by G. R. Carter
Two of these patriarchs held a particular interest for Phil; they were sitting at their regular table closest to the old-fashioned percolating coffee pot. Each had millions in assets, but insisted on being seated closest to the free coffee refills. Bob Ford and Delbert Kuhn both retired from Caterpillar Incorporated, the world’s largest producer of industrial equipment. One possessed an engineering degree from a Big Ten university and the other earned decades of practical experience as production foreman on the assembly lines. Mixed with Midwest pragmatism, Phil was convinced that these two could solve any mechanical problem. Of course, Bob and Delbert believed that, also.
Their opinions usually began as, “No. Impossible.” To any idea, that was their first response. Then, as they sipped their coffee and chomped on glazed donuts, the solution to the problem was dissected and eventually resolved. Each pushed their cups toward Phil when they needed their beloved refill – the price paid for free advice.
Over his decades-long career Delbert invested nearly every spare dime into purchasing farm ground. Delbert held interest in farming, really the process of planting and tilling gave him the opportunity to work on the machinery used for the tasks. The concrete and metal machine shed he used to modify his mechanical creations rivaled most technical institutes for equipment and space. Bright lighting, heated floors, machining tools and lifts from the world’s best manufacturers outfitted this farmer’s mechanical Taj Mahal. Visitors to “the Shed” stepped over parts from disassembled cars, trucks, tractors – whatever he and his hired men decided to improve when they considered a piece inferior in design or construction.
His friend and fellow donut shop judge was Bob Ford. As common in appearance as he was in name, Bob was certainly well off and comfortable, too. Sticking with the traditional 401k and pension route, the retiree’s wealth resided on paper, or in this day and age, on computer. In fact, to compare bank accounts he was wealthier than Delbert. He only cashed out what he needed to live on, and left the rest invested in what Delbert called “the Wall Street casino.” Bob feared he would outlive his money, or have to pay for a big medical expense for him or his wife since health insurance no longer existed for men his age. Quietly, he also admitted he didn’t want to miss out on the stock market rally still raging since the recent government stimulus bills were introduced.
Arguments about investing money seemed to be the only subject Delbert and Bob truly disagreed on. Both certainly seemed to have valid points to Phil. Unfortunately, how to invest disposable income typically wasn’t his problem from year to year. Getting income was the problem.
Phil referred to these men as the Wizards. And the Wizards referred to Phil as the Founding Farmer. In their words, he just wouldn’t shut up about the way the country should be run. And no conversation would go by without a reference to how Jefferson would have solved the problem.
“Real-world solutions, my boy,” Delbert would say to him. “Not philosophy but real-world solutions to real-world problems. That’s what we need.”
Today, Phil just stared out the big window, his mind a million miles away.
“Bob, our Founding Farmer seems to be lost in his thoughts this morning,” Delbert said.
“I’m glad he found some thoughts, let’s see if we can shake out something useful. Phil, are you about to have a stroke because of this Pullback Bill?” Bob asked, only half mocking.
Phil sighed, still looking away: “I’m just tired of us waiting to find out what DC will do to us next.”
“That’s the way it’s been for a long time, boy. And with nearly 400 million people now controlled by a city thousands of miles away, what do you propose to do about it?” Phil wasn’t sure who actually asked; they were beginning to sound alike as they aged.
Phil finally looked over, glancing back and forth at the two men. They glared back over glasses sitting at the end of their noses.
“We are to agriculture what Saudi Arabia is to oil, correct?” Phil asked to start the conversation.
“So what?” asked Delbert.
“We produce enough food here to feed everyone within a hundred-mile radius, plus enough surplus to export around the world. So why don’t we produce our own fuel instead of importing it from the other side of the world?” Phil asked them both.
“Great idea, let’s drill a hole out back of the shop here, shouldn’t be too tough.” It was Bob, never missing the opportunity to get a dig in.
Phil continued, unfazed. “I’m not talking about drilling for oil. I’m talking about creating our own fuel. Like biodiesel. Particularly soy diesel, like the folks from Old Main College were talking about. Lord knows we’ve got enough soybeans to supply it. Why don’t we produce what we need right here? You said a couple of weeks ago that diesel engines could be easily converted to run biodiesel.”
“I did, but it would be near impossible to make it cost-effective for just one community,” Delbert said.
Phil paused for a moment. “Ok, here’s the part you’re going to make fun of me for, again. I don’t really care about cost-effective. We need to create our own economy, a real local economy. If we had the ability to make our own fuel, for use right here, I think we should do it. We can hardly get a regular supply of fuel around here these days. And if we have food and we make our own fuel, what do we really need from outside here anyway?”
The question hung in the air for a moment, and Phil noticed that the other tables had gone quiet.
Finally, one man spoke up, a local real estate agent. “Ridiculous! If we tried to cut ourselves off from the outside world, our town would just dry up! No one would want to live here!”
To Phil’s surprise, Delbert offered the defense: “Mitchell, you idiot, look outside. The entire downtown is about gone, no businesses left to speak of. Our school goes down in enrollment just a little each year. Even with the brand new high school building your Chamber of Commerce buddies pushed through on us taxpayers, people look at our school system and balk at moving here. Tell us exactly what we have to offer to young families right now?”
