Chapter 5 of the novel I'm working on

CHAPTER 5

March 19, 2013.

The nameless, faceless Voice sends out another broadcast out via the internet. This transmission is different, however, this is not done by hacking into popular sites. This time the transmission is coming from the website that was posted at the end of the first transmission. Even though this is a personal website, the face is once again blurred out and the voice is affected so it is unrecognizable, yet still clearly understandable.

"My fellow Americans, greetings once again. Thank you to all who have returned to hear me speak, this time it is your choice to do so and not me rudely interrupting. I apologize again for that, but it was the best way I knew to get your attention.  For those of you who are new to this message of hope that I bring to you, I am just a regular citizen who is using this moment to use my Constitutional right to speak about the grave ills of our once great nation. I disguise myself because who I am should be less important than the message that I will spread with those souls who care enough about this country to listen.

Today, I wish to discuss with all of you the one thing that affects all of us, the ever-struggling economy and the depravity we are facing. The problems with our economy started once we opened up the trade borders and businesses were granted greater freedom to outsource jobs away from this country. Of course it didn't happen immediately it was a slow, steady burn that ripped away at our economy. It wasn't affecting those at the top, in fact it was benefiting them. Now, they could still charge the same price for a product that cost them less to produce, which led to higher profit margins and bigger executive bonuses. If something spiked in the market that would cause the owners to lose profit, they made sure prices raised up, so the little people could suffer. More and more companies moved from being privately owned businesses to publicly traded companies, so that they could gain a big financial payday for their IPO, however, the negative side of this is it has allowed for a shift in balance of power, because those who have the resources are gobbling up these companies.

The news media is a prime example of this. At one point in time there were over 50 different outlets that had nationwide coverage, now through public optioning and corporate swallowing it is down to 4. All of our national news is in the hands of 4 companies and if you think they aren't trying to make money and feeding disinformation, then you are sadly mistaken. The news outlets now serve as a propaganda machine for the government and corporate America. They feed you stories and issues that they want you to focus on; so our feeble minds won't take the time to see how this business cycle revolves and thrives on complete and total exploitation. Our own country has put its own people under economic sanctions. If our government wanted to do this to another nation, they would have to get U.N. approval for said sanctions.

Here in America, it is looked upon as smart business and completely acceptible to drive tens of thousands of American citizens into poverty and homelessness every year. The owners of the means of production only care about the exploitation of all resources at the lowest possible price. And yes, you the American worker are considered a resource and you are exploited. They feed you an allowance and you give them your sweat, so they can make millions off of your sweat.

Capitalism, by definition, requires the total exploitation of all resources for the good of the master of production. If you believe that you aren't a part of that exploitation, then you are grossly disillusioned; which is what the master wants from you. The owners of the capital don't want you to think about how much profit they make off the sweat of good, hard-working people. They fear there would be a revolt against them and it's a logical fear, if everyone realized that for the allowence you are paid for your work that the owner is making millions off your sweat; of course the exploited would revolt. It's sane. The insanity is the masters have gotten people to believe that it's just and good to exploit so many for the gain of so few.

For years and years, we've been fed broken promises from our leadership about fixing our economy and bringing jobs back to America. The sad truth is that the majority of those so-called leaders only care about those statements when it's time for them to be re-elected or elected into office. That's how you win elections, make a lot of veiled promises with no actual plan to accomplish the promise and then go do whatever you can to discredit your opponent. I'm pretty certain that if we had an ambitious Attorney General that almost every politician on Capital Hill could be charged with out and out slander for campaign ads that spend millions of dollars to make themselves look better than their opponent and vice versa; except I don't really care about those who lost, because their decisions aren't the ones affecting policy.

Our leaders turn a blind eye to the growing economic disparity that continues everyday. They talk about making the well-to-do pay their fair share, but the reality of the situation is most of the super-rich hide their income in capital gains which is only taxed at a business rate, which is at a far lower percent of tax rate then the middle gets stuck with. Now, granted the percent of that income is more money than the average Joe pays out, but it's the principle that they could be doing more and yet continue to use tax breaks and loopholes that just make you sick.

