THE HENRY MARX STORY
This is actually horrifying. Some of the research I did for this was actually saddening and immensely creepy.



THE HENRY MARX STORY
THE FATHER OF MODERN PHRENOLOGY

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The entire time the Cuba War and the First Slave Insurrection was decimating the South, the Union was still building, slowly modernizing and building up an impressive infrastructure. New York City was experiencing a golden age of revival thanks in large part to the Erie Canal. Goodyear Enterprises was quickly taking over the country in many ways, beginning an era known as "The Gilded Age." This Gilded Age was also called the "Second Enlightenment," or "Rebirth of America." It signaled the end finally of thirty years of Yankee history being a complete and utter disaster on virtually every level conceivable. Almost 20 years after the War of 1812, the Republican Union was finally shaking off the dust and getting back to work.

Among the most influential figures of this period was a German Jewish immigrant named Herschel Levy, who fled persecution with his family after the Hep-Hep Riots in Bavaria in 1819. He was a scientist and "free thinker" who greatly admired all things Yankee. He saw the country as needing help after its allies completely abandoned it. Levy grew disgusted with the way Napoleon and the rest of Southern Europe was allowing anti-Jewish sentiment to go virtually unchecked in Bavaria. He came to "view Papism as a mental disorder or disease. For the weak-minded who live in huts." He also preached that "Papism is the opiate of the people." He saw the Catholic Church as just an excuse to keep "lowbrow Mogoloids and Iberians in check." When he arrived in the Union with thousands of other Jews, he wanted to blend in more as an American and so changed his name to Henry Marx. It was under this name he and his son would be famous, or rather infamous. His son Carl was born in 1818, just before the family moved. He would have no memory of Europe and he would be thoroughly American. His sister Louise would be born in 1821 in the Union. In 1823, the entire family converted to American Fundamentalism.

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Henry Marx

Henry Marx was 43 when he arrived off the boat in New Jersey in 1820. This, however, didn't stop the middle-aged man and father of two from joining Princeton University in 1821, joining their science department. There he began experiments on human brains with several other students, trying to understand why some people were criminals or ne'erdowells as well as attempting revolutionary studies on electricity. He attempted, in 1822, to revive dead corpses by means of electric-shock, even going so far as to stitch up different animal parts together to see if he could sew a dog's head on a cat's body and revive it, or even a snake's head on a mouse. These experiments, as he wrote in his diary in early 1823, were "inconclusive." Known as "Dr. Marx's Monsters," these stories would inspire Mary Shelley, a young Englishwoman, to pen the story The Modern Prometheus in 1824, which became the first horror novel of all time. One might think such experiments would render Marx a laughing stock, but instead he was lauded for his attempts at cheating death and for also accidentally creating the prototype of a little something called a "lightbulb" with the help of fellow scientist and inventor Samuel Morse, a professor at Benedict Arnold University of Boston.

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Professor Samuel Morse

In 1825, Henry Marx began more studies on electricity, publishing his first book Analysis of Electro-Shock on the Human Mind in that same year to much acclaim. In his book, which he dedicated to "All my Friends and Colleagues at Princeton University and Benedict Arnold University of Boston," Marx claimed he was able to cure many "mental deficiencies, problems, or impulses" through the administration of electricity directly through the brain of the "patient." He claimed electro-shock could "cure seizures, headaches, mind fog, memory loss, and homosexuality," and presented 300 pages of scientific drivel to prove such. This drivel was then completely ate up by American scientists who presented him many awards. From that point on, Yankee hospitals were always equipped with "electro-shock chambers" to "treat patients."

In his next book, A Thorough Investigation of Behavioral and Mental Deficiencies, Marx taught that by severing connection's in the brain's prefrontal cortex, many behavioral and mental problems could be "cured," especially if done in coordination with electro-shock therapy (of course!). Marx tested his theory on his first human patient in 1826, a local Princeton homeless man deemed "unfit for living in society" in his current "condition." Marx and Dr. Calvin John Featherston performed the surgery on the unwilling and strapped-down man before a full audience at Benedict Arnold University of Boston's surgical arena, which resulted in:

