a compromise is reached narrowly averting a second Near War. After a year of anarchy, the Federal government is reinstated with a maximum one-year term of service. The size of government limited to 10.000 total employees to be picked at random by computer algorithm. An OldForter to finish out 2046. The presidency to alternate every year after that, a SaneDinesta for odd years, an OldForter for even years.
2046 Entwhist Kadwalader Thornwhistle (56)
2047 Filberte Auguste Flambeau (57)
2048 Brodie Boon (58)
Nominally, an OldForter, but actually a moderate Independent
Top News Stories of the coming Decades
2028 President Trump attempts to avoid the final, inevitable impeachment by abdication of his office. He buys a cruise ship and sails away, stopping in many foreign countries to play golf. He is impeached in absentia, but promises to come back and put his enemies in jail.
2028 The Republican Party, in danger of imploding, creates a shell party called the OldFort!! Party. It’s a new name, but the platform is the same, reverence for traditional values and defiant condemnation of anything perceived as progressive.
2028 The Democrats also rebrand. They officially become the SaneDinesta! Party. Their new slogan is “One for all, and all for one no matter how much it costs!”
2029 The SaneDinestas run Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, AKA AOC for President. AOC wins and takes office on January 20, 2029.
January 20, 2029 On her first day in office, President Cortez finds a draft of proposed legislation on her desk. The Director of the newly created IRS Office of Diversity and Multiculturalism, Leroy Hussein Schwartzburg-Wong has drafted the Diversity Adjustment Fulfillment Tax, AKA DAFT, a tax on the assets of people descended from European stock. AOC signs it.
January 22, 2029 Rioting and unrest erupts in the streets of Washington D.C. Leroy Hussein Schwartzburg-Wong is tarred and feathered and President Cortez is taken out in a straitjacket. Vice President Omar announces that the Supreme Court has ruled 12 to 5 that being foreign-born no longer disqualifies her from the presidency, and she takes over.
2033 The OldFort!! party runs Ivanka Yael Trump Kushner Medlow for president, and she takes office January 20, 2033.
2033 The Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriages are extra-judicial and vacates all same-sex marriage licenses.
2033 The OldForters propose to gerrymander the United States into ten New Independent Lands of Like-mindedness or NILL.
2033 A computer algorithm plots the proposed Lands of Like-mindedness. Everyone is informed as to the Land to which they are now assigned based on AI’s assessment of their preferences and profiles. Only ten percent are already living in their designated zones. Two-thirds declare that, if ratified, they will not comply. An amendment is proposed to allow families to remain together even if AI has determined the family members to be incompatible. Another amendment mandates no-fault divorces and annulments upon request. The ratification process gets off to a slow start.
November 2034 After a late-night social media rant that some people considered un-presidentially divisive, Ivanka Yael Trump Kushner Medlow is impeached but is not removed from office.
2034 Kim Jong Un has a heart attack. Before dying he stumbles into the arms of Dennis Rodman who is standing nearby. Dennis Rodman is immediately elected to succeed Kim Jong Un as President of North Korea.
2034 The Mayor of Oslo, Norway, Arn Solderberg, ridicules Dennis Rodman’s dance moves on TikTok. Dennis Rodman Nukes Oslo starting WW3. Six additional Nukes fly, three in each direction. Much of Northwestern Europe and all of North and South Korea are decimated. China, Russia, and the NATO powers abrogate their treaty obligations. WW3 is officially over after only five days.
March 2034 Red Army Militia Mavericks declare war on Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston beginning the Near War. Some call it the Second American Civil War.
May 2034 Red Army sympathizers and OldForts in Congress push through legislation to make the Department of Education defunct and close all public schools. They override President Omar’s veto.
August 2034 Out of work teachers and librarians form the Blue Brotherhood and declare war on the Red Army Mavericks. The Federal Government claims neutrality.
November 2034 The out-gunned Blue Brotherhood is decimated in the Battle of Brandywine Hill in Pennsylvania, and the Near War ends, but not before the city of Providence is destroyed by a nuclear bomb. The White Supremacist culprits are never brought to trial.
2034 The bankrupt US federal government stopped funding the United Nations.
2034 An ongoing Convention of States is formed and holds its first meetings in Las Vegas at a Holiday Inn. Representatives from all fifty states attend, but the President and Congress are not invited.