Now, I know that I am not an economic Nobel Prize winner, but even I can see that it is not a wise course of action to have so many of the hard-working people in this country get stuck paying for all the government spending, while the ones on the top get breaks to allow them to pay less of their millions back into this country. I'm also sure that it's not good for an economy to have the average household income drop down to $28,000 from $42,000 a decade ago; while the prices on all products have been raise significantly and the value of the dollar has decreased.

Yet, the government and business leaders continue to get other nations to invest over here. As we have a debt that climbs and climbs to an amount that may never be brought down and will break the backs of generations and generations of our children, we continue to rely on the rest of the world for cash and resources to redevelop our nation. This country built itself up into the reigning economic power in the world and then inexplicably we gave it all away. There are countries out there that could cripple us if they wanted payment for what we owe them. The only thing other countries fear about us is our military strength. The problem is the rest of the world has evolved and is playing economic warfare, while we still hold on to the dying notion of using physical force to cripple a country. We still spend billions upon billions of tax-payer dollars on the defense budget. Most of that money goes into research and development; now let's think about that logically, this country alone can turn the entire planet into a parking lot many times over, and we are the only arrogant assholes ever to drop an atomic bomb on a nation, yet we are still spending billions trying to come up with new bombs. We have the most powerful bombs! We have the ability to sneak them in!  I think we are good there. Now, don't cut back on military spending when it comes to soldiers and their families, cut back on R&D to save some money. But it's America, we cut back on the men and women who sacrifice so much of their lives for this country. After all, we would never, ever consider cutting back on an arms manufacturer, because we don't want to piss off their rich buddies.

It is illogical to live in a country who's mantra is that anyone can make it to the top of the mountain; yet so few do and so many are oppressed. It is the greatest trick that has ever been pulled. They have used our own desires to enslave us all. We all have a natural desire to survive and to do so you need to work, so you can feed, clothe and provide housing for your family. Here is how the trapping starts. To get ahead, you are told to go to college to get a degree; well the majority of people who go to college have to take out loans to pay the bill. These loans are nice because you don't have to pay them while you are in school, so the total debt just adds to itself for each year you go to college. This forces the young graduate to have to find work almost immediately to start paying off these loans or their credit rating will get destroyed. It's indentured servitude! Going to college is like paying for your own on the job training. It's a scam that no one questions. Look at the Board of Trustees at most Universities and you will see C.E.O.'s and owners of local businesses sitting there helping to make decisions for the University. They have turned college and an individual's desire to find a place in the world into a profiteering enterprise. Does a school need to make money? Of course it does, it has bills to pay, but it's something worse when decisions about future generations are being determined based solely on a profit margin.

That's what we are a profit margin to some corporate executive. So, don't try and excel at your position because once you start getting raises, you may very well price yourself out of a job because you are hurting the bottom line. Once you get priced out of your job, you will be released because they can always find someone to do your job at a lower price. You are a profit margin with the items you purchase. They occasionally throw sale prices out there to help move more product, but they  want you to buy it at full price. They are still making profit on items even marked off at 50% discount, which begs the question, why not charge a lower price to begin with and move more product without having to resort to drastic sales to sell your goods. You'll end up making more money in the long run. Greed is not good. Greed is what is driving this country into bankruptcy and on the brink of dismantling itself. Greed is what is making people pay more for goods while making less. And we are all sedated by it. The advancements in the world have opened up new perceived needs for people to want. We want our big-screen, hi-def TV, with the best cable or satellite package to watch a million reality TV shows. We all want the newest smartphone that comes out with all the cool apps so we can paly games on our phone or have the coolest Facebook statuses or Twitter handles. We are all flesh and blood. We are not our Facebook statuses or our Twitter handles or any other attachment to your smartphone. Stop being slaves to conformity. Millions of lost souls with vacant stares as they bury their face in their Iphone. I wonder to myself how did we survive so long as a nation without Siri. These technological advances are supposed to make your life easier, but I ask you has it? It's all just a way to keep you distracted from the inequality and injustice in this country.

