2nd Civil War

To win the Empire through action and to master it,
That is the way that leads to failure.
For the Empire is a divine vessel,
Which cannot be seized and acted upon.
One who desires to grasp it, does not understand it.
One who desires to take it, loses it.
He believes he is getting ahead, but falls behind.
He believes he is increasing, but he dwindles away.
He thinks himself strong, and reveals his weakness.
He thinks himself superior, and is defeated.
                    -from the Tao te Ching

In the reports of the successful ascent of Mount Everest, 
the British members of the expedition talked of "conquering" 
the mountain, but the Nepalese guide who was one of the 
two to reach the summit spoke of a desire to visit the Buddha 
who lives at the top.                                       
                     -Richard Weaver


2nd Civil War is a big priority concern for American Dream Commodities. It might well be the first dream commodity released to the public.

2nd Civil War would involve a virtual 4D conflict based upon some of the dynamics that currently divide Red State/Blue State America, although these would not be the "teams" for a variety of reasons. Generally, this is because the surface presentation of this conflict is, in many ways, an incorrect interpretation, currently serving political interests that are agenda driven. Besides, we can't make it too close to reality! That would leave no room for the imagination.

It is called 2nd Civil War for two reasons. One, there has already been a "first" Civil War in the United States, between 1861-5. So, we don't want to confuse this war with an actual historical event, though understanding that conflict may give some accurate perspectives. Second, this would be a war fought on a secondary plane, the virtual perceptual mind space of the computer world. Wouldn't it be great if all of our future wars could be fought in this way, over the computer, rather than on an actual bloody field?  Therefore, subsequent installments of the series might be iterated as follows: 2nd Civil War 2, 2nd Civil War 3, etc.

The world would be somewhat futuristic and hypothetical. Enlistment would be geared towards those who dedicate themselves to the Union versus those who dedicate themselves to the Confederation. One of the initial requirements for players is to determine which side they will fight for. Initially, players will get a presentation of the situation and some introductory information that may be useful in helping them to determine where they stand.

The primary distinction is that the Union focuses on a centripetal dynamic, involving increasing centralization of power and the Confederation focuses on the centrifugal dynamic, involving more effectively distributing and balancing power amongst regional entities. We find that these two traditions of political thought go all the way back to the beginning of our country. The Union employs a highly scientific, machine, computer-driven system aesthetic. It represents technology and its drive for dominion and the will to power. The Confederation is more organic and poetic, in that it incorporates the historical/linguistic/biological/ecological components of a water based solar planet into its evolutionary worldview. Yet it fights for control of the body politic equally as hard. In fact, the goal of each is establish hegemony over the American Empire. The Union attempts to do this through Force, the Confederation through Compromise. The Union is the establishment and it operates offensively. The Confederation formed as a response to the Union's consolidation of power and thus acts defensively.

This dream commodity could also serve as a realtime laboratory simulation model useful in studying modern America. It may thereby have an impact on promoting development in our actual civilization in previously unthought of ways.

The Story

A para-military group has seized control of the United States government and suspended the action of Congress due to a state of emergency that began with a series of electrical blackouts in major cities across the US over a two month period. This is occurring as part of the apparently unexpected fallout from a magnetic pole shift from North to South which has also set off a number of natural disasters, including radical shifts in tidal patterns resulting in tsunamis and hurricanes as well as volcanic chain reactions along major tectonic fault lines. It is a time of chaos.

Each major cosmopolitan area that has been affected has turned into a riot zone after a few days of no power from the grid. Violent crime and theft are rampant. The blackouts have also been taking place in Canada and throughout Central America. Many are fleeing the cities and seeking refuge in the countryside.

Very little is known about the security group asserting authority or the precise circumstances whereby it gained hegemony. Possibly, they are part of an elite corps of American military servicemen. Possibly, they are something else. Media reports are conflicting until a new outlet surfaces proclaiming itself the  Union Broadcast Channel. It becomes clear that there is a visible leader who now speaks for a New American Union, or AMUNI. There is much pomp and fanfare, heralding the end of the chaos. This leader tells the people that it is time to consider a new approach to global relations due to recent security concerns.

From now on, the northern half of the Western Hemisphere, above the Panama Canal, will need to be totally integrated economically, socially, and politically into a new system so that such problems as the mysterious blackouts can be prevented in the future.

There are many unanswered questions and much is still shrouded in secrecy and darkness. Many believe that the Union acts in their best interests and enlist their allegiance willingly. Times are chaotic and dangerous. Central control and leadership is important in order to avoid anarchy. The new leader speaks soothingly yet boldly to those who seek reassurance in desperate times.

