A Planet for the President
Encyclopedia
A Planet for the President (2004
) is a novel by Alistair Beaton
. Set in the not-too-distant future, it satirically
ponders the question of what action the President of the United States
might take if he finally realized that global climate change
is converting the earth into an increasingly uninhabitable planet, also for Americans. Eventually persuaded by his aides to "think the unthinkable", the President in the novel, Ritchie L. Ritchie, greenlights drastic measures to stop environmental destruction and to secure for himself a place in history as the saviour of the earth. A biting political satire
, A Planet for the President is a (deliberately) thinly disguised take on George W. Bush
and his administration. The book has been hailed by the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, as "Dr Strangelove
for the Eco generation" .
s of an unprecedented scope, an ever increasing percentage of the U.S. population demands leadership from their President. So far, however, Ritchie has turned a blind eye to ecological concerns, repeatedly dismissing warnings from scientists and environmentalist groups alike as the rantings of "eco-nuts". For example, when wildfire
s in California
not only kill off 38 of Hollywood
's celebrities gathered for a private party in Malibu, but also fell the 2,200 year-old General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park
and thus destroy a symbol of American strength and continuity, Ritchie rationalizes
his practically non-existent environmental policy by concluding that the fire must have been started by arson
, while at the same time ignoring the drought
which, at least partially caused by human intervention, enabled the fire to spread so quickly in the first place. The novel predates the terrible wildfires of October 2007.
The terrifying consequences of environmental destruction have become a day-to-day reality to people all over the world. The United Kingdom
, for example, America's closest ally, suffers "the loss of much of East Anglia
" due to flood
ing, and Prime Minister James Halstead, as a gesture of friendship, sends Ritchie "the last cod
from the North Sea
for at least ten years", a specimen which, he adds, could just as well be "the last North Sea cod ever". In Nepal
, inexperienced engineers trying to drain a glacial lake
cause the surrounding moraine
to burst, which results in a valley
being flooded and in 62,000 Nepalese losing their lives. And in the United States, New Orleans
is flooded and destroyed and 23,142 people are killed when Hurricane Wendy, a Category 5
hurricane
, hits the city.
In these troubled times, many state leaders turn to the American President for support, a fact which on occasion makes Ritchie L. Ritchie reflect on the state of the union and that of the globe at large:
. In practice, Ritchie is heading a War Cabinet
. The FBI
, the CIA
and the Pentagon
have assumed most of the tasks of the former government. In order to avert attention from the many presidential lapses, the members of Ritchie's inner circle have become ruthless beyond imagination. For instance, when the President meets "Inspirational Moms and Dads" in the White House
and chats animatedly in front of the television cameras with Chuck and Geraldine, a couple who have four kids, his media chief is at first pleased with her boss's performance and the extensive media coverage this event gets. When, however, a few days later that father runs amok and kills his wife and their four children she decides that something has to be done to get the meeting between the President and a murderer out of the headlines. This is the only reason why, during an impromptu conference, the Defense Secretary
and she decide to launch an airstrike
against Haiti
on the following day. In the morning she informs Vince Lennox, Special Assistant to the President, that
At a later point in the novel, the President's inner circle will even launch a chemical attack on the unsuspecting—and innocent—Justices of the Supreme Court
, all nine of whom will be killed in the attack.
Citizens' First Amendment
rights are more and more ignored by the Administration. For example, freedom of the press
is practically non-existent; many political opponents have had to go underground after the media were gleichgeschaltet
. Covert listening device
s have been widely installed so that no one can be sure that their conversation is not being listened to, recorded, transcribed
, and archived for future use.
The U.S. defense budget is the largest in history, while there is no discernible social safety net
any longer. The Administration encourages citizens to live by traditional American values. Foreign food imports as well as vegetarianism
are frowned upon; the number of females in leading positions has been reduced to a few token
women; teen abstinence
rallies are regularly organised; homosexuality
is generally considered unnatural. A strong Christian
element pervades the decision-making process in the White House.
