Though Indonesia and Brazil, the fourth- and fifth-most populous countries, publicly supported a global response, inside sources said behind doors the two nations banded together in firm opposition to the summit’s proposals. My sources informed me their reluctance to adopt the summit’s suggestions was ultimately overcome through traditional horse trading and pledges of aid.
Less visible, according to a White House source, was the unanimous agreement to begin using a heavy dose of rationing to relieve current strains in the supply of food and water.
Though the summit appears to have met its goals, experts disagree on whether the agreements will materially slow the building pressures from overpopulation. It also remains questionable whether the policies will be uniformly implemented by all participants.
Laura’s pride crumbled like month-old bread in the two minutes it took to read the article. She knew her dreams of having a family were quickly disappearing and feared for the future. She scanned the front page, noticing a picture of a food-laden banquet from one of the summit’s meetings and felt a surge of rage. The accompanying article took world leaders to task for wasting food while many in the world were beginning to feel the ravages of hunger. The reporter placed blame on Johnson for failing to consider the inconsiderate optics and for allowing four hundred thousand dollars to be spent on food served during the summit.
Laura agreed with the reporter and wondered, given the circumstances, how the hell the president could appear so insensitive. Her eye drifted to Johnson in the midst of the global leaders and she questioned how they could smile for a picture at a time like this.
Eyeing the lineup of heads of state, she caught a headline in the index below the fold that read: Mass Execution of Chinese Prisoners. Laura furiously paged to the tenth page and read the report that stated half of the population in Shanghai’s largest prison had been executed. The article strongly speculated the food-starved Shanghai prisoners were sacrificed to save food. A Communist Party leader defended the upgrade in their sentences to death by referring to the actions America had taken to lengthen prison sentences. The reporter wondered whether other nations would be forced to adopt what the UN Human Rights Commission termed a massacre. Laura crumpled the paper as her eyes welled up.
***
One of two armed security guards recognized Jack and let him through. He greeted the smiling hostess and was shown to his table in the rear of Restaurant Nicholas. Laura, who’d been nursing her second glass of white Bordeaux, craned her neck to receive a kiss. Jack settled in a chair.
“This is pretty nice, isn’t it?”
Laura shrugged.
“What’s the matter? Thought Nicholas was your favorite place.”
“I know, but we didn’t have to come here. You don’t get it, Carrabba’s would’ve been fine if you came on time.”
Jack reached for her hand. “I’m sorry. I really am, but we’re here now, okay, so let’s enjoy it while we can. I don’t know how long this place will be around.”
“All right, we’ll call a truce.” Laura smiled.
Jack picked up the wine list. “How about a nice Pinot to celebrate the ceasefire?”
“Make it an expensive one. You deserve some punishing.”
Jack ordered a bottle of Kistler and reached into his breast pocket.
“In case you’re interested, here’s a mock-up of tomorrow’s front page.”
Jack slid three sheets across the table.
“Of course, I’m interested in your work, Jack. I just don’t want to be overshadowed by it.”
“Don’t worry, Laura.”
Laura laid the sheets out.
“I mean, you see the armed guards at the restaurants, at least the ones that are still open, but I didn’t even think about things like reservoirs and slaughterhouses. Ugh, I hate that name.”
“Check halfway in, about the hijacking ring. I was able to find out it was the Russian mob behind it. They’ve been hijacking the trucks and selling the food to grocery stores, bodegas, and even a few of the big chain stores.”
Laura pushed the papers aside. “Where’s this all going, Jack? I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Jack leaned in, lowering his voice. “With the stock we’ve got, we’ll be okay for a while, but if nothing big happens . . . I’d don’t know.”
“What do you mean, something big?”
“A breakthrough of some kind, like a new source of food. Maybe the techies can figure this out, or, who knows, people could start dying again. Something, anything.”
“How much time do you think we got?”
“To be honest, Laura, from what I’m hearing, not much.”
“Oh, my God.” She fell back into her chair. “Jack, do you really believe that?”
Jack nodded and took a bite of bread.
“What are we going to do?”
“There’s nothing we can do but pray.” Jack lifted his wine glass. “What do you say we stop all the gloom and doom talk and have some wine?”
***
White House Chief of Staff Garland finished a meeting at the Pentagon and was being escorted out when he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his phone. He told the general it was the president and was shown into an empty conference room for privacy.
Garland continued to fake talking until the general closed the door behind him, then he grabbed one of the phones on the table.
“Jack, it’s Pete Garland. We need some help.”
“And how. What’s it this time?”
“The ration program. We just can’t delay it anymore, and we’d appreciate your help in selling it to the public.”
“So we’ve come to this?”
“Afraid so. If we don’t act now, it’ll likely be every man for himself.”
“Like we ain’t there now?”
Garland sighed and said, “No time for debating, Jack. You in?”
“I need particulars.”
