A Partial History of Asymmetrical Class Warfare
"Re-Untitled" Novel World-Building. Appendix F.
The following is part of a speculative fiction novel. The United States has been handsome and popular all her life.
A banquet of humiliations befell the United States: an aperitif of insurrection, courses of depression and international humiliation, and a main course that could have poisoned capitalism. If you’re reading this, you probably know how that turns out.
The histories call it what the practitioners did, “Asymmetrical Class Warfare.” At first, they shared instructions and ideas on anonymous message boards distributed across jurisdictions. But, because Internet, memes evolved from them. They often focused on a pair of refrains that had become popular in the subculture.
They held the traditional format: the same famous IMPACT font. One meme’s top text said, “A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE”. Then the photos would be of blissful or hopeful or pleasant scenes. The other said “CULL THE OLIGARCHS.” These photos would often show crushing poverty or plainly ridiculous excess.
Bottom text: The hashtag #AsymmetricalClassWarfare.
Not long after, a multi-billionaire owner of a newspaper met a tragic end—pure coincidence (the cops said). A few other assassinations were less coincidental, violent, and often more symbolic.
After the CEO of an agricultural machinery firm announced plans to move labor overseas, he vanished. A week later, he was found, tilled into one of the firm’s test fields. The killers were caught, but jury nullification did its job. “Just business,” one of the workers said. “Nothing personal.”
The movement now grew widely. And without a leader, there was no messaging arm of the movement, but the message had become too big to ignore. Social media propelled it, but it never stayed there. Before long, a major newspaper of record printed a front-page editorial: “To save the tree of capitalism, large and parasitic branches should be cut.”
Attacks intensified. Security became a numbers game. Out of billions of impoverished people, only a handful had to act. One notable example was Casper O’Brien, who shot a corrupt politician in the street during a live TV interview. When he turned himself in, he made a statement to the press, saying, “I am taking one for the team.” He was found not guilty on the third attempt to convict him; the first two trials ended in mistrials.
Eventually, some oligarchs understood that the Roman formula of “Bread and Circuses” had grown stale. Bread and circuses were not enough; now it was “Homes, Healthcare, and Hot People on TV.” They encouraged politicians to play along. “It was considered a great concession to have CEO pay capped at 100 times the average worker’s salary.[1] Healthcare was paid for by “non-profit consortium” of companies to everyone for a low cost—which the government collected for them.[2] Many abandoned office buildings were converted into apartments, which helped distribute poverty into desperate areas, diluting its effect on any given place.
Most people would give a lot to gain a little. But, in the end, the movement didn't save the United States; it was too little and decades too late. The democratic experiment had already been sabotaged. Interested readers are encouraged to chew on the ideas in “A Short History of the Post-United States” and its companion “A Long History of the End of the United States,” both by Gregaro Ivana Lidodovich.
[1] Before bonuses, stock options, generous per diems, and other perks.
[2] A direct ancestor to the later CorpoNational government structures.
Boo!