2 min read

A near term future history

This is a flight of fancy written a week and a half before the US election. I hope it proves to be bad speculation.
A near term future history

What if?

Here’s a speculative fiction plot, NOT a prediction, prompted by the news frenzy of US presidential politics, influenced by my own contrarian nature. If you read history and science fiction we live in an interesting time. Whether it will be a historical turning point in US and global history is not something that we are privileged to know at the time. But if this is a historic turning point I would like to plot out a story based on where we are, not much more than a week before the US election between President Trump and former Vice-President Biden. Let’s ignore that reality strains credulity, and proceed from there. Nothing below should be read as representative of my own views or preferences.

Biden wins?

The Democrats win the House and the Senate. Joe Biden wins the popular vote but the electoral college remains unclear pending delayed counts for mail-in ballots. Election night ends with both candidates being declared the victor by different media outlets.

Taking it to the streets

On the day after the election Trump claims to be the legitimate President based on claims of a rigged election. From the White House he asks his supporters to come out to defend his victory. Activists from both sides take to the streets in every major American city. The national guard takes sides, but on different sides in different states or cities, and civic order breaks down.

COVID confusion

The electoral college convenes and declares Biden to be the winner. Trump and his staff leave the White House under political pressure. President elect Biden is then revealed to be ill with COVID, increasing uncertainty. Before the inauguration Biden dies in hospital, and Kamala Harris is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, with Pete Buttigieg as her vice-president. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are prominently on display at the inauguration even as conflict rages on the streets of America.

Consolidation

President Harris deploys the military, aided by private military contractors, to establish order on the streets. Former President Trump flees the country to Moscow, declaring a government in exile. The Harris administration declares a continuing state of military emergency with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. The state of emergency delays elections until the ‘emergency is over’.

Epilogue

10 years after the start of the Harris dynasty, the United States has become the Democratic Republic of America, run by the United Democratic Party under Grand President Harris. The former Republican Party has been absorbed into the United Democratic Party. Wall Street has become a financial back-water. The US overseas military presence has been dramatically reduced because of domestic military requirements. There is an underground resistance, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the most wanted fugitive in American. Climate change is at 2.5 degrees and increasing. China has become the dominant global power, dominating the United Nation, based on its Belt and Road initiative.

End note

I hope that this will prove to be really bad speculation. The past is prologue but it is our job to create the history we want to inhabit. I wish my American friends a successful and well-run election with a successful and peaceful transition of power if the Biden-Harris ticket wins.