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RvBOMally — Hugbox

Published: 2016-02-14 19:07:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 26118; Favourites: 132; Downloads: 262
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Description Here's my Valentine's Day special, ironically a scenario that will probably get me a lot of hate.  I wanted to do something less fantastical and more political sciency with the Valentine's Day idea, so I thought: a dystopia revolving around the use of love and warm fuzzies, not the overtness of hatred and jackboots. So, I decided to blend Brave New World with an ideology I haven't tackled much: modern social justice. I also decided to use this to help round out my ideological worlds . I was inspired a bit by Meerkat92 's Some Strings Attached . I also decided to use MetalSlimeHunt's 1993 PoD idea with the Militia Movement to kick things off. 

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Welcome to the future, where everyone is lovely and kind and gets along with everyone else. Or else. At least, that's how it is in the United Earth Government. And if you don't like it, well, you're obviously some sort of evil oppressor who should move to the counter-UEG states or, better yet, kill yourself. 

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the West believed it had reached the end of history. Then, in 1993, a series of events began which culminated in the end of the first United States of America. The Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas was besieged by federal authorities, and they (as Branch Davidians today insist, miraculously) escaped from the flames that engulfed their compound. This attack, followed by the bombings of federal buildings in Oklahoma City and Atlanta, led to a major crackdown on the "Militia Movement." The paranoia only became worse after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2002, pulling the United States into a series of wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. The Second Depression in 2011 led to the fall of the Chinese Communist Party and the further destruction of economic security in the world. Crackdowns and riots became commonplace across the country. With extremists on both sides gaining the limelight, the United States practically collapsed as none of the four presidential candidates[1] won the 2016 election, and the Congress handed victory to the two establishment candidates (the Republican gained the presidency, and the Democrat the vice presidency). Neither candidate was popular with the people, and as the situation degraded, civil unrest became even worse. By 2017, the country was in full-blown civil war. 

In the meanwhile, the Russian Federation - already a weakened husk of its former Soviet self - attempted to take advantage of this weakness by reclaiming Belarus and Ukraine by force. In what is now known as the Eurasian War, they were defeated by what remained of NATO in Europe, but only after a long conflict which led to the rise of the European Federation. The Second American Civil War ended with the country divided between a conservative South and two liberal states: Cascadia and the North American Republic. The Middle East was left in shambles, with the Islamic State dominating former Syria, Iraq and Turkey, before the European Federation invaded and cleared the place up. 

The European Federation was the big winner. By 2030, the Chinese and Americans were still repairing, while the Russians were under their boot. The EF knew what had caused the problems of the past few decades: nationalism, capitalism and hate. Of course, the Soviet model was not to be followed - communism had failed in the USSR and China, after all - so a new path should be taken. A path of peace, tolerance, social justice, and equality. Gradually, although with growing rapidity, society would be remolded so that everyone in Europe - and then, the entire world - was a nice, docile, progressive. Around the world, nations followed the EF model. Not only did the world's last functioning economy condition its aid on adopting its principles, the EF also became used to flexing its military muscles. "Humanitarian" regime changes became the norm throughout the 21st century, and became the catalyst for the formation of the other global federations. One notable exception to the model is the NAR and Cascadia; both states were enamored by the "progress" the EF was making, and thus adopted their policies with zeal. 

The UEG is a contradiction. It's not really united, it doesn't encompass the whole Earth, and its structure is so ill-defined that it may not even be a government. The UEG is a product of the political integration that began as early as the 1950s, with the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community. The UEG federation of federations, with the ultimate goal of erasing all social, cultural, and economic divisions. Civilian weapon ownership is restricted; gun control was taken for granted, of course, but why stop there? Baseball bats and arrows can kill, too, and who uses those for sport outside of the American South? And isn't it totally reasonable to also have background checks on steak knife owners? 

A progressive tax was instituted, with the top ten percent paying 90% and the lowest tax bracket at 40%; can't have those rich fat cats not distributing their "fair share" now, can we? That a lot of this money was squandered by corrupt EF politicians was no matter. Also ignore the fact that the poorer members of the UEG do not have cradle to grave benefits, so their workers can toil from cradle to grave so that the EF's people can live large. 

