Sweetness in the Dark

by W. B. Martin

  “Well, there you go then. I would rate that as why we don’t need a money system that increases in value. It would ruin the market for the things we export,” Rebecca said.

  Amanda could tell by her smug smile that she thought she had made a salient point in the discussion. Amanda then presented the figures on United States prices prior to World War II. Historically, while the United States was on the gold standard, prices fell on average one percent a year.

  A gold standard limited governments ability to inflate the currency, with workers seeing their wages remain fairly stagnant over the years. But if prices on all commodities were constantly falling, then in reality, workers saw their purchasing power increase.

  “The net result of a twenty percent drop in prices over twenty years was the same as a twenty percent increase in wages. When the government went to debtism as a form of economic growth, the picture was quite different from earlier times in America,” Amanda explained.

  “Yes more people benefited from the expanding money supply. They could get loans to pursue their dreams,” Rebecca said.

  “Au contraire,” Amanda jumped in. “I first noticed this watching old ‘Perry Mason’ reruns on TV when I was a little kid. That show from the 1950s would mention what things cost back then and I was smart enough to notice the difference. One episode had a restaurant menu on the screen and a steak dinner was a dollar twenty five. I remember asking my dad what was going on.”

  Lars jumped in. “Just counting from 1971 when our old friend Nixon said ‘No More Gold’, the dollar has retained just two percent of its value, based on gold. That, my friends, is government sanctioned robbery on a scale unimaginable.”

  “Well, hold on a dang blame minute,” Horst intervened. “I didn’t mean to step in the cow pie on this one. Obviously this is a hot button item that isn’t going to be solved today. Can I get the conversation back to whether Texas is part of the new country or not?”

  Amanda knew now what Rebecca and Horst had in common. Each wanted to see a return to America being a debtor nation. The President and his supporters were just as determined to see a new era of true capitalism bloom in the country.

  * * *

  The next day she met with the President to report her discovery. The two worked on plans to hold off the Texas advance.

  “But why would Horst and Rebecca team up? Their views are opposite when it comes to government,” Amanda said.

  “Not as opposite as you might think. Rebecca is angling to get the social programs back. She thinks that happens by borrowing and taxing to redistribute the wealth,” the President answered. “Horst, on the other hand, wants Imperial America to return. As the leader of the Neoonservatives, or Neocons, his view is that it’s a dangerous world out there and only America can defend it.”

  “But it is a dangerous world,” Amanda said. Horst is right on that item, she thought.

  “No disagreement here. It is a dangerous world, but America can no longer defend the civilized parts all by herself,” the President said.

  The President and his advisors had been putting a political coalition together. The new country’s Constitution had broken the stranglehold of the old two-party system that had dominated the old United States. With only the House of Representatives being directly elected by the voters, the power of a party system was severely weakened.

  Senators, being elected by tax-paying individuals according to their tax bill, were less likely to need a political party for support. And the National Council was antithetical to any party. Chosen by random selection, each Councilor was beholden to no one.

  As a consequence, the UAS political landscape had broken into four main groups. The current President was the acknowledged leader of the Libertarian Caucus. Horst Petrasek acted on behalf of the Neoconservative Caucus. Rebecca had assumed a quasi-leadership role among the few remaining liberals in the country.

  The last group was the Christian Caucus. Holding a strong position in the South and the Midwest, the Christians had placed a large block in each body of Congress. They were well represented on the Presidential Cabinet and the Supreme Court.

  With Rebecca and Horst teaming up to block any establishment of a gold standard monetary system, that left the President looking to the Christians to broker a deal.

  Amanda asked, “Mr. President, can we make a deal with the Christians on this?”

  “We worked closely with them on getting the Constitution approved,” the President admitted.

  Amanda recalled the political ‘horse trading’ that had taken place to reach a consensus on the Constitution. With the Texas crowd and their Neocons neutered at that time, it had come down to the Libertarians and the Christians.

  As the acknowledged leader of the Libertarians, the Idaho governor had worked out a series of compromises. To get the National Council approved, the other side made sure that the ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ was incorporated into the constitution.

  For a Senate elected by tax-paying voters only, the Christians demanded that abortion be made illegal. The Libertarians refused that position and a compromise position was reached. Abortion would be regulated by each state for only the first trimester. After that time, a Constitutional ban on all abortions would hold.

  The President and Cabinet being chosen, instead of elected, almost cost the Libertarians Sunday. Or at least all commercial activity on Sunday. The Christians wanted a return to the old ‘Blue Laws’ that had prevailed in many states up until the 1960s. Back then, the law in many states excluded most commercial activity on Sunday.

  The Libertarians had resisted such a demand. The Christians then had asked for changes in the tax structure. A television tax as well as an entertainment tax on movies was approved. A TV tax had been common in the countries of the British Commonwealth since TV’s inception. Amanda had thought at that time that the old Democratic Party had certainly missed that tax. Since Hollywood was a ghost town, no objection to a movie tax had been made.