Delbert’s question went unanswered and he continued. “Believe me, this Pullback Bill is going to suck any and all life out of small towns. It’s been happening for a generation, now it’ll be permanent damage. There’s no coming back,” Delbert concluded.
Phil jumped in to support his friend. “For years, fuel, real food, just about anything we need has become tougher and tougher to get. Every town around here struggles to support just a few businesses. At this point in history only old-timers, older than Delbert even, know why there are separate towns at all. Communities like these were emptied of jobs over the last couple of generations, communities that had once been the backbone of the greatest empire in history.”
“We can’t fight progress,” the real estate agent replied. “That’s what Americans want, to be able to stop by a store to get anything they need.”
“And lots of things they didn’t know they needed,” Delbert said with exasperation. “The cheaper the junk the better, and whatever they can fit into storage spaces, they buy. But now, stores are closing, prices for needed goods are high, and unemployment is still stuck around 20% no matter what the government tries to tell us.”
The real estate man just stared into his coffee. Optimism was his business, but he wasn’t blind to what was happening. He once had a plan. Since the internet tied the world together, people could work from anywhere, even small towns. His plan had been to recruit professionals out of the city to enjoy country living. Subdivided five acre lots on the west edge were a testament to the faith he had in his ability to create a demand where none existed before.
His technology hopes were dashed now by Mother Nature. Slowly at first, and then consistently each day, people all over the world experienced something only the far Northern Hemisphere previously recognized. Beautiful multicolored streams of light filled the night sky, bathing the entire world with the most amazing light show ever seen.
Communities got together for outdoor viewing parties,
enjoying the brilliant display with a heavy dose of music ranging from classical to Pink Floyd to techno.
The excitement of noctilucent nights disappeared quickly as people began to realize the spectacular show meant their electronic gadgets didn’t work properly anymore. Nothing shut off permanently, there was no flash, or bang, or instant catastrophe. As one tech expert on Bloomberg put it, the ubiquitous gadgets that American life revolved around had gone “glitchy.” TVs worked intermittently, sometimes stopping for days. Cell phones were just as inconsistent as the days of the bag phone when mobile phone technology cost per minute, and across the street meant you were roaming. Even electrical power to homes and businesses were affected by sudden brownouts. No one knew when the glitches would hit, but they were becoming more consistent.
The media referred to the lights as Solar Storms. Scientists had plenty of technical names, but Americans weren’t really interested in an astronomy lesson. They just wanted to know what someone was going to do about it. Pressure mounted on the President and Congress to come up with a fix. America’s already ailing economy hemorrhaged billions of dollars a week due to down time. Modern cars and buses all used computers throughout their engine and electrical systems. Vehicles costing thousands of dollars were rendered useless without complete upgrades to counteract the Solar Storms. Even the upgrades didn’t always work.
Inconsistent internet caused the biggest panic of all. America’s daily life revolved around being connected to the Web 24/7. Solar Storms caused people to go days without email, messaging or accessing social media profiles. Bank accounts weren’t necessarily wiped out, but they were difficult to access. And when people accessed their account, they were restricted in the amount they could remove each day. Everywhere people were saying that something had to be done, or the politicians were going to pay…
CAPITOL BUILDING CONFERENCE ROOM
FEDERAL DC – GREEN ZONE
“I just don’t think my membership will go for that,” said Mary Matheny, the senior Senator from Ohio.
Speaker of the House Thomas Reed looked at the men and women gathered around the big conference room table. Most were political snakes, willing to do anything necessary to get another two or six years at the greatest public trough ever created. Some, on the other hand, were true believers. People who were willing to do whatever deemed necessary to accomplish goals they considered morally just. Reed wasn’t sure which group he distrusted more.
“What is there to go for, Mary?” Reed asked with a mixture of pleading and contempt, one of his favorite tones. “I’m not sure there is anything to discuss. We’ve pretty much decided what has to be done. And the Pullback Bill is the only way to accomplish that.”
He rubbed his temples, wishing what he said wasn't the truth. The Solar Storms were bleeding an already anemic country dry. If the government didn’t move quickly to find a solution, America was going to plunge into a deep recession or even depression. And his constituents, or more importantly his donors, didn’t want that to happen.
The blueprint for the Pullback had been outlined during the New Deal of the 1930s. Everyone learned from early elementary school that FDR saved America with a diverse batch of legislative and executive orders creating massive public works projects. And then the ultimate public works project, World War II, catapulted the United States into the vanguard of the world’s economies. Though challenged for that pinnacle now by Asia Pacific Alliance, the European Union, and the African Commonwealth, America was not going to give up the lead without a fight.
“Most of my voters still remember the Stimulus Bill of the early 2000s. They’re going to flip at the idea of adding more debt with this one bill than all other bills combined in the history of the country,” Senator Matheny continued.