Democracy, of course, is important and a guaranteed human right…but anyone who opposes the ruling Progressive/Labour/Social Democratic Party or any parties in their coalition was obviously a bigot of some description, so those parties can be safely banned. Anti-government speech is also deemed "problematic," and the EF is gradually instituting a new, sanitized version of English for everyone to speak. This "new speech" is extremely simplistic, so that everyone could learn it, and so that it is difficult to express certain ideas without using "problematic" language. Even religion is not exempt, and is attacked as being a tool of oppression; recently, Islam has joined Christianity in this group. 

To ensure that all peoples are equally represented in government and business, quotas were passed to ensure that at least half of every corporate Board of Directors and every legislature on Earth was composed of women, with the appropriate percentages of ethnic minorities as well. And just because of the historical oppression visited upon them, ethnic minorities and non-heterosexuals get preferential quotas and treatment everywhere. Of course, ignore all of the rich, old, white men who claim to be black transgender lesbians to take advantage of these laws; you don't know how they identify! And ignore the fact that it's still rich white people in charge of the UEG; they know what's best for everyone else, and they have your best interest at heart. 

Drug use and vapid entertainment is commonplace. Rather than addressing personal problems, why not take some antidepressants and keep up with the newest social media trends. Better than paying attention to what's actually going on. Anybody who speaks out about this state of affairs is clearly a bigot, and bigotry is anti-social and illegal, so they are thrown in jail. Or, more likely, they are socially ostracized and forced to live in the streets as a beggar because nobody could hire such a person. Who could oppose this utopian vision? 

The counter-UEG states do. These "regressives" are despised by the UEG, and are frequently the subject of demonization. In the UEG, everyone is supposed to be happy…until counter-UEG powers are brought up, and then the hatred is allowed to flow. The UEG frequently launches invasions of counter-UEG insurgents around the world, but given that the counter-UEG states are armed with nuclear weapons and orbital railguns, they are off-limits. The counter-UEG states are an electic mix of not-so-nice states. China, the unofficial leader of the bloc, is an outright dictatorship, one that has become strongly Christian. The fall of the Communist Party and the chaos that followed opened the door for Christianity in China, although the form it takes is very syncretic. The Second American Federation, the conservative remnant of the first United States, is still a democracy, albeit it is as democratic as the EF. There is a constant scare for "globalists," and anybody who criticizes the government is quickly blacklisted. The Levantine Federation - a union of Israel and Palestine - has become a surprisingly successful Jewish-Muslim mix, one that despises the radical secularism of the UEG. The others are bog-standard dictatorships. 

In Oceania, the Republic of Oceania forms a third bloc. The product of the Indonesian Revolution, Oceania is a horrific, highly militarized Orwellian state. During its early years, Oceania destroyed all vestiges of Indonesian, Malaysian, Australian and Kiwi culture, replacing it with its strange neo-Maoism. Other rogue states include the Empire of Zaire, which models itself off the Roman Empire, and the fundamentalist Christian Republic of West Africa, which is currently waging a "crusade" against "infidels" in its borders. 

[1] The GOP and Dems were divided, and the two anti-establishment candidates ran as independents.
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Comments: 227

wabash56 [2018-04-17 11:57:42 +0000 UTC]

How is communism viewed in the UEG? Tolerated as “reasonable political discourse” or something as long as they don’t actually gain any power?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Whiteshore1 In reply to wabash56 [2018-07-21 04:46:40 +0000 UTC]

Depends on their view on Oceania.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

KnightofLiberty [2017-02-05 11:50:16 +0000 UTC]

So in terms, everyone in the utopian NAR express full blown hatred when someone brings up SAF?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to KnightofLiberty [2017-02-05 22:33:49 +0000 UTC]

Pretty much.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

RebelOfGod [2017-01-07 19:33:10 +0000 UTC]

''Welcome to a world where happy thoughts are mandatory''

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

The-Artist-64 [2016-07-06 19:04:29 +0000 UTC]

Hidden by Commenter

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

KuboCaskett In reply to The-Artist-64 [2016-09-01 21:46:31 +0000 UTC]

Me too, especially with anyone speaking out against SJWs being restricted in various places on the internet.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

The-Artist-64 In reply to KuboCaskett [2016-09-01 22:14:08 +0000 UTC]

Hidden by Commenter

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

KuboCaskett In reply to The-Artist-64 [2016-09-01 23:01:39 +0000 UTC]