We must unite together my brothers and sisters. We have to stop fighting each other for the pennies the master gives us. We have to become a nation of citizens banding together once again, not a nation of individuals only looking out for yourselves. The majority may be an economic minority, but we are still an overwhelming majority of voices and if we banded together, then those in charge would be forced to sit down and listen. That's how unions start, enough people band together so that the ownership has to sit back and listen to the demands of the many and work together to compromise for the greater good. That's what this nation needs citizens joining together to speak out against the oppression we are living under and work together for the greater good of this nation.

Everyone seems to forget that we have a Constitutional right and a duty as citizens in this country to voice your concerns to your elected officials. We have the Constitutional right to demand a new form of government if we feel the one in place is ineffective. You are allowed to speak to your elected officials if there are things that you don't agree with in policy and I'm certain that most of you taking the time to listen to me tonight are disheartened by something in our country. I know I've said a lot tonight and I don't want to take up more of your time this evening, but we are living at a crossroads my friends. We are all going to have to make tough choices especially for those of you that are living in states that are filing papers to secede from the Union. It's going to be challenging heading into this very unknown future, but we all have to join together and make a choice on where we all stand. Now is the time. Remember, if we all don't use our voices to speak up the will continue to have us settle for nothing.

As I leave you, this website will only display a countdown until my next broadcast. Thank you for you time and let's all continue to fight for equality. Goodnight, my fellow Americans."

As the Voice finishes that statement, the screen fades to a red, white and blue background, with a countdown on the bottom of the screen that showed  29 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes that started counting down instantaneously.

Chapter 1 of the novel I'm writing

Chapter 1

 

 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012. 5:53CST, Austin TX.

 

 

 

A quiet morning sleep is disturbed by the ringing of the phone next to Governor Wallace's bed. Groggily, the Governor reaches in the dark to find the phone to silence its shrilling ring.

 

"Hello," the Governor says in that faraway voice that is stuck somewhere between the land of the living and the land of dreams.

 

"It's time," is all the voice on the other end of the line said and as quickly as it was uttered the line went dead as the caller hung up. Even before putting the phone back on its base, the Governor sits up in his bed with a look of fear and urgency on his face. This is the moment he has feared for over 20 years, when he made a deal of a limetime. He was promised power and a place in the world and that was more than enough for the young Wallace to sign up. Now, he was being asked to help start the process for the end of the status quo.

 

Governor Richard Wallace has been the most popular Governor in the state of Texas for a long time now. He has reached a thrid term. Not too bad for a kid who grew up in Brooklyn and had to push himself harder than most kids his age to build the life and goals that he wanted. Instead of girls and football games, Wallace spent his nights reading and studying. He wanted nothing more than to gain access to the good life. He worked harder than anyone could ever imagine, including himself, gaining a full academic scholarship to Harvard University.

 

It was at Harvard where over 20 years ago, he met the person on the other end of the phone call. Wallace was told if he believed in the group and executed the plan, he would have great power and would not have to worry about wealth for his life. However, as most deals like this there was a catch and this is now the time that he hoped would never come. Having enjoyed success in life, Wallace was hoping that the day would never come, where he would have to honor his part of the arrangement, for he knows the consequences of the action that he will start today. Once he starts the ball rolling, there will be no going back to normal and everything he worked so hard for will be shattered. However, he knows that he has no choice. He is just hoping that he made the right decision.  

 

The Governor gets out of bed and does his preperations to go into the office for work. As he is showering, he tells himself that today is the moment where he gets to start rewriting history. He is wondering how he will be remembered. Will he be a hero, a revolutionary, or will he end up being villified?  He quickly disregards this line of reasoning, because he knows in his heart how he will be remembered will depend on the outcome.

 

Wallace gets ready to drive to the office. He kisses his wife, who is still asleep, on the forehead and then leaves the house. He gets in his Lincoln MKZ Hybrid car and drives to the Governor's office. He pulls in around seven o'clock, which is early for him, but he knows that he has a busy day ahead of him. He is the first one in the building and he heads to his office. He picks up his office phone and dials his press secretary Louise Miller. The phone rings twice before she picks up.