2034 Surrounded by units of the National Guard and battalions of pestiferous media, the Convention of States temporarily adjourns and reconvenes in Paris, seeking a less contentious environment and some fine French cuisine. Their deliberations are conducted in private behind closed doors. Amendments to a new American Constitution are drafted, debated, torn up, rewritten, and sent back to committee. Nobody seems in much of a hurry to get anything done. Some of the proposed amendments are: The Level Playing Field Amendment and the Sovereignty of Trees Amendment, insisted on by several states in the West and the state of Maine. Some states in the Midwest argue for a “Leave us alone” amendment directed at the Federal Government.
2035 The United Nations is officially disbanded! Up with People International steps into the void and takes over all UN responsibilities, renaming itself the People’s International League of Love or PILL.
2035 The convention in Paris is still meeting and still enjoying fine French cuisine. Two competing legislative referendums emerge and are hotly debated. One, proposed by the SaneDinestas Party, would rescind the United States Constitution and name the United States SANE and make SANE a Nation of the World and a subject nation of the United Nations, now administered by Up With People. The other referendum, put forward by the OldFort Party, would re-ratify the original Constitution and replace the Supreme Court with a Court composed of Originalist Constitutional Scholars to administer complete adherence to the exact wording.
2035 In America, divisions and fault lines are still simmering. Unlikely allies emerge. Harold Snoot, the delegate from Massachusetts, who styles himself after the deceased American Politician, Bernie Sanders, leads the SaneDinesta party and calls for nationalization of business and industry. Beauregard Sloane, the delegate from Alabama and an OldForts Party stalwart, calls for an end to federal government to be replaced by State Independence, the New Independent Lands of Like-mindedness (NILL).
2035 A new amendment calling for all American borders to be opened and for all state legislatures to be dissolved is proposed by many of the Northern state SaneDinestas but fiercely opposed by the Southern state OldForts.
2036 A deep depression hits the United States, and it struggles to keep the lights on. In desperation, all regulatory restrictions on commerce are rescinded. Each of the emerging new Lands is free to start exploiting the local environments as they see fit.
Dec. 2036 A host of Palestinian imams announce they have a vision of the angel Gabriel telling them to love and protect the infidels. The imams say Gabriel has materialized to correct some centuries-old mistakes in the interpretation of the Muslim scriptures. Some Muslims claim that crafty Jews artificially produced these visions and dreams. No one can say for sure which version of the facts is true, but the imams hold a conclave in the desert east of the Jordan River. They fast for five days and report a second burning bush that does not stop burning for three full days.
Jan 2037 The Palestinians and the Israelis agree to stop killing each other and adopt an Open Borders policy, but many deadly skirmishes still occur.
By the end of 2037, Russia elects a new Russian leader, Raisa Virganskaya, the illegitimate niece of former Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, who institutes a new and more powerful policy of Glasnost. Russia peacefully gains what it could not gain through war, control of the Baltic. Ironically, Raisa Virganskaya has the same birthmark as her uncle.
2037 The zones that would become NILL are already writing new constitutions. The federal government is experiencing a steep reduction in tax revenues and petitions Harold Snoot, Beauregard Sloane, and the Pre-NILL Council of Ten for financial assistance.
2037 Ivanka, as President, publicly puts roadblocks in the way of the SaneDinesta referendum, while simultaneously making policy decisions that accelerate the passage of the OldForts referendum. More people self-segregate. The percentage of people living in their designated Land reaches 75 percent. Each of the 10 lands establish governmental headquarters. Some of the populace remains defiantly unmoved. The NILL tsunami is picking up steam.
2037 Several states in the South and South-west seceded the Union. They joined forces with Mexico and became the Mexican state of El Norte.
2037 The Federal government, experiencing huge reductions in tax revenue, asks if it might be allowed to join NILL as Government Land.
2037 Diversity Land announces it support of the SaneDinesta plan. The New Confederacy comes out strongly in favor of the OldForts.
2037 Nine of the ten zones in the Council of Ten demand that Government Land be solely responsible for paying off the USA’s National Debt.
