But the Li campaign raised more money, had the support of the seniors, and even courted younger voters, telling them that if anyone was capable of getting China and the other foreign countries to forgive some of the massive debt, it was him. He was from there, after all. He could accomplish what no American-born president had ever been able to. He could speak to much of the world in their own language. And young people were so desperate for any kind of hope, they believed him.
* * *
When Li won the Iowa caucus, Matthew Bernstein knew he was in for the fight of his life. He begged John Van Dyke to come back and help him, but that relationship was over. Bernstein did assemble the best team he could find. They forced him to change some of his liberal views, and what he hated the most was that he wound up campaigning on scare tactics. National security issues. It was all he had.
During one speech in Nevada he actually said the words, “Do we want a president who was not born and raised in our country? The founding fathers knew this was a bad idea, that’s why they wrote it into the Constitution. Maybe we should ask ourselves what they knew that we are now trying to forget.” He came offstage and smashed his fist into a wall. “Goddamn it, they’ve reduced me to sounding like some right-wing asshole. How did that even come out of my mouth? I’m the goddamn liberal one!”
And that was the way the year went for Bernstein. He didn’t know what side to take. Finally, in the fifth national debate, which he felt he was losing, he turned to Shen Li and said, “I’m the one who invited you here. Let’s never forget that.” And Li smiled, took a long pause, and looked directly in the camera. “Mr. President, that was the best decision you have ever made. And on that, I congratulate you.”
The audience applauded for one whole minute.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
It was a beautiful day in January 2033. A light snowfall covered Washington, and the crowds that were brought in for the inauguration were enormous. The entire world watched as Shen Li was sworn in as the forty-eighth President of the United States.
After he took the oath of office he approached the stand, which was entirely enclosed in a transparent material that was invisible to the eye but could stop a laser from three hundred yards.
Li had memorized his speech. No prompters and no papers. That alone made him look different from any president before him. He thanked the appropriate dignitaries, including Matthew Bernstein, who was sitting alone and still looked shell-shocked. He thanked his wife, the new First Lady, who looked radiant and powerful, almost as if this were a copresidency. He then began his speech as the entire world listened.
“My fellow Americans, and my fellow citizens of the world. Today marks a historic beginning of a new era. A man who was born outside of the United States can finally stand before you as president of this great country. This man is not measured on where he began life but where he chose to live that life and how he chose to live it, and how he chose to make your lives better because of that decision. It is not just a change in a law that has enabled this man to stand here. It is a change in the very world we live in. For the first time we are recognizing that we are not simply a collection of nations with borders that let some people in and keep others out. We can no longer be a world filled with isolated countries that only care for themselves. Our borders divide land, but they do not divide people. And until we understand that, we will never reach our potential as human beings and we will certainly never reach the stars. If one day we are truly to take our place in this universe, we cannot do it as America or China or Russia or Japan. We must do it as Earth. And today you have elected a president who understands this and can work toward accomplishing that goal.
“The last year of my life has not just been the most exciting year that I have ever experienced, but it has also been the most gratifying. The people I have met across this great nation, the debates and the conversations and the disagreements, they have all showed me that people deep down are the same. They want a good life for their family and their friends and their fellow citizens. They want peace and they want prosperity. They want health and they want longevity. They want to replace fear and suspicion with security and trust. And I believe that time has come. It is finally within our reach. And as president of this great country, I will do everything in my power to lead the United States into this brave new world. We have seen what cooperation can do in just one of our great cities, and this is only the beginning. If the world works together, there is no stopping us.
“It can’t happen all at once. There will be setbacks along the way. But it has begun. And as America and China have now shown, we can break down barriers that have divided our species since the beginning of time. We can finally understand that color and size and nationality and personality are all just parts of what it means to be human. And if we truly understand that fact, we can spread peace throughout this world, the peace that has eluded mankind since the dawn of civilization. And in the distant future, when we colonize new planets and then new galaxies, we can hold our heads up high and say, ‘We are from Earth. We are One.’”
The crowd went wild. The cameras took pictures of the bused-in fifty thousand high schoolers standing arm in arm with fifty thousand senior citizens, a sight that had never been seen before. And even though it was staged, it still looked hopeful. Chances were these two groups would not speak to each other after the election, but it was a great image and one the whole world talked about the entire next day.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A special thanks to those who were early readers and cheerleaders. Their help and encouragement made the process that much more enjoyable: Elizabeth Beier, Kimberly Brooks, Karen Clark, Liz Dubelman, Danny Greenberg, Howard Gerwitz, David Kipper, Herb Nanas, Debra Olivier, Michelle Richter, Stan Schneider, Nell Scovell, Paul Slansky, Colin Summers, Jessica Thompson, Brian Umansky, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Bob Weide, Linda Weide, Ed. Weinberger, and Dori Weintraub.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
2030. Copyright © 2011 by Albert Brooks. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brooks, Albert.
2030 : the real story of what happens to America / Albert Brooks.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-58372-9
I. Title. II. Title: Twenty thirty.
PS3552.R65858A614 2011
813'.54—dc22
2010054560
First Edition: May 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-9650-1
First St. Martin’s Press eBook Edition: May 2011
2030 Page 40