 

"Good morning, Sir," she says, "you're in early today."

 

"Good morning Louise. I know I'm in early and I apologize for calling so early, but I'm going to need you to come in a little early today. I'm going to need you to set-up a press conference today. Try and get out of town markets in here, if possible. It is an important conference, so I would greatly appriciate it if you could get reporters form Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as well as the local news. I'm also going need you to call in all my staff in as soon as possible. It's going to be a busy, but important day. Have them all meet in my office at 10:00 am, except for Chief of Staff Ryan, ask him to meet me in my office at 9, please."

 

"Wow, may I ask what this is about?" Louise asks.

 

"I'd rather this remain a secret until the press conference. If you can schedule it for three o'clock today that would be absolutely perfect."

 

"No problem, Governor. I'll be at the office within the hour."

 

"Thank you, Louise," Wallace replies. "I will see you soon."

 

"See you shortly, Governor," she replies as the Governor hangs up on the other end.

Wallace sits back in his chair and then procedes to open up the bottom drawer of his mahogeny desk and stares at the contents of the drawer. He looks at the shiny, unused .45 that rests next to a half empty bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch and for a brief moment he wants to grab the handgun, but thinks better of it and takes the bottle of scotch out of the drawer. He does not open the bottle to take a drink, however, it is what is under the bottle that is of his concern. It is a document that will put into motion the state of Texas, returning to its nation-state status when the state broke away from Mexico. It is the form to authorize secession from the United States of America. All Wallace needs now is the support of the people in order to win over the Texas State Legislation. For two decades now, Wallace has lived with the thought that one day he will be the man who will live or die as either a hero or live in infamy as the man who may start a second American Civil War. It has been so long and he has witnessed so much over these years that he thought this day would actually never come; but now he knows that the talk of idealism in his youth is going to come to a burning head.

He knows deep in his heart that this may be a very hard sell to the people of his state, but he also fears that it may be the easiest sell he's ever made. Wallace knows that there are a lot of problems throughout this country and in his home state and there may be no other resolution to help out his constituants. The biggest problem he knows that will come is fighting the United States to let his state leave the Union peacefully. The doubt that creeps into his soul over that thought haunts him in this moment, but he knows what the person who called him has planned and knows that it will happen either with or without him. He stares at a potrait of his favorite President, Abraham Lincoln. The courage to make the tough decisions and stick with that choice is always a difficult one, especially when one knows that this decision may cause the death of millions and a destruction of a way of life that so many have grown accustomed to.

Wallace also knows that if the plan comes to full fruition and is successful that he will be a hero to many and his name will live on forever. As he thinks of that, Wallace decides to get up and grab a glass from a little table to the side of the office. Upon grabbing it, he goes back to his desk and grabs the bottle of scotch from his drawer and decides to pour himself a generous shot. Here's to the future, he thinks to himself as he does the entire shot in one gulp.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Wallace says aloud to no one.

At 8:58, Chief of Staff Steven Ryan, steps inside Governor Wallace's office.

"Good morning, sir," said Ryan a man in his early 40's with slightly balding hair, but even through his tailor-made Armani suit you can see te glimpses of the former athlete he once was. Ryan was an All-Pro receiver for the beloved Dallas Cowboys, who after two devestating knee injuries left the game to focus his life on helping the people of his native Texas. Wallace was smart enough to bring in the popular figure early in his first campaign and most politic pundits give Ryan the credit for Wallace's victory and overwhelming popularity within the state. Most people believe that Wallace could get the approval of anything  and anyone in the state, because of his popularity and the majority of that popularity goes to Ryan; a fact that is not lost on anyone inside the Governor's staff.

"Morning Steve, could you please close the door behind you?" Governor Wallace says to his Chief of Staff.

"Absolutely, sir," Ryan says as he closes the door behind him and takes a seat in the center of the office where the staff has their meetings. He notices the glass and bottle on the desk and says with a smile, "I guess it's an early day for us this morning."

Wallace looks down at the bottle that he left on the desk that he forgot about with all that has been on his mind, "Yeah, I guess it is." Wallace puts the bottle back in his drawer. "Steve, I'm not going to bullshit you here, today is going to be the day that will change everything. More than ever I'm going to need your support to help sell this idea to the people."