"The patient, formerly a drunkard Irish retard opium addict of ill repute quit his screaming and protestations and manic actions immediately. His eyes dilated, his mouth shut, and his hands steadied. Instead of trying to assault us as before, the patient was cordial and cooperative, if a little speechless. Dr. Featherston and I have great hopes that this procedure could be used to remedy all manner of mental disorders or calm lunatics. Procedure has a definite chance of inducing a vegetative state, at which point patient could be cared for or simply put down, but this is preferable to filling up the asylums and hospitals of this great country with useless maniacs thrashing about, violent and out of control. We have not tested on a homosexual yet, but we have great faith that this procedure could cure that unfortunate disease among patients resistant to electro-shock. Of course, following up the lobotomy with a further course treatment of electro-shock could double effectiveness."


It should be noted that this brilliant procedure was, essentially, driving an ice pick through the top of a patient's eye-socket with a mallet with no anesthetic. Traveling medicine shows across the Union began to offer the procedure as well, charging 5 dollars to "banish depression and let you be happy to live life once more."

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Dr. Marx, Dr. Featherston, and their staff perform a lobotomy in front of a captive audience in New York City

Now, Marx knew how to control mental deficiencies and the like, he wanted to know what caused them. He now went to work on his master plan, something which had been an idea growing in his head--no pun intended--for years. He would see if the so-called "Inferiors of Society" were really inferior. The results of his studies would shape Union history forever.

In 1827, while Virginia and the Confederation of the Carolinas were going to war over Cuba, Dr. Henry Marx published On the Science of Phrenology, or A Study on the Inferiors of Society. In this absolutely revolutionary new book, some 500 pages long and fully illustrated, Marx laid out his doctrine of phrenology, usually called simply Marxism. He claimed his book and experiments proof that skull shape and size, as well as general composition, could be used to determine if someone was to be a criminal or drunkard or mentally defective. He claimed that several Irish skulls he happened to have in his possession showed that their brains, were slightly smaller than the average "Anglo-Saxon-Teutonic brain." Brains, in this book, were also sectioned out in a bizarre jigsaw puzzle fashion, each "brain organ" controlling a different aspect of personality or intelligence. The rather mad scientist also put forward that the Irish skulls were made of a different type of bone and material altogether than those skulls of Superiors which we have analyzed." Chapter 6 of On the Science of Phrenology stated black people's skulls, while slightly different, did not show direct signs of inferiority unless "racially mixed with other peoples. The mulatto brain truly is stunted by this abnormal mating routine." When he got around to studying Spanish and Italian skulls, Marx concluded that they shared very many similarities with Irish ones, and that they all shared similarities with monkey skulls.

"Upon analysis of these Spaniard skulls, which were taken from fallen soldiers in the ongoing war in Mexico, I found the material and specific features and shaping to be almost identical to that of the Papist Irishmen skulls in my earlier studies. This raises the excellent question of whether or not an Italian skull would also share these traits, as Spaniards and Italians share much in common. They did, in fact, match, confirming my theory that the Inferior Man is naturally an Iberian creature originating from the Slavic steppes of Asia, more beast than man, disposed to crime, retardation, homosexuality, drunkenness, immorality, and brute violence. He is a hairy, degenerate being, almost completely out of control in his purest state, who must be tamed and taught to mind his Betters. I also hope to confirm a further hypothesis, upon my acquisition of several skulls of great age from Europe, that the Roman and Latin peoples of antiquity, such as during the time of the Empire, were of different stock altogether from present day Italian people, their once-pure Anglo-Saxon precursor bloodline, which I shall call the Pinnacle Man, having been mongrelized and mongoloidized by the hordes of Slavic and Iberian subhuman steppe tribals. These Inferior peoples also share significant similarities with the skeletal and bone structures of chimpanzees and monkeys, something of which I am unsure of the exact meaning of. In conclusion, this Inferior Man, if left to mingle with the Betters of Society, will mix his degenerate blood with the Anglo-Saxons and dilute the purity of said Anglo-Saxons, mongrelizing this people. However, if proper steps are taken to safeguard the virtue of our civilization, the Pinnacle Man of antiquity could in turn be bred again into a super man, of great strength mentally and physically."

