Post by Floyd Looney on Jul 11, 2011 18:57:12 GMT -5
It was dark and overcast as I joined the long line. I look to the side of the person in front of me and I see that its at least four blocks to the door. I sigh, I am resigned to stay in line all day if I have to because there is simply no choice in the matter.
I look around to all of the graying, crumbling buildings around me, dark and menacing. None of them had power and probably not even running water. The only artificial light is the jumbotron on the side of one of them giving us official pronouncements from on-high.
Oh right, the President was going to give another speech, they were almost daily. They have been almost daily for the past twelve years, since the economy started to crumble from beneath our very feet.
We knew the news was bad, we knew it was always worse than reported in the media. We knew the media was nothing more than an arm of the state. We might be powerless serfs but we weren't that stupid.
The sound on the jumbotron increased and we heard the sound of horns and drums. The newest tune the President chose since "hail to the chief" was too outdated for him.
"My fellow Americans" he said, holding back a snicker "We all know that the economy has been in the toilet for years. I have raised taxes and gutted the military to pay for the programs that give support for the poor and needy amongst us. This is a noble thing and I am honored to be the President to serve you in this manner..."
"God bless him" the old woman behind me said
"In my twelve years as President, from before the time that the emergency caused us to suspend the Constitution for the good of the country, I have always been honored to serve you. I will continue to do the work that you chose me to do more than a decade ago"
"He's getting old" someone ahead of me mumbled.
"Who said that?" the granny behind me asked angrily, "I'll report you! You want to lose the gifts he gives you?"
Gifts, sharing the stolen loot more like it I thought to myself, of course I would never say it aloud. I glanced at the jumbotron, truthfully he was getting old. His dark skin was grayer, almost ashen and his hair was gray and silver although sometimes appeared dyed.
"We have simply not sacrificed enough, but the time for change never ends. I have directed the state departments to search every warehouse and suspected hoarder for the resources to feed our starving people."
"Damned traitors" the old woman grumbled "Stealing our community bread".
It was virtually the same speech he had given for 8 years and yet the economy continued to get worse and worse. The reasons were never his policies, no it was the userers, the hoarders, the capitalists. People weren't dying in the streets before he became President, back then poor people had it made with welfare benefits that put them in the top 5% in wealth of the worlds population.
Had people forgotten? Since then capitalism that funded those benefits had been killed off. It was deader than dead. There was no one left rich enough or employed enough to pay taxes. There were only state-owned farms providing ever-worsening harvests of basic foodstuffs.
Now he was blaming people who scurried through dark alleys looking to trade something for food to feed their kids. These were "unauthorized transactions" that were said to threaten the stability of our "nations foundation".
Seriously, anyone left who is sane would understand that there is no one left to blame. The Constitution was suspended for the past seven years and the opposition party had been destroyed through raids and arrests. The "opposition" was so demonized that anyone who dared disagree with the President was now treated as a traitor.
"These criminal hoarders and their connections threaten the very basic underpinnings of our prosperity" he was saying "I have now authorized the death penalty for these crimes, and will permit them to be publicly aired on television as an example to others
"There is no one left to blame" I whispered to myself.
I look around to all of the graying, crumbling buildings around me, dark and menacing. None of them had power and probably not even running water. The only artificial light is the jumbotron on the side of one of them giving us official pronouncements from on-high.
Oh right, the President was going to give another speech, they were almost daily. They have been almost daily for the past twelve years, since the economy started to crumble from beneath our very feet.
We knew the news was bad, we knew it was always worse than reported in the media. We knew the media was nothing more than an arm of the state. We might be powerless serfs but we weren't that stupid.
The sound on the jumbotron increased and we heard the sound of horns and drums. The newest tune the President chose since "hail to the chief" was too outdated for him.
"My fellow Americans" he said, holding back a snicker "We all know that the economy has been in the toilet for years. I have raised taxes and gutted the military to pay for the programs that give support for the poor and needy amongst us. This is a noble thing and I am honored to be the President to serve you in this manner..."
"God bless him" the old woman behind me said
"In my twelve years as President, from before the time that the emergency caused us to suspend the Constitution for the good of the country, I have always been honored to serve you. I will continue to do the work that you chose me to do more than a decade ago"
"He's getting old" someone ahead of me mumbled.
"Who said that?" the granny behind me asked angrily, "I'll report you! You want to lose the gifts he gives you?"
Gifts, sharing the stolen loot more like it I thought to myself, of course I would never say it aloud. I glanced at the jumbotron, truthfully he was getting old. His dark skin was grayer, almost ashen and his hair was gray and silver although sometimes appeared dyed.
"We have simply not sacrificed enough, but the time for change never ends. I have directed the state departments to search every warehouse and suspected hoarder for the resources to feed our starving people."
"Damned traitors" the old woman grumbled "Stealing our community bread".
It was virtually the same speech he had given for 8 years and yet the economy continued to get worse and worse. The reasons were never his policies, no it was the userers, the hoarders, the capitalists. People weren't dying in the streets before he became President, back then poor people had it made with welfare benefits that put them in the top 5% in wealth of the worlds population.
Had people forgotten? Since then capitalism that funded those benefits had been killed off. It was deader than dead. There was no one left rich enough or employed enough to pay taxes. There were only state-owned farms providing ever-worsening harvests of basic foodstuffs.
Now he was blaming people who scurried through dark alleys looking to trade something for food to feed their kids. These were "unauthorized transactions" that were said to threaten the stability of our "nations foundation".
Seriously, anyone left who is sane would understand that there is no one left to blame. The Constitution was suspended for the past seven years and the opposition party had been destroyed through raids and arrests. The "opposition" was so demonized that anyone who dared disagree with the President was now treated as a traitor.
"These criminal hoarders and their connections threaten the very basic underpinnings of our prosperity" he was saying "I have now authorized the death penalty for these crimes, and will permit them to be publicly aired on television as an example to others
"There is no one left to blame" I whispered to myself.