Rumsfeldia: Fear and Loathing in the Decade of Tears

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While I'm on the subject of movies, I wonder how the Godzilla movies would be affected by the copious use of nuclear weapons ITTL. The Return of Godzilla might be made far darker than IOTL, like Gojira (the original) or worse, to reflect the worsening geopolitical situation.

Christ almighty, I almost asked this question again today. Time flies...

I read in one of the more recent updates that Japan was headed back towards the path of being like they were back in World War Two, so I'm wondering if Godzilla films would even still be made ITTL with a bunch of hardline militarists in power. After all, they wouldn't want anti-war views becoming popular.
 
Christ almighty, I almost asked this question again today. Time flies...

I read in one of the more recent updates that Japan was headed back towards the path of being like they were back in World War Two, so I'm wondering if Godzilla films would even still be made ITTL with a bunch of hardline militarists in power. After all, they wouldn't want anti-war views becoming popular.

ITTL, Japanese people have witnessed the horrendous collapse of China, the desolation of Southern Africa, and finally the collapse of their once great ally into nuclear civil war.

While militarism maybe rising in Japan, I think there would still be a huge anti-militarist sentiment in the country, due to the ruin that much of the rest of the world has fallen into.

Hayao Miyazaki OTL is a staunch pacifist and environmentalist. ITTL, he may be more driven then ever to denounce militarism.
 
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The crash of THY 981 happened just like OTL right? Here's an interesting fact.
The flight's second leg, from Paris to London Heathrow Airport, was normally underbooked; however, due to a strike by British European Airways employees, many London-bound travellers, who had been stranded at Orly, were booked onto Flight 981, delaying the flight departure by 30 minutes.
This was important because an identical incident happened two years earlier with an American Airlines DC-10. In that case, because the plane was lightly loaded, the damage caused by the cabin floor collapsing was not as extreme and the pilots were able to maintain some control. In the case of the Turkish flight, the plane was almost fully loaded, so when the floor collapsed, all of the control systems were crippled and the plane was doomed.

Given how sleazy the Rumsfeld administration is, I can totally see them using this as an example in their war against organized labor-"If those pilots hadn't been on strike, the people they were supposed to fly to London would still be alive today!"
 
ITTL, Japanese people have witnessed the horrendous collapse of China, the desolation of Southern Africa, and finally the collapse of their once great ally into nuclear civil war.

While militarism maybe rising in Japan, I think there would still be a huge anti-militarist sentiment in the country, due to the ruin that much of the rest of the world has fallen into.

Hayao Miyazaki OTL is a staunch pacifist and environmentalist. ITTL, he may be more driven then ever to denounce militarism.

That same logic would warrant restraint by Israel given the global situation, but if anything, the opposite has happened. The collapse of China may instead prove to the Japanese once and for all that the Chinese are racially incapable of governing themselves effectively, and deserve nothing less than to be treated like chattel. OTL Japan is already a party-dominant state with low civic engagement - that could easily have gotten worse.
 
This was important because an identical incident happened two years earlier with an American Airlines DC-10. In that case, because the plane was lightly loaded, the damage caused by the cabin floor collapsing was not as extreme and the pilots were able to maintain some control. In the case of the Turkish flight, the plane was almost fully loaded, so when the floor collapsed, all of the control systems were crippled and the plane was doomed.

Given how sleazy the Rumsfeld administration is, I can totally see them using this as an example in their war against organized labor-"If those pilots hadn't been on strike, the people they were supposed to fly to London would still be alive today!"

Possibly. Like with the Soviets, the Rumsfeldians will use any misdemeanor by their "socialist" enemies in order to extoll the "free market."

All the while ignoring that their own actions have lead to even more hazardous conditions aboard planes.



That same logic would warrant restraint by Israel given the global situation, but if anything, the opposite has happened. The collapse of China may instead prove to the Japanese once and for all that the Chinese are racially incapable of governing themselves effectively, and deserve nothing less than to be treated like chattel. OTL Japan is already a party-dominant state with low civic engagement - that could easily have gotten worse.

Israel is not Japan. Israel is a nation surrounded by dangerous enemies that want to drive them into the sea.

Again, while Japan will militarize, that won't prevent a group of people from speaking out against mindless aggression.
 
Turns out, I missed the last update.
So now it's on. Again, to quote Kian Liu "No one at the time apparently thought to look at the calendar, because it occurred on October 1st, the thirtieth anniversary of the Revolution. How fitting an epitaph to the Great Helmsman's Revolution - mass murder to preserve the rule of his successor from a rebellion by his own army."
I wonder how long till a full-blown civil war kicks off. Bear in mind, the Western and North Eastern secessionists might have access to battlefield nuclear weapons as well.
I also wonder if the CVs are going to recall troops from overseas (as I remember there is still US military assets in Vietnam, Korea, China, Japan and South Africa) once their offensive bogs down. Maybe those men deployed overseas are less exposed to CV ideas and will be reluctant to attack their own countrymen.
P.s. The situation in China is also very interesting.
 
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I just realize in CV education they will be teaching about William Dudley Pelley in a good light.

that scares me
 
Turns out, I missed the last update.
So now it's on. Again, to quote Kian Liu "No one at the time apparently thought to look at the calendar, because it occurred on October 1st, the thirtieth anniversary of the Revolution. How fitting an epitaph to the Great Helmsman's Revolution - mass murder to preserve the rule of his successor from a rebellion by his own army."

The revolution fails completely when you poison the date it occurs.
 