Charles Goodyear was among the first outspoken fans of On the Science of Phrenology, saying of it:

"It is as if Dr. Marx is writing science with lightning, illuminating us all on the sad plight of our race and the terrifying threat caused by mongoloid foreigners to our continued bloodline. I have worked with many Inferiors over the years, starting with my time on the Erie Canal, and it is as if all the thoughts I have had about these lazy, sinful, stupid peoples also were in the mind of Dr. Marx. Truly, a great American and Christian scientist!"

The idea of rebuilding the Anglo-Saxon people back into the "Pinnacle Man" was revolutionary and was extremely popular with AFC adherents. Aaron Burr, the aging Prophet Himself, said:

"I believe God has used Dr. Marx has a tool by which to show us the true path. Surely, this Pinnacle Man he described fits perfectly my visions of a future Grand Republic, united coast to coast, settled by brown haired men with hazel eyes and of magnificent strength. This Pinnacle Man is likely the race of which the Ancient Hebrews and Romans were a part of, including our Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth."


Aaron Burr's endorsement sealed the deal, and the AFC began to preach scientific racism from its pulpits. As Edward Everett said in 1830:

"The Inferior must be worked and shown the way of righteousness through the sweat of his brow. Idleness, as many have said, is the devil's plaything, and if left to their own devices the anarchist Iberian Slav will descend into murder, mayhem, and evil. These sinners are hellbound, one and all! Their anchor dragging them to the fiery lake is the pope himself, the King of the Sinners, Chief of the Inferiors. But! God has created these creatures for a reason. They are the Beast of the Field as described in Genesis, created to serve the first Pinnacle Man, Adam. Not to be fornicated with, but rather to tend the Garden of Eden and serve the Pinnacle Man. These people, beasts of the field, know no better, for they have thick skulls and small brains. However, if worked long and hard and shown the light of the Gospel, the Four Books of Manifest Destiny, and the American Christian Work Ethic, as well as if they respect their Betters, these Inferior subhumans can be brought into a greater level of personhood in death. By working the Inferior, we are saving their souls."

On the Science of Phrenology was, needless to say, incredibly unpopular in Europe, where it was burned in huge piles in front of book stores. However, an alarming number of Prussian and Scandinavian citizens began reading the book as a sort of psuedoscience, most not believing it while a certain amount actually did. Other branches of the same method of thought, not quite as radical as Marx, sprung up in Northern Europe, where more strange, yet usually more sane, medical experiments were attempted.

Dr. Marx, in 1830, was offered the position to be over Benedict Arnold University of Boston's Science Department, a position which he accepted, finally leaving his alma matter of Princeton. At BAUB, Marx would reunite with his old friend and now staunch Scientific Marxism supporter, Professor Samuel Morse. Together, they worked again on their old lightbulb idea, slowly perfecting it over the years. The project was slow at first, but eventually Charles Goodyear, patron of the sciences that he was, stepped in with an offer to work for Goodyear Enterprises, which the two men accepted and did on the side of their regular job as tenured professors.

In summary, Henry Marx, an amateur scientist and Jewish immigrant from Bavaria, came to the Union escaping anti-Jewish pogroms, attended Princeton University, and became the founder of Marxism, a scientific doctrine that would wind up fueling human rights abuses, atrocities, genocide and massacres for centuries. But his influence wasn't done. In New York City, a young English immigrant was working at the zoo, constantly studying the apes in his spare time. He was a big fan of On the Science of Phrenology and of Dr. Marx in general. Two decades later, the young man would publish his "absolute scientific proof for Marxism," which another young man named Custer would find "enlightening and life-changing." The young Englishman's name was Charles Darwin...
 
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Many of these, especially the New Slavery bit, will be answered in the next chapter tonight. I was already writing it!
I have tapped into the Napoleon53 mental signal. I shall use this power only to annoy!

And thanks for the answers. I’d wondered if the RU had anything like the Canadian Residental School system for assimilating Inferiors decentants. And I asked about acceptables in Inferiors nations because I was curious to see if there would be anyone allying themselves or championing the RU in enemy nations like France, Ireland, etc

Edit: new chapter posted before my reply and Jesus H Christ! Granted its probably on par with OTL, but seeing it so concentrated really knocks you back
 
....and I thought the last chapter was wild. Jeez, this is Nazi racial theory on steroids.

Madness 2.0: Electro-shock Boogaloo.