  The Christian Caucus further asked for a doubling of the national sales tax on Sundays. If they couldn’t stop commerce, they would certainly discourage it.

  The Libertarians swallowed hard at that time and accepted these compromises. They understood the bigger picture of a smaller government outweighing the infringements on freedom to which they were agreeing.

  Amanda recalled that someone had commented at the time, “Governing is like making sausage. Sometimes unappealing in the making, but the end product tastes good.”

  The President broke the silence as both he and Amanda remembered the past negotiations “We’ll have to see what price they want this time. I don’t see another option. We could try to appeal to the voters, but that would take too long. The country needs a stable economy now.”

  “I’ll call Mary Salter, if you’d like. I think she’s our best choice,” Amanda said.

  “I agree. See if she’s available today. We need to get an agreement quickly before the Neocons make a pitch for the Christian support,” the President responded.

  Mary Salter was the Secretary of the Interior in the President’s own Cabinet. She had been elected to the House of Representatives from the State of Tennessee. The House had chosen her for the Cabinet where she had been selected for Interior.

  As such, she was responsible for the items in the old Interior Department, like public lands, hydroelectric dams and National Parks. But with the reduced size of the national government, Interior had taken on a lot of orphan programs when other departments had been closed. The small remaining portions of the old Departments of Transportation, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and the Environment were now under Interior.

  * * *

  Being on the Presidential Cabinet made Mary Salter a leader of the Christian Caucus. While leadership roles were still being sorted out in the new government, Amanda recognized that Mary had become a leading Christian spokesman.

  “Mr. President, I’m honored that you’ve called me. How can I be of servi
ce?” Mary asked when the three met.

  “As you are aware, I’m putting together the foundation for a sound money system for the country. Unfortunately, I’m meeting resistance by those wishing for a return to the old days of easy money,” the President explained. “After our success writing the Constitution together, I thought we could work to establish a system free from the money changers.”

  Amanda recognized the Biblical reference in the President’s pitch. Jesus had thrown the money changers from the temple.

  “Mr. President, while I can only speak for myself, I know my side sees the advantage of sound money. The Bible speaks often of gold, both in good and bad ways. The past experience our country has endured certainly speaks of the bad side of phony money,” Mary said. “If you may allow me twenty four hours, I will have an answer for you.”

  The President agreed to a one-day delay to consult with her faction. They set a time to meet the following day.

  * * *

  The next day Amanda and the President got their answer. It would be a difficult bargain.

  “Mr. President, my caucus has listed a number of items it would like to see established in the new country. I think you’ll agree that they all strengthen the family. So much of our cultural demise revolved around the breakup of our families,” Mary began.

  “I agree. While our teen pregnancy rate dropped, our out-of-wedlock birth rate soared. That almost half our babies were being born to one-parent households was appalling,” the President concurred.

  “Then we agree on the need to support two-parent homes and to further support one parent being at home to raise the children.”

  Amanda looked at the President. She wasn’t sure that the discussion was headed in a direction she could support. Putting women back in the kitchen as their only option in life bothered her.

  She saw the President react to the suggestion of women reverting back to traditional roles. He offered, “Mary, I certainly can support two parent homes. I can also support getting the national government to reduce its financial burden on families so one parent can stay home. But I want to be perfectly clear that the person staying home could be a mom or dad.”

  “Agreed,” Mary said. Then she threw out the next demand. The Christian Caucus was again asking for recognition by the new government of the Sabbath.

  Sunday would become a day oriented to religious worship and family. While not creating a state religion, the national government would impose commercial restrictions on what could take place on Sunday.

  Mary explained that like the ‘Blue Laws’ of the early part of the 20th century, commercial activity would be curtailed. Only small essential commercial establishments would be allowed to be open. Corner convenience stores, gas stations and drug stores were the type of places envisioned by the Christians as appropriate.

  Large malls and big-box stores would be shuttered on Sunday. Even large grocery stores would be among those shops closed.

  The Christian Caucus wanted people to refrain from commercial activities on Sunday and spend their time in other ways.

  The President stepped in. “But Mary, we went over all this during the Constitution debates. My side gave way on the double taxation on Sunday. Isn’t that enough?”

  “My side is quite adamant about Sunday being a family day this time. They felt like they didn’t get enough last time and are determined to hold out.”

  The President was taken back when Mary went on. Mary stated that her side also wanted all professional sports excluded from Sunday. If people didn’t chose to attend church, then with limited shopping and entertainment options, they might spend more time with their families and neighbors.

  “That will be a tough one, Mary,” the President said. Although none of the professional sports had been reestablished since ‘the Pulse’, it was only a matter of time before some sort of sports again ruled people’s lives. “I’ll agree that people put way too much time and effort into sports before P-Day, but nothing on Sundays? I don’t know.”