If individuals seek to be more than just law-abiding citizens of the Union, further advancement comes with a price. To become a soldier of the Union, an individual must surrender a portion of his humanity in order to become part machine. If he agrees, he receives nano-brain inputs that hook him directly into the mainframe system of the Union. The nano-brain provides him with amplified intelligence, photographic memory recall, and access to many sources of information and entertainment that would otherwise not be available.

The prospect signs a contract releasing the Union from liability should it need to access his memory stores without permission in case of emergency or make certain demands on the soldier in times of crisis. In the event that there is a conflict within the mind of the soldier and a command originating from the Union, the Union's Will trumps any personal mandate or concern.

For such absolute loyalty, the soldier gets to enjoy the benefits of joining an elite corps of warriors and a large degree of freedom from the law which binds normal humanity. He also attains virtual immortality because the nano-brain is able to perfectly address the nutrient requirements necessary to repair the physiological system indefinitely, unless, of course, the soldier is terminated in battle.

The nano-brain also gives access to armor/vehicle plug-in arrangements that enhance performance in many different categories, making soldiers of the Union mechanically superhuman.

Others see the Union differently. They believe that the Union represents an unconstitutional usurpation by a group that wishes to advance its own agenda at the expense of the welfare of the body politic and that it is animated more by a desire for Power than a promulgation of Truth. So, in response to the Union's centralization efforts, the Confederation, or AMCON, forms as a loose network of centrifugal resistance cells that do not accept the authority of the Union. 

It is unclear where the Confederation's headquarters are located. They are everywhere and nowhere. The Confederation seeks to find out what is really going on within the central command unit and to relay that information to the populace as it becomes available. They are constantly attempting to infiltrate Washington and various Union strongholds to discover information and strengthen their own communication links to other widespread cells within the Confederation. In addition, they mount guerrilla operations intended to thwart the projects of the Union, which is liable to attack in rural areas far from its cosmopolitan networks.

For instance, the Confederation may attack a road-building crew who is trying to build a new super-highway through a heavily forested area. Generally, the Confederation attempts to utilize non-violent surgical precision in their accomplishment of tactical objectives in order that they might not be labelled terrorists.

The Union, on the contrary, begins to explore the hinterlands looking for Confederal operatives in order to put a halt to their activities. It has the full force of the Law on its side and has a much more free hand with violence, should it deem it necessary.

Actual war breaks out when the Union begins to apprehend members of the Confederation without due process. Media leaks of instances of these apprehensions cause widespread furor and confusion in the American populace. When members of the Confederation begin to more mysteriously disappear, there are retaliatory strikes or assassinations. The Confederation struggles to maintain a lawful reputation as does the Union but it is becoming increasingly difficult as violence spreads.

The Union has adopted a machine aesthetic. This is visible in the armor of its soldiers and in the computerized activities of almost all of its far-reaching surveillance capacities. It does not like moisture or intense elements. It seeks a dry vacuum atmosphere like that required for computer server farms.

The Confederation prefers to retain an organic, even old-fashioned style. It does not tamper with the human brain and considers individual privacy to be sacrosanct. Its technology is current but it has evolved its toolset, weapons, and defense towards facilitating and maintaining symbiotic relationships with planetary life forms and elements. It likes to utilize all of the classic weapons from bygone ages and enjoys the "humanness" of original creative development.

The Confederation does have a special communication network but it operates through more natural psychic or telepathic routes rather than having machine-driven networks hard-wired into the system, body, or mind. The Confederation depends on something called the Voice to reach its members.

The HUD (Human User Display) of the Confederal operatives is much simpler than that of the Union soldiers who boast of many gadgets. They lack a number of these machine perks such as radars, zooming lenses, and infrasensor night viewing lights. But they are free to use things in the world around that the soldiers of the Union cannot due to the somewhat delicate nature of their circuitry. Union soldiers must be very careful around fire and water. Confederal operatives can also move about more freely and have a wider degree of natural panoramic vision.

The Confederation demands loyalty from its soldiers but it only depends upon voluntary submission, action without coercion. Thus, it is easier to betray the Confederation and get away with it, than it is to betray the Union, once the nano-brain inputs have been fully installed.

Of course, there are flukes in the system. Occasionally, the Confederation will capture a soldier of the Union and thus gain access to a particular nano-brain's programming. So, there are problems beginning to surface with renegade Union soldiers whose nano-brains have been re-programmed to reject Union broadcasts. In response, the Union has begun to develop self-destruct triggers should their soldiers get captured or have their nano-brains tampered with in any way.

The motto of the Union is "ENERGY TO THE GOVERNMENT."
The motto of the Confederation is "INFORMATION TO THE PEOPLE."