Garland began explaining that every American would be issued a ration card that would be digitally loaded with each month’s rations. They would be redeemable at grocery stores, but that, longer term, the Feds were going to centralize the distribution of food and water. When questioned, Garland said the program would only provide ninety percent of what was nutritionally required to survive.
Jack asked, “So there’s your first problem. People are gonna panic.”
“Look, there’s a ton of people getting nowhere near the ninety percent of what they need now.”
“But they don’t know it. Can’t you see? Once the government tells them, they’ll panic.”
“Maybe they’ll get creative.”
“How long can humans survive at ninety percent?”
“I don’t know exactly, but it’s a long time, from what I remember the surgeon general saying.”
“He didn’t have a problem with it?”
“He didn’t like it, but he said it would buy a year or two.”
“A year or two till you starve?”
“No, no. Until side effects started to show, like people being tired, getting frequent colds or infections, and some mental sluggishness or depression.”
“Sounds like a picnic.”
“It’s a helluva lot better than the alternative. So, can you lend a hand here?”
“I’ll have to vet the health effects before I try to get people to walk the plank.”
“Look, Jack, walking the plank is doing nothing. Implementing a rations program treats all Americans the same and gives us a measure of control when things get worse.”
“And an easy way to reduce the rations.”
“Or quickly increase them.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“So, you in?”
“I really gotta make sure this ninety percent thing is not government-assisted suicide, and if it checks out, I’ll get a piece out.”
“It will, and hey, Jack, and don’t misinterpret this, if you decide to help, we have a little bit of flexibility built in
to the program.”
“What d’ya mean?”
“Well, since it can impact mental awareness a bit, we have a mechanism in the rules to give one extra ration per month to those designated as essential service providers.”
“Let me guess, you work for the government, you get more.”
“No, Jack. Only the highest-level managers, you know, people in control of our nukes, the military, our science folks, and people like you.”
“I’m not a government pawn.”
“Come on, Jack, don’t you think I know that? For God’s sake, you always give me a hard time. But hey, you don’t have to take the extra rations.”
“Of course I want it!”
“Okay, naturally we have to keep it quiet.”
“Sure thing. Let me get to work.”
“Look, there’s one more thing.”
Jack sighed. “You know, Pete, there always seems to one more thing with you. What’s it this time?”
“Every American’s going to have to turn in their firearms to qualify for the rations.”
“Pretty underhanded way of disarming the nation.”
“You can call it what you like, but if things progress the way they seem to be, you’ll thank me there won’t be as many guns on the streets.”
Chapter Twenty
Ration Program Roll Out
By Jack Amato
The Johnson administration announced the rollout of Fair Measure, its rationing program. Though word of the program had travelled the hallways of Capitol Hill, the Rose Garden announcement caught many members of Congress and the press by surprise.
Though rationing programs evoke painful memories of the Great Depression and World War II, Johnson made the case that fairness and equality drove the creation of the program. Highlighting several cases of crime related to the uneven distribution of food in rural areas helped to reinforce his case.
After explaining that a controversial precondition of the program required Americans to turn in their firearms, the president turned the podium over to his surgeon general.
The doctor emphasized to Americans that the reduction in guns would ensure their rations would not be easily stolen, then he addressed health concerns. The doctor explained that though the ninety percent quantity of rations was less than ideal, it would have minimal impact over the short to medium term. He also made the point that our bodies would adapt to a degree, offsetting some of the undernourishment effects.
The surgeon general did make it clear that sustained undernourishment would take a serious toll on the nation’s well-being and finished his comments with a promise to closely monitor the program.
A fact sheet disseminated by Health and Human Services is reproduced below and contains enrollment details.
***
Garland strode into the Roosevelt Room three months after the summit. A wave of crime related to food shortages and definitive signs that the summit’s agreements were fraying like an old sock necessitated the meeting.
“Good morning, sir. Sorry I’m late, but there was a problem in—”
Johnson waved him off. “Let’s get this going. I’ve got a very busy day.”
“Absolutely, Mr. President.” Garland made eye contact with the other attendees as he sat.
The president said, “Garland’s proposed a number of items, and I’m sure he’s got a few more under his sleeve. So take it from here, Pete.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. We don’t have to go over where we are. There’s no time to waste on politics, but allow me to share one number with you.” The chief of staff surveyed the room and said, “Twenty-seven. The president’s approval rating is, no make that, has plummeted to, twenty-seven miserly percent. Shit, Weiner could get a quarter of our ignorant electorate to vote for him.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
Garland stood. “I believe we’ve got a small window of opportunity to shift the direction of things.” Garland pulled his lips in. “But we’ve got to be open to all ideas. No more worrying about the political impact of things. Look, I’ll be the first one to admit, my job is to protect the president’s rump, but now we’ve got to put all that aside and try to figure how the hell we save the country, goddamn it, civilization for that matter. Now, who wants to open?”
