Socially Awkward Ork

The California-to-Texas War: A Dark Near-Future Political Drama/War Game

I read a complaint somewhere that mainstream realistic fiction isn't political enough so I decided to write this outline for a super-political near-future story:

An Anti-federalist movement sweeps through Congress of the United States of America. Enough far left and right politicians unite to indefinitely shut down the federal government.

This is the ridiculous premise that sets up the rest of the narrative:

Authority shifts to state governments backed by corporate consortiums. These governments need taxes and corporations want social stability so they work together to keep everything fine for about a decade. Trading state/corpo currencies becomes a somewhat lucrative trade for some people. Micronations form (somewhat) unopposed, some out of Native American reservations, others are religious or ideological enclaves.

Then on a particularly hot day, a number of illegal immigrant laborers die of heat stroke while working at a factory farm in the fictional town of Damocles, Texas. The survivors go on strike and demand better working conditions. The corporation that owns the factory refuses to negotiate and sends in scabs and strikebreakers. The workers don't let anyone cross the line, and in the resulting chaos a local neo-fascist militia gets involved by killing the families of striking workers. The violence is captured on cameras and put on social media.

Meanwhile the Governor of California, Stan Yee, needs to boost his popularity with the local labor unions. So Stan sends a task force to investigate the Damocles Massacre (as it's now being called) and bring to justice whoever was responsible for the killings. Doing so will violate the Texas Republic's territorial sovereignty, but Yee is betting that his Texan counterpart, Randolf Marshall, will allow a few neonazis to be dragged across state lines.

It turns out that Randolf Marshall has several personal connections to the militia, so he'll be damned before he lets some Leftists into His State. The delegation of californian investigators are threatened by various factions and are forced to flee.

Stan attempts to defuse the tension between the two states by opening up diplomatic channels. But Randolf decides to retaliate by secretly hiring PMC paratroopers to air-drop into the Port of Los Angeles and seize control of it. These mercenaries cause a lot of damage and kill a lot of employees working for overseas corporations from Korea, China, and Japan. But they are overwhelmed by angry dock workers, local police, and other security forces. Some of the mercenaries surrender and turn over evidence that Governor Marshall hired them.

Under pressure from all sides, Governor Yee declares war on the state of Texas with the goal of removing it's Governor from power. Shortly after, Governor Marshall reciprocates with his own declaration.

The Northern Theater of the war consists of New Mexico and Arizona, with Nevada, Utah, and Colorado and being on the fringes. The Southern Theater of the war consists of Chihuahua and Sonora, with both Baja California and Tamaulipas being fringe areas.

The forces arraigned against each other are diverse: There are Apache, Navajo, and Hualapai led militias, Foreign Corporate/National Legions, State Guards, and Private Military Companies. They fight each other over rural battlefields and urban fortresses using drones and other advanced weapons developed by the long gone United States. But a death by heatstroke is far more likely for the average soldier than one caused by a weapon, thanks to global warming.

In this near-future hellscape any number of small stories could be told.

Today, on my 32nd birthday I went for a walk. Saw a juvenile rattlesnake laying out in the middle of a busy path. So I ran over to a nearby powerstation where there was an open workspace, grabbed a mop, and gently shoved the snake into the bushes. Some college students who were watching applauded me. I think this is my most memorable birthday ever.

I was walking along a trail near Bird Island in Point Lobos today and this turkey-vulture was wheeling around in the sea breeze. So I had to take a photo and it turned out pretty good.

Here are the other two turkey-vultures observing the third. They didn't seem very impressed.