November 2037 The Sanedinesta’s back Hunter Biden for President, and he is elected. The SaneDinesta plan gets new support and popularity.
December 2037 Finding themselves unwelcome anywhere else, many government bureaucrats have taken refuge in Government Land. President-Elect Biden encourages this migration by promising to subsidize former government employees with cash and free drugs of their choosing.
Jan 2038 President-Elect Biden never officially assumes the duties of the Presidency. The OldFort!s still have the laptop he owned back in 2021, and they say they have decrypted more incriminating evidence. President Biden is reported to have said, “F this shit!” He resigns. His Vice President, Robby Novak, known since childhood as Kid President becomes President.
Jan 2038 Newly elected president Novak makes good on his campaign promise to rename the White House, making it the Mauve House.
2038 President Novak and the Congress request to be allowed to occupy El Norte’s seat on the Council of Ten. The Federal government becomes Government Land with the right to raise taxes in Maryland, and Virginia counties north of the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers.
2038 President Novak and the Congress sell Alaska to Russia to raise needed funds. Ten days later they sell Hawaii to China.
January 1, 2039 It is widely reported that a scientist working for Morton Thiokol laboratory in Utah, Genevieve Spearman, has made a major breakthrough in affecting the future of both Quantum Computing and Quantum Propulsion. Morton Thiokol neither confirms nor denies those reports. But rumors persist that Genevieve Spearman has harnessed so-called Negative Energy.
2039 A coalition of African nations, France, and America annex Madagascar and turn it into a penal colony. Another penal colony is established in far Northern Alaska on the North Slope.
July 2039 The OldForts demand the United States Constitution be re-written and calls it the Constitution of the Independent Lands. They rewrite The Bill of Rights and call it the Constitution of the People. Many scholars point out that having two Constitutions leaves the Constitution of the People awkwardly secondary to the Constitution of the Independent Lands. All but three state legislatures, Maine, New Hampshire, and Hawaii, vote to have debates on the new Constitutions and to have a referendum on them. The referendum is set for 2048.
August 2039 The Oldforts proclaim, “Each Land will be free to define Individual Rights as it sees fit!” Beauregard Sloane is quoted as saying. “If anyone is unhappy with the laws in the New Confederacy, they can move!” Harold Snoot is quoted as saying, “Ask not what your Land can do for you! Ask what you can do for your Land!”
December 25, 2039 Morton Thiokol announces the successful creation of the Spearman Drive which utilizes the Spearman Effect to flatten the fabric of Space/Time, allowing a major breakthrough in rocket speed.
January 1, 2040 A coalition of three religious leaders in Holy Land, the Triumvirate, consisting of a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim, launch a Space Station to L5, a stable spot in Earth’s orbit. The Triumvirate builds an elevator to send regular supply shuttles to L5.
May 1, 2040 The L5 Space Station receives 3 indecipherable radio messages from Proxima Centauri. They are working to translate the messages and have responded with a Diplomatic entreaty. Speculations about the meanings of the message vary widely from “Welcome!” to “Leave us alone!” and “Hunh?”.
2040 China annexes Japan.
2040 India and Pakistan join forces in a military alliance against the rest of the world.
2040 Taiwan still holds onto its semi-independent status due to its dominance in the all-important manufacturing of the most powerful computer chips.
2040 President Novak declares a non-interventionist United States Foreign Policy.
2040 President Novak finally takes America off Daylight Savings Time and institutes Sane Time, a hybrid of military time. Each day starts at dawn (00:00).
2041 The OldFort!s organize a write-in campaign for a completely unknown candidate, Nathan R. Somebody. Nathan Somebody wins the election.
2042 President Somebody, who governs from an undisclosed location, signs the Energy Independence Bill into Law, which removes all regulations on privately owned energy production companies and corporations. A stampede of drilling operations moved to establish themselves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AKA Anwar, dramatically increasing tension between the United States and Russia.
2042 President Somebody recalls the penny, the nickel, the dime, and all paper currency, leaving the quarter as the last remaining non-digital currency. The quarter is still being used in vending machines and arcades.
December 25, 2042 The proposed New Holy Land, centered in Salt Lake, Utah launches a nuclear fusion rocket from high Earth orbit. Scientists around the world conclusively confirm the launch, but no details of the mission are revealed by those involved.
