(Article changed on December 9, 2012 at 19:57)
DRONERS
The faint humming of Drones drew closer. Their engines echoed in the canyons of Manhattan , New York City. Notification alarms sounded on every cell phone in the vicinity as the sensors were tripped. Droners on the block scrambled to their assigned rooftops to launch interceptors. Drones painted with the Federal Reserve Police insignia on their fuselage dropped from the sky like a flock of wounded geese crashing into surrounding buildings. People on the ground fled for the nearest shelter.
The children of the 99%, known as the Z generation (Zgen), could no longer depend on the promises of their elected officials. Soldiers that served in foreign wars labeled xMils found no refuge at home. Employing their intellect and expensive diplomas they gathered to pool their skills and talents to carve out a future.
Zgens from the surrounding boroughs departed from their parents' basements and gathered in various rendezvous sites to brainstorm solutions to their common dilemma of high debt and negative income. The stagnant economy did not empower graduates with jobs but enslave them with student debt. Few loans were available for business, college, or homes. Capital lay dormant in a handful of too big to fail (TBTF) banks.
A natural economic reboot was under way. The Internet became the new Public Square as well as voting booth. The product of one of those early conventions Zgens had adopted a pre-nineteen thirteen version of the US constitution with upgrades. Network technology afforded the capability of direct democracy to all its citizens. The need for representatives became obsolete. The economic structure proceeded to flatten from vertical to horizontal.
The banking cartel did not willingly release the reigns of their political, economic, and policing powers. Living up to their motto: Protecting the nation's economy Federal Reserve Police Force dispatched drones to locate valuable caches of water, seeds, and silver stockpiles. Established in 2001 under the USA Patriot Act the Federal Reserve Police (FRP) was given nationwide jurisdiction. They did not require Warrants if a crime was committed in their presence. Their ranks expanded from the early days of "Occupy Wall Street" when they made a brief first appearance. Their numbers grew proportionately as the Civil Police forces dwindled. In their defense Zgen hijacked, cloned, and weaponized FRP drones that penetrated their zones of influence.
Out of necessity a new vibrant eMonetary system sprang into existence. This digital currency operated throughout the resurrected Internet. Smart phones and tablets were the new ATMs. A movement initiated by "Occupy Wall Street" revivified after the crash of 2016. The new form of currency labeled eCredits supplanted the now worthless Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) overflowing from the coffers of the TBTF banks. After several attempts to stop its circulation it flourished and expanded throughout the country and beyond. The new gold backed notes printed by the Federal Reserve failed to gain the confidence of the web economy. The Federal Reserve and its cohorts became an island unto themselves.
Rather than wait for wealth to trickle from the top down it grew from the ground up. Heirloom seeds became a viable currency and safeguarded locally in refrigerated vaults. Super weeds had adapted and overran the monoculture GMO crops of corporate farms. When the Zgen shared their horticultural information vegetable and fruit gardens sprouted in vacant parking lots, balconies, and roof gardens. Zgens ripped up acres of concrete to uncover some of the most fertile soil preserved under the city. Compost created from organic waste became the new hot commodity. Profits from their new "sweat equity" were turned back into the soil to maintain its fertility. Since poor dirt farmers possessed knowledge of horticulture and the seeds for planting they were now in the driver's seat. Farmers became the nouveaux riches. Wealth grew in fields which they bartered for the new eCredits. Wealthy land owners leased their land for a share of the new economy.
Financial and political power slowly transferred to large seed coops and silver recyclers. The only other valuable resource the FRP could leverage was water. H2O wars were doused as city dwellers collected their own. Every drop of rain was routed into tanks from every gutter mounted on buildings. Waste water was treated in distillation ponds. Silver nanoparticles were used for potable water filtration because of its antibacterial and antifungal properties. Silver increased in value substituting for ineffective antibiotics, as well as a coating on Solar Cells.
Thanks to the protection of the Droners, Geeks, and xMILs the wealth pyramid toppled. A confrontation was brewing. The federal police agencies declared Zgen as terrorists under (SECTIONS 411, 802) of the Patriot Act of 2001. Under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of Dec 2011 any US citizen could be detained indefinitely and held in military custody without adjudication; in effect repealing the Posse Cimitatus Act of 1878. Fortunately the US military had other commitments and were reluctant to enter the fray against their brothers and sisters on US soil. Citizen patriots followed their conscious rather than the call from the State National Guard Bureau. Military tanks never arrived. A stalemate developed.
The End of the Beginning.
