In the year 2032, China, the new democratic world superpower, invaded America. The United States had been hauled before the U.N. security council because of its proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons, but, like so many other “rogue states” before it, it remained defiant. The U.N. attempted to send in weapons inspectors to check on the progress of U.S. weapons programs, but had been rebuffed.
Every diplomatic avenue taken and failed, then, China concluded that invasion was the last resort for eliminating the threat America posed to the world– after all, it proliferated nuclear weapons, had supported nasty dictators, and had a nasty track record of invading sovereign states without U.N. permission.
No matter, the Chinese leadership said. America had a formidable military, yes, but President Sherman had for several years been quite unpopular, including among military brass. “We will be greeted as liberators,” Chinese leaders crowed. “The people, realizing they could be free of such corrupt leadership, will be glad to see us!”
Were they ever wrong. Americans, as it turned out, had a thing against foreign invaders, no matter what their opinion of their President. The military put up a heroic but ultimately futile stand agains the Chinese invaders, but hundreds of thousands of individual gun owners rushed to the streets to form makeshift militias. These proved devastating to the occupiers. Furthermore, the Chinese made the mistake of laying off several million workers from a number of corporations deemed corrupt. Their intention was noble: they would set up new companies based on Chinese ideology. Because of the violence and the fact that Americans were loath to accept the occupiers’ concepts, though, these companies never got off the ground, leaving millions of workers permanently unemployed.
This, of course, had dire effects on the violence. Out of work, many normally-law-abiding citizens turned to militias as their only source of identity and money. These militia leaders, after all, paid handsomely to plant bombs and shoot Chinese soldiers, and many men and boys jumped at these opportunities.
Although there are competing stories of what happened next, it seems that the nation spiraled into civil war from that point on. Warlords ruled the streets, paying their soldiers to kill others, and men willingly did it, as they had no other hope for money. Traditional social bonds broke down, and soon major battles were breaking out between left and right, caucasian and Mexican-American. People who would not normally have killed each other now believed in the doctrine of war after seeing so many of their loved ones killed.
The war in America was long unpopular among a certain portion of the Chinese populace. But now that the war was getting bogged down, a fierce debate broke out. Some spoke thus: “What is wrong with these people? Do they not have the capacity to enjoy freedom? It just doesn’t make sense why they would turn to violence rather than helping to create a better society.” Those same people rushed to question the patriotism of their political opponents. “We need to win this thing,” they said. “There are terrorists in America who oppose the freedom we have brought, and they must be defeated.” Nevertheless, the Chinese government strangely did not address the economic problems that stood behind so much of the American violence.
Sadly, Chinese politicians on both sides paid little attention to American wishes. Pull out, stay the course, good Americans versus terrorists– those were common words in the political debate. But few were listening to those Americans, some of whom were even involved in the violence, who wished for jobs that could help to curb the strife.
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Truly– it does not make sense. Or does it?