BTW I noticed the Chapter is not threadmarked; is this an official part of the TL?
 
....and I thought the last chapter was wild. Jeez, this is Nazi racial theory on steroids.

Madness 2.0: Electro-shock Boogaloo.

BTW I noticed the Chapter is not threadmarked; is this an official part of the TL?

It is indeed official. Just forgot to threadmark it. I usually do at first. lol :p

So yeah, the name for "New Slavery" and corporate tyranny over minorities is ironically called Marxism, and is founded by Karl Marx's dad. Who is essentially Jewish Dr. Frankenstein. Okay, not even essentially. He's literally real-life Frankenstein meets Heinrich Himmler.
 
God! I thought the last chapter was bad, but this? Scientific racism, electroshock therapy, and possible social Darwinism? This is just worse! What I'm wondering is who'll be the "Karl Marx" of TTL. Will Fredrich Engels form it himself? Or will it be someone entirely new?
 
As much as I love the madman Goodyear, I would like to see some other companies rise up in competition with Goodyear Enterprises. Speaking of Darwin, it would also be interesting to see Alfred R. Wallace develop the theory of evolution before Darwin, making the latter an add on/copycat of the former, adding a bit more of the mirror universe aspect to WMIT.
 
As much as I love the madman Goodyear, I would like to see some other companies rise up in competition with Goodyear Enterprises. Speaking of Darwin, it would also be interesting to see Alfred R. Wallace develop the theory of evolution before Darwin, making the latter an add on/copycat of the former, adding a bit more of the mirror universe aspect to WMIT.

Oh there will be! Goodyear is just setting the model right now. He hasn't even fully adopted "New Slavery." We're at the dawn of the Rebirth of America era, and that's when other companies will rise up. I've contemplated having evolution ITTL be nonexistent, at least in the early modern era, to really keep up the religious aspect of a strong Catholic Europe and devout Protestants.

God! I thought the last chapter was bad, but this? Scientific racism, electroshock therapy, and possible social Darwinism? This is just worse! What I'm wondering is who'll be the "Karl Marx" of TTL. Will Fredrich Engels form it himself? Or will it be someone entirely new?

Meinrad Beutel is sort of a Marx analog, but with more anarchy. Anarchy, even if with a socialist tinge, was Classic's answer to Communism.

One thing that would be hilarious to include is an idea I had to make Henry Marx the Father of Scientific Marxism, and his son Carl Marx later becomes the Father of Spiritual Marxism, and spearheads a spiritualist movement in the late Victorian era. Picture him with the Council of Jehovah, trying to perform "ancient magick" to summon the spirit of the Prophet Burr. XD
 
One thing that would be hilarious to include is an idea I had to make Henry Marx the Father of Scientific Marxism, and his son Carl Marx later becomes the Father of Spiritual Marxism, and spearheads a spiritualist movement in the late Victorian era. Picture him with the Council of Jehovah, trying to perform "ancient magick" to summon the spirit of the Prophet Burr. XD
I mean, Karl already has the beard for it IOTL. Not hard to imagine him as a priest ITTL
 
I've contemplated having evolution ITTL be nonexistent, at least in the early modern era, to really keep up the religious aspect of a strong Catholic Europe and devout Protestants.
Maybe just have Evolution as we understand it be a footnote of history proposed by a saner scientist in a less dystopian nation that’s ignored by the greater world. I can see someone in the Catholic bloc proposing Adaptive Intelligent Design, ie God created the world and all the life in it, but also gave life the ability to adapt and improve to changes. Combines Lamarckism and Catholic doctrine without too much conflict or credit to Marxism and gives some freedom to the biological sciences in the Catholic bloc
 
i kinda want to see De Gaulle in this mad Universe.
And in this period, what Victor Hugo would do. He was an admirer of Napoleon Ier so maybe he is one of the most vocal supporter of the Bonaparte Dynasty here
 