"What are we talking about here,sir?" Ryan asks.

"I'm talking about returning the glorious state of Texas to it's own nation again."

Ryan puts his papers on down on the table in front of him and stands up. "Sir, that may not be that hard of a sell to the people of Texas. There are a lot of disgruntled citizens with the way the country has turned. We will need a lot of time to get everything going though."

"I hate to do this to you, but you won't have a lot of time to go convince people. I'm going to announce the plans for this today at 3 o'clock. I know, that is going to throw a shockwave, but that's what I want," Wallace says.

"Sir, I don't understand why we are going to rush this. Give us time to poll people, get the right data and figure out the feasibility of this idea. We don't need to throw it out there without warning to the good people of the state!"

Governor Wallace stands up, " I understand your concern, Steve, but if we get found out running polls, the United States Government will be up our asses so fast that we will never get this through, but if we take the innitiative and announce this and state that it is our Constitutional right to declare seccesion, then they will have to quietly allow us to go through the petition phase. That will give us 30 days to get the 25,000 signatures from Texas citizens to put in the legal forms to the United States. During that time we can finish the logistics of making this move. It's going to be a lot of work for all of you and it will be essential to get volunteer help as well as the support of all the businesses based here, mainly the oil companies, that's our meal ticket to help us be a sustainable self-sufficient nation."

"I understand all of that, sir, I just want to be sure you are ready for the consequences of this course of action. This could lead to war with America!" Ryan exclaims.

"I love your passion, Steve, and I am well aware of what may happen by making this move. War is a possibility and something that we will have to make sure that the people of Texas understand is a possible outcome of this situation, however, I assure you that I have it under good authority that we will not be the only ones who will be going this route. We are just going to have the luxury of being the first to announce it to the world."

"Who's authority? Have you been conspiring with other states?" Ryan asks.

"No, I haven't. Trust me, all will soon be revealed. The United States is going to have no choice but to accept our petition and all things will be fine. The United States is not going to want to look like an aggressor and have the world watch them turn their military on it's own people; people who are just exercising their right to initiate change from within. Believe me, I want you behind me on this, but you have your own free will to decide if you want to be a part of this or not."

Ryan sits down and stares at his friend for a few moments. "Sir, I have always been behind you and supported you all the way and I'm not about to change now. I just like to run all possibilities and analyze the options that are in front of me."

"I know. That is what made you the great Chief of Staff that you have been. There is nothing wrong with looking at every angle and looking for the best outcome. When this is all settled, my friend, you are going to be on the world stage as a leader and everyone is going to see what a great leader you are. Believe me, I will do everything possible to make this as peaceful as possible. We are just looking for a better reality for all the people we serve. This nation has a lot of problems that everyday seems to grow with no one wanting to do anything to fix it. We have the ability to make change and survive on our own and take care of our people and that is something that as elected officials we need to do. It's in the people's hands anyway. Without the signatures, this is all meaningless anyway. Which is why the United States Government may leave us alone figuring that we are bluffing and play it out. Again, we have a hard sell, first to the staff and then to the people that we serve, but I have faith that we can do this. Most importantly, I'm going to need you to make sure the Lieutenant Governor will be behind this all the way, just in case something happens to me along the way."

Ryan stands up once again and this time heads over to the Governor's desk. "I sincerely hope nothing happens to you, but I will go speak to the Lieutenant Governor right now to ensure that all things go well on your behalf. I assure you that the rest of the staff will be behind you and I promise you that you will have more than enough signatures for the petition. This is something that is going to go down in history for all time and the most important part of it is that we are doing this for the benefit of the people, not ourselves," as he says this he extends his hand out to Wallace for a handshake.

Wallace gets up and shakes his friend's hand, "Thank you for everything, Steve. Your service has been amazing and I cannot thank you enough. Now, let's get ready for the staff meeting and get ready for this historic day," after Wallace says this, they both head back to the meeting area in the Governor's office and wait for the staff to arrive.