Homeland Security Secretary Rosario raised a forefinger. “Food-related crime is rising despite the harsher sentences. Police forces all over the country have been asking for aid, and we’re doing what we can, but it’s not enough. One thing we should do is use the National Guard to protect production and storage facilities, slaughterhouses, and the like. We’ve spent some time developing a state by state list, identifying most of the vital ones. We also need to think about a plan to protect water sources and related infrastructure. I know we’re not there yet on drinking water, but if you see what’s going on in China and India, it’s only a matter of time. Remember, reservoirs are soft targets and by their very nature almost impossible to defend, so that’s going to be a challenge we can tackle after the first act.”
“It’s a damn good idea. Thank you for getting a list together.” Garland looked at Johnson. “Mr. President, if you agree, we’ll instruct the guard and work with Homeland.”
Johnson nodded. “Absolutely. Now, I’d like everyone to know that I’ve decided to expand the cabinet, adding a Secretary of Population Control. We’ll dub it Secpopcon. I like the ring of that.” Johnson smirked and continued, “We need someone to funnel everything that’s going on, and I feel it will also help the public to understand this issue is a priority for my administration. I’m going to nominate Tom Lily. He’s loaded with Madison Avenue experience.”
Garland stifled a laugh, “Excellent idea, sir, he’s perfect. I’m sure the public will take solace in it. Just to clear the reporting line, the new secretary position would be more of a coordination and public face. Am I correct, sir?”
“Exactly, have all the PR go through him. We need to be on the same page.”
Secretary of State Martin Ryan read a text on his phone and said, “There’s trouble in Beijing. Our embassy is reporting riots breaking out over the revision in their rationing program. They cut it back twenty percent. Well below nutritional minimums. Without any supplemental sources, we estimate you’d starve to death in twelve to eighteen months.”
“Guess they’re betting the house on a breakthrough before it hits.”
Defense Chief Rogers shook his head. “The Chinese are not sitting on their hands, I can assure you. Although you may not like their, shall we say, style, our intelligence has confirmed the Communist Party’s plot to reduce the prison population through mass executions is going national.”
Homeland Chief Rosario said, “There’s about four million in Chinese prisons. They can’t kill them all. And even if they did, with almost two billion of them, it won’t make a dent.”
Rogers retorted, “They’re targeting convictions for serious crime—murder, rape, armed robbery, that sort of thing. It’s about half the prison population.”
“Okay, so say two million, that’s not gonna tip the scales.”
Rogers answered, “Maybe, but you tell that to parents trying to find enough to feed their families. To say the populace is restless is a massive miscalculation. The Party is shrewd. I don’t want to sound cruel, but we’re talking about serious criminals, not Boy Scouts. It’s really not a bad move. It makes total sense.”
The president weighed in. “Well, it’s not something I’d even talk about.”
Rogers mumbled, “Not yet.”
Johnson leaned across the table. “What the hell does that mean?”
“All I’m saying is things are going to get worse—and fast. We have to acknowledge we’re not in a vacuum, and we’ve got to consider things that heretofore were unthinkable.”
Garland said, “Let’s hope we won’t have to implement,” he fingered quotation marks, “unthinkable policies, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare for them. If we don’t have policies re
ady to address the worst scenarios, we’re not only not doing our job, but it’d be a dereliction of our sworn oaths.”
Johnson rapped his knuckles on the table. “Goddammit! Of course we should consider every option, but that doesn’t mean we have to commit murder. We just can’t go down that road. There’s no justification for it, plain and simple.”
“I understand, sir, but I’m speaking hypothetically here. If we ever had to engage in or put forth a policy to deal with some of the population, we’d be protecting the majority of law-abiding citizens.”
Johnson slammed his hand on the table. “Is anybody listening? I don’t want to hear any more of this! Now, does anyone have anything constructive to offer?”
Rosario said, “Sir, if I may, I think we have an idea that will help, albeit on the margins. The attorney general and I have discussed amending current housing regulations.”
“Go on.”
Rosario explained the details of the plan to expand the amount of land for farming. When he was finished, the President said, “Now you want to kick people out of their homes?”
Rosario said, “We desperately need more agriculture space. We’re on the cusp of having to invoke eminent domain to get more land, but that only buys a small amount of time. A program outlawing single- to three-family housing would free up a lot of land for farming.”
The president sighed, “How long is all of this going to take before we get results?”
Rosario said, “Well, sir, we recommend the immediate declaration of eminent domain in about a hundred locations, invoking the emergency powers granted to you under Title Fifty. We’ll need to give homeowners thirty days to vacate, then another thirty days to reclaim the land and plant seedlings. We’d cultivate quick-harvesting vegetables with high nutritional value like spinach, kale, and beets that would be ready to eat in sixty days.”
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