2044 President Somebody outlaws manual driving in favor of the fully automated Transportation Network. Several states in the mid-west, now calling themselves Liberty Land, refuse to comply.
2045 Ninety-nine-year-old Donald Trump is still sailing the world on his cruise ship. He flies the skull and crossed bones flag. His son, Barron Trump surprises everyone by breaking with his father and running for President. He is elected and takes office on Jan. 20, 2045.
2045 President Somebody is hunted down and assassinated. Nobody claims responsibility and nobody is prosecuted.
2046 President Barron Trump institutes the Four Stages of Life based on brain function: infants from 1 to 6, Juveniles from 7 to 22, Adult from 23 to 28, and Elders for everyone 29 or older.
January 1, 2047 The Junly Calendar consisting of 13 months of 28 days each and one additional Weird and Wacky day (two additional Weird and Wacky days in leap years) is adopted. The month of Junly is added between June and July.
May 2048 Washington Post reporter and Space Force Reservist Lem Gallivanter returns from 19 years of cryostasis in outer space. He is reportedly flabbergasted by the technological changes that have taken place. He and his reactions enthrall the world. He is one of the first to get one of the newest butt-pack implants, the latest in Always On technology.
2048 Street fighting intensifies as the deadline for the vote on the Paris referendums draws near. Half of the ten Lands of NILL are in favor of the SaneDinesta plan, and half are in favor of the OldFort plan. The country is evenly split, but the vote can still go either way. Lem Gallivanter, with People’s International League of Love (PILL) diplomatic status, is sent on a tour of NILL in a publicity push designed calm the civil unrest and ease NILL into a peaceful transition.
2048 The NILL proceedings in Paris get out of hand and many hair-brained amendments are proposed by the various Lands and rejected by others. Each Land jockeys for personal gain in the upcoming new world order. Proposals like The Level Playing Field Amendment and the Sovereignty of Trees Amendment, once thought dead in the water, are resurrected and debated fiercely.
2048 Lem Gallivanter visits all ten Lands of NILL and reports his findings.
2048 The world discovers that Groucho, Lem Gallivanter’s AI companion, has been unwittingly working for President Barron Trump and Government Land in support of the OldForts plan. A secret offer of incentives to the leaders of the Lands has been embedded in its matrix and passed on surreptitiously and without the knowledge of Lem Gallivanter or Groucho. As a ploy to sway the vote, the secretly encoded message reveals that all the defeated amendments will be brought back up and instituted after ratification. The Reratification of the Constitution now seems assured.
2048 In all zones, some are for, some against, and many don’t care. As the deadline approaches, NILL forces and UnNILL forces clash in the streets.
2048 Government Land and President Trump deny denies being the authors of Groucho’s secret message and claims the message was the work of the SaneDinestas. Several people are arrested for treason. They all proclaim innocence but are publicly hanged after a brief show trial.
2048 Scientists confirm that Holy Land’s 100-year mission to Proxima Centauri B will be unsustainable upon arrival due to an unfortunate lack of diversity in the payload of flora and fauna. More people will be required to sustain the human population. A resupply mission is being planned.
2048 Canada Invades the United States and Mexico declares neutrality while aiding Canada unofficially.
2048 Lem Gallivanter persuades issues a plea for National Unity, and both the proposed SaneDinesta and OldFort referendums are temporarily shelfed. Street fighting continues.
2049 The Dawn Clock is adopted. In every location, dawn is now 7 AM.
2050 Mission Reports from the Phoenix, the starship heading for Proxima Centauri B come in with startling results. Some political factions have developed on the ship. People onboard are at odds with each other. A case of murder and apparent cannibalism has been reported.
2050 A resupply mission is in the planning and implementation phases, and, in light of the new assessment, the timeline is pushed up.
November 2050 It is announced that the office of the United States Presidency will be abolished in favor of the Council of Ten.
The Near Future
December 2050 Will NILL be Ratified before the deadline? No one can say for sure.
2061 The message from Proxima Centauri is translated: “Stay the hell away!”
July 4, 2076 Lem Gallivanter speaks his last coherent words
2103 Lem Gallivanter dies.