The product of these developments is a thoroughly hypocritical
society. Vince Lennox, for example, who frequently has to eat cheeseburger
s with his boss, does not dare admit to the President that he is actually a vegetarian. Various celebrities publicly support the campaigns for moral integrity and sexual abstinence while behind closed doors indulging in pornography
, promiscuity
and all kinds of perversions. The President himself, whose son comes out
during a live television broadcast, more and more often locks himself in his private study adjacent to the Oval Office
to "be alone with his God", a phrase which is very soon recognized by everyone on the presidential staff as a euphemism
for drinking bourbon
.
, they draw all the wrong conclusions. Instead of promoting a simple lifestyle and drastically reducing toxic emissions, they warm to the idea of MPR—Mass Population Reduction: Fewer people on the planet will also result in less pollution, and that, in the long run, will be the only way to save humanity. The plan is to trigger a pandemic
which, within a few hours, will kill six billion people—96 per cent of the world's population, i.e. everyone except the population of the United States. The means for doing so is a newly developed lethal virus
which will immediately kill all humans unless they have been vaccinated
against it. A new governmental campaign is to make U.S. citizens believe that America's enemies are plotting to attack the United States with biological weapons
, and thus scare them so much that they have themselves inoculated. After "Operation Deliverance" has been carried out, Americans are to colonise
the globe. This plan, America's rulers believe, has also been sanctioned by God.
Preparations start at once. President Ritchie publicly announces that the United States is preparing a global environmental survey as the starting point of a new ecological policy which will be implemented once the data from the survey have been processed and publicized. A date is set, state leaders around the globe applaud the United States for its initiative, there are standing ovation
s in the United Nations General Assembly
, and all countries with the exception of North Korea
agree to grant overflying rights to U.S. military aircraft
, which is how the alleged survey will be conducted. Secretly, however, these aircraft are now equipped with sprayers which will enable them to spread the highly contagious
new virus quickly and efficiently around the world.
At the same time mass production
of the new vaccine
sets in, and soon afterwards the new vaccination programme for all U.S. citizens is started. Just in time before being inoculated himself, Ritchie L. Ritchie realizes that he is allergic
to egg
s and thus, for medical reasons, cannot be given the vaccine. It turns out that German
technology can solve the problem, as there is one company in Cologne
which can produce the vaccine without the help of eggs. So, in due course, the President of the United States also
gets his shot.
Immediately after Operation Deliverance has finally been launched, reports of U.S.citizens dying by the hundreds—although they have been inoculated against the virus—reach the White House. Only too late do scientists find out that, due to the vaccine having been hastily mass-produced, certain production regulations were neglected, which resulted in the vaccine being inefficient. ("The free market
made America and the free market destroyed America.")
In the end, Ritchie L. Ritchie is the only human survivor, as his vaccine was the only one produced outside the United States. He continues living in the White House for several years until his death.
2004 in literature
The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
) is a novel by Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton is a Scottish left wing political satirist, journalist, radio presenter, novelist and television writer. At one point in his career he was also a speechwriter for Gordon Brown....
. Set in the not-too-distant future, it satirically
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
ponders the question of what action the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
might take if he finally realized that global climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
is converting the earth into an increasingly uninhabitable planet, also for Americans. Eventually persuaded by his aides to "think the unthinkable", the President in the novel, Ritchie L. Ritchie, greenlights drastic measures to stop environmental destruction and to secure for himself a place in history as the saviour of the earth. A biting political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
, A Planet for the President is a (deliberately) thinly disguised take on George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and his administration. The book has been hailed by the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, as "Dr Strangelove
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, commonly known as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 black comedy film which satirizes the nuclear scare. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and featuring Sterling...
for the Eco generation" .
The environmental situation
In the face of all sorts of natural disasterNatural disaster
A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...
s of an unprecedented scope, an ever increasing percentage of the U.S. population demands leadership from their President. So far, however, Ritchie has turned a blind eye to ecological concerns, repeatedly dismissing warnings from scientists and environmentalist groups alike as the rantings of "eco-nuts". For example, when wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
not only kill off 38 of Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
's celebrities gathered for a private party in Malibu, but also fell the 2,200 year-old General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...
and thus destroy a symbol of American strength and continuity, Ritchie rationalizes
Rationalization (psychology)
In psychology and logic, rationalization is an unconscious defense mechanism in which perceived controversial behaviors or feelings are logically justified and explained in a rational or logical manner in order to avoid any true explanation and made consciously tolerable by plausible means...
his practically non-existent environmental policy by concluding that the fire must have been started by arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, while at the same time ignoring the drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
which, at least partially caused by human intervention, enabled the fire to spread so quickly in the first place. The novel predates the terrible wildfires of October 2007.