Probably not, too busy trying to fight some Neo-Nazi-alt-right-MRA-Gator windmills throughout the Western world that are apparently worse than ISIS; granted there are neo-Nazis, there are alt-right extremists and extremists all around on the right but that's no excuse in my book to disregard those on the left, especially SJWs.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Whiteshore1 [2016-05-13 10:42:18 +0000 UTC]

Does the Second Republic of China fly the Beiyang Flag or some other flag and is the Republic of Libya basically a less crazy version of Gadhafi's Libya in terms of nastiness?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Whiteshore1 [2016-05-13 17:21:32 +0000 UTC]

Some other flag and yes.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Yvestoons18 [2016-05-08 23:49:42 +0000 UTC]

China is the Bastion of Christianity,Nice

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menapia [2016-04-28 16:12:16 +0000 UTC]

Like the idea of the Levantine Federation, I suspect Ireland was again forced to vote in a couple membership referendums until the U.E.G. got the "right" answer same as with the Lisbon Treaty and the E.U.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to menapia [2016-04-28 16:36:41 +0000 UTC]

Precisely.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Eheucaius17 [2016-03-28 23:17:38 +0000 UTC]

I'm a liberal and I still think this is both brilliant and hilarious! You have to be able to laugh at yourself once in a while. Keep up the good work!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Eheucaius17 [2016-03-29 00:27:21 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I love your attitude about this, and it's my attitude to my own beliefs.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

CheekiBreeki444 [2016-02-25 17:34:15 +0000 UTC]

Honestly out of all your scenarios this one genuinely scares me

I've got some questions about this world though:
1. How does the EF's "Core/Periphery" system work exactly?
2. What does this EF-sponsored "new speech" look like? Texting lingo or something of the sort? Like in #thefutureisnow ?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to CheekiBreeki444 [2016-02-25 18:42:12 +0000 UTC]

1. Core members rule the roost and have the actual voting power in the European Parliament. The periphery states are still considered too "regressive" to have that much power, and are ruled by governments picked by the European Parliament.
2. Texting lingo plus politically correct speech. The end goal is similar to Newspeak: to eradicate "problematic" thoughts by eradicating "problematic" language.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

CheekiBreeki444 In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-28 21:21:17 +0000 UTC]

Ah okay, that's interesting. Would Muscovy eventually be admitted as a Core member though, given its zeal for social justice democracy?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to CheekiBreeki444 [2016-02-28 22:31:20 +0000 UTC]

Yes, it will eventually be admitted, but much later. The EF has a long memory.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Castorem [2016-02-20 23:39:38 +0000 UTC]

I don't think I have ever read such a passive-aggressive cover of a scenario from you. xD Fun though.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Castorem [2016-02-21 01:24:36 +0000 UTC]

I would always be this passive-aggressive, but addressing ideologies that have killed millions of people in the same way is in bad taste. 

👍: 3 ⏩: 0

Kajm [2016-02-20 09:09:03 +0000 UTC]

Oh Lord, and the first person who commented IS an #SJW . Fun, eh?
Found your map by way of another person... there's several groups I would like to forward this to if I may?

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Kajm [2016-02-20 19:06:16 +0000 UTC]

Which groups?

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Kajm In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-20 19:14:26 +0000 UTC]

Hm, well, I reconsidered after I sent that. They are political groups, perhaps not what you want. There's a whole host of us coming down on #SJWs and when I looked at your piece I thought it might be a good example of what we're all seeing if these jokers get into power. You did quite a good job of laying it all out *g*

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Kajm [2016-02-21 01:25:20 +0000 UTC]

So long as they don't use this as a tool for trolling people online, it's fine. I'm more than happy to have people sharing my work and discussing it. 

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

MrImperatorRoma [2016-02-19 17:08:39 +0000 UTC]

Do you have an antithesis world to this? Like one run largely by modern day right-wing thinking? ("Make America Great Again" )

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to MrImperatorRoma [2016-02-19 17:37:12 +0000 UTC]

I'm planning on making one. 

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

PersephoneEosopoulou [2016-02-19 16:40:35 +0000 UTC]

You know what you have created a capital F Fucking horrible world here.

My homeland is Oceania and SocJus has taken mos of the world over.

Give me boot to the face over hugging to death and assorted stuff, at least I can feel a boot to the face and get killed by it. A Hug Box from the SJW's would be basically hell, endless dull and agonizing torture from cradle to grave.