I just realize in CV education they will be teaching about William Dudley Pelley in a good light.

that scares me
Pelley is too much of an obscure and pathetic figure to pay special attention to in school courses.

Similarly, there won't be positive things to say about another prominent American far-right figure of 30s, Charles Coughlin, since he was a Papist.
 
How do CV’s feel about Catholics? I don’t think Robertson was a fan IOTL, and I can’t see them having a rosy view here either, given the Vatican’s lurch towards the left. That could determine how Pence is treated, but given that Pence in real life seems (to me) like an evangelical who became one mainly because he saw where the wind was blowing, maybe he became a full on fundamentalist earlier in the game
Seems like the CV folks were fine with Catholics until Denton stopped following the party line.
 
Seems like the CV folks were fine with Catholics until Denton stopped following the party line.

The Rumsfeld administration more or less revived anti-Catholicism, largely because the Pope became an opponent of him.

Hell Jack Edwards, Rumsfeld's normal vice president, publicly declared "the pope doesn't know anything about Christianity."

The CV, being hardcore evangelical proselytizers, ran with it.

ITTL, the specter of anti-Catholicism found new life in the Decade of Tears.
 
what are the secessionist states like, economcially, politically and socially. Do they resemble rumsfieldia but lite, are they similar to European countries or are they further left?
 
what are the secessionist states like, economcially, politically and socially. Do they resemble rumsfieldia but lite, are they similar to European countries or are they further left?
I think details were shown here and there.

The Bozemann Communes are generally a loose confederation of Libertarian city-states with a full laissez-faire free economy and direct democracy elections. I'd imagine a central representative council would form for common defense and foreign diplomacy, but not sure how that would be set up.

California is a more liberal version of the former USA; a federal constitutional presidential republic. Less influence of moral guardians.

Texas is a capitalist federal state like California, with a slightly more conservative bent and more pro-business. However, there are more checks and balances on government power due to the bitter experiences of Rumsfeldia.

New England, assuming it stays separate post-war, is pretty much the same as pre-Rumsfeld America. There are some bad influences due to the more free-handed anarcho-capitalist era of Rumsfeld, but there's an attempt to rein them in again to avoid the excesses of TRW.

The rest of the country, I have no clue; it's going to be a lot of repair and recovery, even in the 'victorious' states, let alone those who were still under the CW thumb for most of the war. I'd say the WTP and Libertarian parties make sweeping gains due to the failure of the Dems, corruption of the GOPs,and tyranny of the CVs.
 
I think details were shown here and there.

The Bozemann Communes are generally a loose confederation of Libertarian city-states with a full laissez-faire free economy and direct democracy elections. I'd imagine a central representative council would form for common defense and foreign diplomacy, but not sure how that would be set up.

California is a more liberal version of the former USA; a federal constitutional presidential republic. Less influence of moral guardians.

Texas is a capitalist federal state like California, with a slightly more conservative bent and more pro-business. However, there are more checks and balances on government power due to the bitter experiences of Rumsfeldia.

New England, assuming it stays separate post-war, is pretty much the same as pre-Rumsfeld America. There are some bad influences due to the more free-handed anarcho-capitalist era of Rumsfeld, but there's an attempt to rein them in again to avoid the excesses of TRW.

The rest of the country, I have no clue; it's going to be a lot of repair and recovery, even in the 'victorious' states, let alone those who were still under the CW thumb for most of the war. I'd say the WTP and Libertarian parties make sweeping gains due to the failure of the Dems, corruption of the GOPs,and tyranny of the CVs.

So basically...America is never gonna reach its European allies on equality and workers rights, this saddens me
 
So basically...America is never gonna reach its European allies on equality and workers rights, this saddens me
California might, but that's really dependent on the direction it takes. Remember, the California WTP party is larger and more organized than the one in the USA, and the WTP's platform is reform, civil rights, and worker rights. It'll probably have a better platform or voter base to enforce said changes.

Texas is pretty much Libertarian territory, so they'll favor laissez-faire over regulation.
 
Honestly I think "laissez-faire" will be permanently discredited. After all, even the corporations realized that a totally unregulated economy was not nearly as fun as Rummy made it sound.
 
California might, but that's really dependent on the direction it takes. Remember, the California WTP party is larger and more organized than the one in the USA, and the WTP's platform is reform, civil rights, and worker rights. It'll probably have a better platform or voter base to enforce said changes.

Texas is pretty much Libertarian territory, so they'll favor laissez-faire over regulation.

Honestly I think "laissez-faire" will be permanently discredited. After all, even the corporations realized that a totally unregulated economy was not nearly as fun as Rummy made it sound.


It is important to remember that being Libertarian is not the same thing as being a "corporate cheerleader." And that can be what Rumsfeldia was accurately described.

Rumsfeldia, despite its lofty rhetoric, violated the principles of laissez-faire all the time. From stealing intellectual property, to heavily regulating television networks. It was a blatant oligarchy of corrupt corporations, whose actions were essentially protected in a court of law. Rumsfeldia didn't get rid of the regulatory state, the regulatory state merely favored Rummy's corporate backers.

I read libertarian websites like Reason, and the viewpoints they express are not a single-minded attack on "socialism". They also heavily criticize government intervention ON behalf of big business as well, and make pretty good arguments that the problems we see in the economy are a result of government regulating ON BEHALF of big business.

I can picture Libertarians defending laissez-faire, while also being very hostile toward cronyism as well.
 
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