  “There will be six days a week for all the sports people want. One day needs to be set aside so that families at least have the opportunity to be together. They may choose to do things separately, but their options will be limited,” Mary answered.

  Amanda jumped in the discussion. “I agree with Mary. Sports was an escape for many people. With the old country taking so many freedoms away and taxing people to death, sports was a way out. I think having one day without all the usual distractions might be beneficial.”

  “And to encourage family time, we are asking for a doubling of the tax on cell phone calls and text messages on Sunday also,” Mary stated.

  The UAS had already decided to start taxing the entertainment part of peoples lives. Along with separate television and movie taxes, the internet had finally been taxed.

  A per-call tax had been imposed on cell phones along with a tax on each text message. Internet use was to be taxed by the minute. The Christian Caucus had jumped on the internet tax since estimates had stated that half the bandwidth was being used for porn downloads. While the Christian Caucus had attempted a ban on internet porn previously, a tax on downloads would hit people in their wallets.

  It turned out that parents were ecstatic about the cell and text tax. It allowed the government to be the bad guy while they set limits on their children’s phone use.

  “I was amazed at the support we received when we imposed the text tax. I never realized how frustrated parents had become at their kids doing ten thousand texts a month. Under the new tax, no one could afford that, so the phone companies instituted text-blocking after a predetermined number,” Amanda said.

  “I think you’ll find an equally receptive audience when one day of the week is set aside with very little outside stimulus available. Our society was bereft of a moral basis due to everyone being too busy,” Mary said.

  Again Mary pushed for more controls on internet pornography. “The Web has become a cesspool for our youth. Graphic images are easily available with a simple mouse click. We have to protect our children.”

  The President hesitated. Amanda knew his feelings on the ease of pornography coming into people’s homes. But the libertarian in him wanted people free to choose and government censorship would be anathema to him.

  Amanda offered, “Mr. President, in the past all pornography sites required a credit card number before access was allowed. Perhaps that sort of restriction again would meet the requirements, since credit cards typically require one to be over eighteen.”

  The President thought that was a good solution. “I know your caucus wants more restrictions but my caucus will only go so far in limiting people’s individual freedoms.”

  Mary made another attempt at outlawing homosexuality. The President stopped her.

  “Mary, I knew this would be in the discussion. What my side can offer is a national support of ‘civil unions’. While it is a state’s issue, in order that people have the same rights across state lines, the national government would recognize those unions. That gives gays the right to be recognized legally as a couple, without the traditional approval of marriage,” the President said.

  Amanda knew that the Christian Caucus had obtained the majority of their items for support of a gold-backed monetary system. Amanda wondered what damage such an agreement would cause the President in his own caucus. But the President had one more item to discuss with Mary.

  * * *

  The next day the President and the Secretary of the Interior held a press conference to announce the new agreement. Meeting with his full caucus prior to the announcement, the President reminded the Libertarians of the importance of the gold standard. He also reminded them that the Neocons were waiting in the wings if they couldn’t reach a compromise.

  The Libertarian Caucus was taken aback by the infringement the new ‘Blue Laws’ placed on the new country. But the thought of losing the ‘gold standard’ and reverting back to a ‘fiat money’ system persuaded the majority to accept
the deal. The strong leadership of the President had kept the Libertarians from breaking with the deal.

  After the compromise was announced by the two leaders of their respective caucuses, the President proposed the Free World Federation. The FWF, as it would be called, would be an association of western-style countries that could find common ground in which they could cooperate. A sort-of a United Nations for the non-despot countries, it would set standards that each member would have to meet to receive the mutual support of the entire group.

  The old United Nations had ceased to exist after ‘the Pulse’. Many thought it had ceased to exist as a legitimate organization when the United Nations named Moammar Gadhafi’s Libya to its ‘Human Rights Council’ in the 1990s. The little respect the organization had at that time vaporized. After that, the UN was a dying idea that had moved past reality. With the death of the liberal elites around the globe, the concept of a UN died, too.

  The UAS President now proposed a new group that would represent the free and open societies in the world. Military defense and trade were the keys that would bring the countries together. A high standard of elected government and freedom would be set for admittance. The despots of the world would be on their own.

  A ‘World Gold Standard’ would be the crux of the new group. Solid money based on a real asset. This would create trade between countries and individuals that was based on an asset that governments couldn’t manipulate to their advantage.

  Amanda watched the response at the news of a world gold standard by the opposition as both Horst and Rebecca had attended the news conference. They both appeared shocked that the Libertarians and the Christians had reached a compromise.

  The Neocons had assumed the Christian Caucus was their natural ally in the struggle for political control of the UAS, Amanda thought. Amanda was soon to find out how unstable the new Libertarian-Christian political alliance was.