Flash Fiction 500: Democracy Collapse Disorder
"We are running low on water, I really need to go out there.", I said to my wife as I kissed her goodbye. She hugs me, a tear streams down her left cheek and she tells me to "be careful". After years of continual decline in bee populations, it finally happened: the bees are all gone.
It only took three months after bees were officially declared dead for the food supply to be thrown into disarray.
It turns out 70 of the top 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world rely on pollination by bees. While Europe banned neonicotinoids after determining they were causing colonies to collapse, it was too late. They tried to save the crops using different scientific techniques, but the extent of the die-off was too much to manage.
Like every tragedy that unfolded before this happened, civil unrest ensued and the government stepped in. And then it happened, Donald Trump declared martial law a few months shy of the 2020 presidential election he was certain to lose. Little did anyone know, this was President Trump effectively announcing that democracy was dead.
In the months that followed Trump assured citizens that once issues with the food chain were sorted, that government would return to normal and there would be an election. Eventually, months turned into years and what followed were some of the darkest days that humanity had ever witnessed. Slowly, but surely, Trump passed legislation piece-by-piece, slowly chipping away at what was left of democracy.
No longer could a president only sit for two terms, no longer did a president have to consult his own party or constituents to declare war, or pass a piece of conflicting legislation.
Abortion has been outlawed, any woman who is caught attempting to abort an unborn child is held as a prisoner until the child is born and then she is indefinitely jailed in one of the many detention centres that Trump had constructed.
Every Tuesday we are forced to participate in a Praising Ceremony where Trump delivers a speech, and people cheer and clap out of fear of being punished for being "undemocratic".
All borders have been closed off surrounding the USA. Citing protection from "bad dudes", nobody is allowed to enter or leave. The USA is now a walled garden, an endless nightmare.
Forced conscription has been enacted, as other countries fight for survival, the battle for food and water is intense with all countries at war, and the USA has no allies. I could be called to participate in war today, tomorrow or any day.
We are forced to tend to the gardens of Trump's numerous opulent hotels, golf courses and other unnecessary constructions, built on the backs of forced labour and fear of exile.
Image source: Pixabay.
This is my entry for the Flash Fiction 500 writing contest: https://steemit.com/chronocrypto/@chronocrypto/dr-chrono-discovers-how-to-stop-human-aging-a-chronocrypto-short-story-work-and-contest-inside