👍: 1 ⏩: 2

KuboCaskett In reply to PersephoneEosopoulou [2016-02-20 03:04:50 +0000 UTC]

While a SocJus dominated dypstopia would be definitely horrible, it's almost no different from similar dystopias dominated by those with undesirable ideals.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

RvBOMally In reply to PersephoneEosopoulou [2016-02-19 17:39:16 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I tend to prefer overt boot-to-the-face to covert means. At least then I know what I'm getting.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

PersephoneEosopoulou In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-20 00:55:04 +0000 UTC]

Indeed.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

chaotic-nipple [2016-02-19 04:57:34 +0000 UTC]

Honestly, it sounds like a less horrifying place to live than most of your dystopian timelines.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to chaotic-nipple [2016-02-19 06:06:51 +0000 UTC]

I've mentioned that this is toned down from what I could have done to keep with the Valentine's Day theme.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

KuboCaskett In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-20 03:06:13 +0000 UTC]

Frankly, I can imagine an SJW regime going Khmer Rouge on anyone they consider "reactionary bigots".

👍: 4 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to KuboCaskett [2016-02-20 04:27:39 +0000 UTC]

So could I. But I decided not to go with that.

👍: 3 ⏩: 0

jas09 [2016-02-17 04:27:36 +0000 UTC]

So, which country has the greatest amount of political and social freedom?

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to jas09 [2016-02-17 06:35:22 +0000 UTC]

The Second American Federation. 

👍: 2 ⏩: 2

Eheucaius17 In reply to RvBOMally [2016-03-28 23:19:10 +0000 UTC]

From the way you wrote it out it sounds like Israel-Palestine is the best. 

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

OneHellofaBird In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-17 22:24:40 +0000 UTC]

which I presume *doesn't*, it's just that zero is technically higher than the negative numbers! XD

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to OneHellofaBird [2016-02-17 23:24:13 +0000 UTC]

Yep!

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BagelBagelBagel [2016-02-17 01:24:04 +0000 UTC]

Do the communist filipinos have an antipope, or would the communists dislike that sort of idea?

What is the captial of the NAR? 

What country has the lowest standard of living?

Is the counter-UEG on an equal footing with the UEG?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to BagelBagelBagel [2016-02-17 02:07:58 +0000 UTC]

They don't. 

Boston. 

The Congolese Empire. 

No, the UEG is stronger. 

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Laputa-Scorefinger [2016-02-16 17:01:22 +0000 UTC]

I'm surprised Cascadia didn't opt for the name "Ecotopia", considering the political sensibilities of the setting. Although maybe all books older than six months have been given trigger warnings, just to be on the safe side.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Laputa-Scorefinger [2016-02-16 17:37:39 +0000 UTC]

Cascadia didn't begin as all-the-way SJW, and was more politically neutral (if still far to the left of the former United States and Canada). Of course, books that need trigger warnings were recycled into eco-friendly pulp decades ago. 

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Laputa-Scorefinger In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-17 15:24:29 +0000 UTC]

Ah, gotcha.

Is there an equivalent of Black Lives Matter ITTL? I could imagine the North American Republic sponsoring BLM terrorism in the Second American Federation ...

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to Laputa-Scorefinger [2016-02-17 16:40:36 +0000 UTC]

Yes and yes.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Laputa-Scorefinger In reply to RvBOMally [2016-02-18 15:34:47 +0000 UTC]

Figures.

As an aside, I have to say I have a hard time understanding how an ideology based around self-identifying as a member of a weak minority group (the weaker and smaller the better) and then antagonizing groups you claim have actual power could ever seize power in a meaningful way. That's not really a critique of this TL, it's more of a critique of reality. Like a non-SJW trans friend of mine said once: "If you cis people decide you've had enough of us trans people, you could get rid of us in an afternoon. I don't see what antagonizing you guys could possibly gain us."

👍: 1 ⏩: 2

OneHellofaBird In reply to Laputa-Scorefinger [2016-02-21 19:44:22 +0000 UTC]

there's paradoxically enormous real moral power from being part of a persecuted group--and if you can claim that moral power without having to EXPERIENCE any of that persecution, so much the better!

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

RvBOMally In reply to OneHellofaBird [2016-02-21 21:28:07 +0000 UTC]

While this is true, I think it will only persist so long as people are willing to believe that this moral power exists. Once people are tired of BS, it's all about physical power. 

👍: 1 ⏩: 0


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