The terrifying consequences of environmental destruction have become a day-to-day reality to people all over the world. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, for example, America's closest ally, suffers "the loss of much of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
" due to flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing, and Prime Minister James Halstead, as a gesture of friendship, sends Ritchie "the last cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
from the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
for at least ten years", a specimen which, he adds, could just as well be "the last North Sea cod ever". In Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, inexperienced engineers trying to drain a glacial lake
Glacial lake
A glacial lake is a lake with origins in a melted glacier. Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. A retreating glacier often left behind large deposits of ice in hollows between drumlins or hills. As the ice age ended, these melted to create...
cause the surrounding moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
to burst, which results in a valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
being flooded and in 62,000 Nepalese losing their lives. And in the United States, New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
is flooded and destroyed and 23,142 people are killed when Hurricane Wendy, a Category 5
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale , or the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , classifies hurricanes — Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms — into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds...
hurricane
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
, hits the city.
In these troubled times, many state leaders turn to the American President for support, a fact which on occasion makes Ritchie L. Ritchie reflect on the state of the union and that of the globe at large:
Sometimes Ritchie got resentful at having to spend so much time dealing with the rest of the world. Oh sure, they rang up to weep their crocodile tears, but most of the time the rest of the world was just plain ungrateful. Here was America sending guns and planes and soldiers to defend freedomFreedom (political)Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
in just about every part of the globe, and never a word of thanks. Worse than that, Americans everywhere were being shot at or bombed or kidnapped, when all they wanted to do was help make the world safe for democracy. And it wasn't all that easy at home, either. There were liberals coming out of the woodwork all over, and eco-nuts who wanted to close down American industry so that their little feathered friends could be happy. Fucking tree-huggersChipko movementThe Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan is a social-ecological movement that practised the Gandhian methods of satyagraha and non-violent resistance, through the act of hugging trees to protect them from being felled...
and duck-squeezers.
Domestic politics
In theory, the United States is still a democracyDemocracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
. In practice, Ritchie is heading a War Cabinet
War Cabinet
A War Cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members....
. The FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
have assumed most of the tasks of the former government. In order to avert attention from the many presidential lapses, the members of Ritchie's inner circle have become ruthless beyond imagination. For instance, when the President meets "Inspirational Moms and Dads" in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and chats animatedly in front of the television cameras with Chuck and Geraldine, a couple who have four kids, his media chief is at first pleased with her boss's performance and the extensive media coverage this event gets. When, however, a few days later that father runs amok and kills his wife and their four children she decides that something has to be done to get the meeting between the President and a murderer out of the headlines. This is the only reason why, during an impromptu conference, the Defense Secretary
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
and she decide to launch an airstrike
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
against Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
on the following day. In the morning she informs Vince Lennox, Special Assistant to the President, that
"[...] we're about to bomb Haiti. Should we wake the President?"
"Why are we bombing Haiti?"
"We have evidence of terroristTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
groupings planning an attack on the United States."
"You mean that sad little bunch of leftistLeft-wing politicsIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
guerrillasGuerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
? The ones we've known about for ages?"
"Terrorist groupings, Vince."
"Oh, I get it. We need to deflect attention from Chuck and Geraldine."
"That's one way of looking at it. I'd say it was Chuck and Geraldine and the celebs and General Sherman."
"Anna. Are you really sure about this? [...] People will be killed."
"Anna Prascilowicz gave Vince a long hard look. "You know, Vince, sometimes I worry about you."
Four hours later the airstrike on Haiti went ahead. In the depths of the Haitian mangroveMangroveMangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
swampSwampA swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s, one guerrilla, eleven fishermen and twenty-two villagers were killed in the space of seven minutes. The President went live on television that night to praise the nation's vigilance in saving America from a ruthless terrorist attack.
At a later point in the novel, the President's inner circle will even launch a chemical attack on the unsuspecting—and innocent—Justices of the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, all nine of whom will be killed in the attack.