“Mary, we have to make them understand that previous stimulus package just wasn’t big enough. We got good traction with it, but it ran out of steam. It should have been ten or twenty times bigger and then we would have grown our way right out of the hole.” For support, Reed looked over at Representative Maleka Connor–Williams, representing the west side of Chicago. Harvard educated and attached to three think tanks, she was one of the true believers in her causes. She was also close friends with Senator Matheny, though supposedly from radically different sides of the aisle.
Reed spoke again, “We all have to make sure we’re on the same page here. With this bill we're going to make history this week. There has never been a coalition like Con–Pro since the creation of our beloved America. We’re going to pass this bill with almost 80% of all members in both houses. Imagine that! Conservatives and Progressives both agreeing the same thing needs to be done! If that doesn’t give you cover back home with voters, we’re all in big trouble anyway.”
I can see the heads nodding now. I've got them on the ropes, they're ready for the knockout blow, Reed thought.
Aloud to the room, he said: “The President will sign this tonight on national television and each one of you in this room will get to stand behind him while he does it. Plus we’ve arranged that the headlines on each one of your local news portals will list you as the lead in ramrodding this through. The broadcast will include your list of local shovel-ready projects to start immediately.”
The whole room lit up like a football stadium, with grins from ear to ear. Publicity like that couldn’t be bought with tens of millions in advertising.
Not surprisingly, Rep. Connor–Williams was the only one not smiling.
“Do we have to use that shovel-ready terminology?” she asked. “We’re talking about technology here. Fibers and gigabytes…not bridges and eight-lane highways.”
“You’re right, of course, Maleka. Let me see if I can get that changed right away. Shall we say ‘connectivity restoration projects?’’ Reed asked ironically.
“I kind of like that, and it fits the three letter rule for communicating with the ill–informed,” Connor–Williams agreed. “We’ll call it the CRP Initiative. Sounds better than the Pullback.” Reed had been joking, knowing how that acronym would be pronounced by dissenting voices. Oh well, no such thing as bad publicity.
“And you promise the money will be distributed from the states, not from the Feds, correct?” asked Mark Jacobs, senator from Florida. “Because that’s the only way we’re signing on.”
“Of course, Mark. That was the original deal, and I stand behind it. You know I think the states are much better at handling this money than the Federal bureaucracy. They’ll be able to spend it on the projects with the best return on investment.
“Anyone have any other questions? No? It’s agreed, then,” Reed said in conclusion. “Go back to your members right now, get the vote done by 1 pm for the networks to start advertising the signing ceremony. Our goal is 400 million sets of eyeballs for this signing tonight. Con–Pro accomplishes the CRP Initiative. We’re going to make history!”
OVAL OFFICE – WHITE HOUSE
FEDERAL DC – GREEN ZONE
“My Fellow Americans…” the President of the United States began as every other President had for as long as anyone could remember. Luis Aguilar didn’t need a teleprompter, though one stood in front of him. He discovered as a young child he possessed a photographic memory. That, along with an outgoing personality rare among geniuses allowed him to rocket through the ranks of education and then politics. First as a state rep, then as a Senator, a brief stop as a Cabinet member and then right to President. Having a Hispanic-sounding name helped with the current demographics. His home state of California made up almost twenty percent of the nation’s population. Once America finally ridded herself of the Electoral College, all he needed were the larger city metros to come to his side and the Presidency was his in a popular vote landslide.
“…We stand witness to the greatest example of political cooperation our great nation has seen since the Civil Rights act of the 1960s, or even the New Deal before that. We’ve witnessed history when our elected leaders have come together and accomplished great th
ings.
“In front of me right now is legislation, approved by both chambers of Congress and already deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, setting our country back on the right path. This bill insures protection from the Solar Storms and gives us a pathway that leads out of the economic challenges you face.
“With this bill, which I have dubbed the Connectivity Restoration Project, or CRP, your government now has the means to reestablish the connections between our great cities. Yes, it is a lot of money, but the Congressional Budget Office has determined that this bill will return over one hundred times the amount spent to fortify our electrical infrastructure in positive GDP growth. And it is estimated to create or maintain at least forty million jobs.
“To avoid any delay, each state will be allocated money to their infrastructure accounts through the Department of the Interior by tomorrow morning. Governors will be allowed to submit plans to Secretary of the Interior Herman Johnson for immediate approval. The Secretary has doubled the Department of the Interior staff to ensure we encounter no delays. This fresh way of looking at things will allow states to prioritize their projects while making sure that there is a strong hand overseeing the people’s hard-earned money.
“With help from our friends at the Con–Pro Coalition, our nation realizes significant savings from the Pullback. As you all know, it has been a goal of mine to bring our troops home from around the world. We need to streamline our military, and right-size it in this day and age of mutual world cooperation. Both Conservatives and Progressives agree with this central pillar of my administration. Effective immediately, I have instructed the Pentagon to begin handing over all overseas bases to our allies, and to begin disbanding at least 50% of all active duty units. National Guard Units will now form the basis of our national defense. While tasked with helping their local communities, I have federalized their commands and placed them under the authority of the Secretary of Defense to replace the manpower lost from regular army units. Even now, we are in the process of shipping back all of our military hardware to be distributed to community police forces across the country.