Yeah, would also be interested to see how Britain's doing (or England now, rather). We didn't see much of them until Churchill took over in the original verse. Now they seem to have some kind of hope in the form of still maintaining a portion of Australia. Figures like Cecil Rhodes, Disraeli and Gladstone would be appropriate in the coming years. Meanwhile when we get to the radicalism bit, I would like to see someone like Diana Mitford. She could come into her own instead of just being at Mosley's side, and partly because like I mentioned with Pelley, she just seems like a Bond villain femme fatale that would be appropriate for the pulp feel of the original. And then there's Noel Pemberton Billing, who was pretty much the British Alex Jones of the 20th Century, mixed with Mike Pence. Even crazier was that he became an MP. Got reminded of him when the 'electro-shocks will cure the gay away' came up in the recent chapter. :p

One thing I'd suggest is mentioning how portions of the former British Empire are doing. Maybe some ex-EIC and ex-RN personnel go rogue and turn to piracy, leading to France having issues with that in the Indian Ocean? Maybe some go off to China and Japan and help with modernization in exchange for a cozy post at the respective Emperor's (or even Shogun's) side? What about the Anglo-Canadians, could they be signing up to the AFC? Maybe Louisiana's the locale where RU Settlers come into conflict with old Canadian Army elements that are fleeing prosecution, as the Americans want revenge for the rape and pillage.
 
One thing I'd suggest is mentioning how portions of the former British Empire are doing. Maybe some ex-EIC and ex-RN personnel go rogue and turn to piracy, leading to France having issues with that in the Indian Ocean? Maybe some go off to China and Japan and help with modernization in exchange for a cozy post at the respective Emperor's (or even Shogun's) side?
Maybe there are multiple James Brooke analogues ITTL?
 
Maybe there are multiple James Brooke analogues ITTL?
Potentially, yeah. If anyone's read the Star Wars Legends/EU, I'd liken it to the collapse of the Empire, except much quicker. You have the formal reduced 'remnant' over in England and Australia, but you also have dozens of the old military still trying to make a living for themselves, so a ton of tiny statelets and equivalents of Sarawak, maybe even some Rhodesias. Could factor into the future colonization of Africa, where say, the French venture in and find a coastal kingdom of ex-RN sailors that has gone native. Even in the early 19th Century, the British Empire was a huge thing. There'd be thousands of soldiers unaccounted for that now suddenly find themselves without an Empire to serve. They can't all return to England, though I do see some of them being used in settling Australia.
 
One thing I'd suggest is mentioning how portions of the former British Empire are doing. Maybe some ex-EIC and ex-RN personnel go rogue and turn to piracy, leading to France having issues with that in the Indian Ocean?
I got an idea.....:evilsmile:
Earlier I mentioned including Ranavalona I, the Mad Mother of Madagascar? ITTL, ex-RN/EITC personnel could be welcomed in by her husband (a similar thing happened IOTL). ITTL, rather than turning against the British, Ranavanola cuts a deal with them where they help modernize the country and its military. With their help, she takes control of the whole country. More expat Brits immigrate and Madagascar becomes a base for ex-RN ships to wreak havoc on French shipping.
Maybe some go off to China and Japan and help with modernization in exchange for a cozy post at the respective Emperor's (or even Shogun's) side?
Maybe have ex-RN/EITC personnel ally with the Red Flag fleet under Chang Pao and Ching Shih; they negotiate with the government to get the Red flags full pardons and start attacking French shipping; the Indian Ocean suddenly becomes very dangerous for French ships and makes pacifying India that much harder.....
 
A 'new Age of Piracy' would also give another reason why France is so overstretched and can't really do much to defend its North American possessions. Also all these pirates and their descendants would make great future privateers for the USN, South Africa if it still happens, etc.
 
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Heart of old patriot town,
Thru the ages extend the renown!
Past and present join in the song,
Thy praises to prolong.
Afar shines thy clear Beacon light,
Ever guiding to truth and to the right.
Benedict Arnold University,
Be thy fair dominion long.

(CHORUS)
Join we all in loving praise,
Sing her triumph clear.
Honor the name of enduring fame,
With rev'rent lays.
Sound afar her glory true,
Hail with cheer on cheer!
Hail, oh hail, Old B.A.U.B....

Laud we thy Puritan birth;
And do tribute to thy sterling worth.
True to thee thy every son,
Chanting Novus Ordo Seclorum!
Our laurels we bring to thy shrine,
All our life's full attainment is thine.
Old Arnold, we will turn to thee,
Wherever our course will run.
 
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