Citizens' First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
rights are more and more ignored by the Administration. For example, freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
is practically non-existent; many political opponents have had to go underground after the media were gleichgeschaltet
Gleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J...
. Covert listening device
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
s have been widely installed so that no one can be sure that their conversation is not being listened to, recorded, transcribed
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
, and archived for future use.
The U.S. defense budget is the largest in history, while there is no discernible social safety net
Social safety net
Social safety nets, or "socioeconomic safety nets", are non-contributory transfer programs seeking to prevent the poor or those vulnerable to shocks and poverty from falling below a certain poverty level. Safety net programs can be provided by the public sector or by the private sector...
any longer. The Administration encourages citizens to live by traditional American values. Foreign food imports as well as vegetarianism
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
are frowned upon; the number of females in leading positions has been reduced to a few token
Tokenism
In the arts, employment, and politics, tokenism is a policy or practice of limited inclusion or artistic and/or political representation of members of a traditionally marginalized group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices rather than discrimination, intentional or not...
women; teen abstinence
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...
rallies are regularly organised; homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
is generally considered unnatural. A strong Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
element pervades the decision-making process in the White House.
The product of these developments is a thoroughly hypocritical
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
society. Vince Lennox, for example, who frequently has to eat cheeseburger
Cheeseburger
A cheeseburger is a hamburger with cheese that has been added to it. Traditionally, the cheese is placed on top of the patty, but the burger can include many variations in structure, ingredients, and composition...
s with his boss, does not dare admit to the President that he is actually a vegetarian. Various celebrities publicly support the campaigns for moral integrity and sexual abstinence while behind closed doors indulging in pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
, promiscuity
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
and all kinds of perversions. The President himself, whose son comes out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
during a live television broadcast, more and more often locks himself in his private study adjacent to the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
to "be alone with his God", a phrase which is very soon recognized by everyone on the presidential staff as a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for drinking bourbon
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
.
The solution: MPR and Operation Deliverance
More and more members of the Ritchie Administration realize that something has to be done about the global environmental crisis. However, influenced by a confidential study made by a government-sponsored think tankThink tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
, they draw all the wrong conclusions. Instead of promoting a simple lifestyle and drastically reducing toxic emissions, they warm to the idea of MPR—Mass Population Reduction: Fewer people on the planet will also result in less pollution, and that, in the long run, will be the only way to save humanity. The plan is to trigger a pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
which, within a few hours, will kill six billion people—96 per cent of the world's population, i.e. everyone except the population of the United States. The means for doing so is a newly developed lethal virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
which will immediately kill all humans unless they have been vaccinated
Vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
against it. A new governmental campaign is to make U.S. citizens believe that America's enemies are plotting to attack the United States with biological weapons
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
, and thus scare them so much that they have themselves inoculated. After "Operation Deliverance" has been carried out, Americans are to colonise
Colonisation
Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...
the globe. This plan, America's rulers believe, has also been sanctioned by God.
Preparations start at once. President Ritchie publicly announces that the United States is preparing a global environmental survey as the starting point of a new ecological policy which will be implemented once the data from the survey have been processed and publicized. A date is set, state leaders around the globe applaud the United States for its initiative, there are standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
s in the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
, and all countries with the exception of North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
agree to grant overflying rights to U.S. military aircraft
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...
, which is how the alleged survey will be conducted. Secretly, however, these aircraft are now equipped with sprayers which will enable them to spread the highly contagious
Contagion
Contagion may refer to:In medicine:* Infectious disease, also known as contagious disease, with infection, or the infectious agent, also known as contagionIn media* Batman: Contagion, a story arc in the Batman comic book series...
new virus quickly and efficiently around the world.
At the same time mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
of the new vaccine
Vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
sets in, and soon afterwards the new vaccination programme for all U.S. citizens is started. Just in time before being inoculated himself, Ritchie L. Ritchie realizes that he is allergic
Allergy
An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
to egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
s and thus, for medical reasons, cannot be given the vaccine. It turns out that German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
technology can solve the problem, as there is one company in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
which can produce the vaccine without the help of eggs. So, in due course, the President of the United States also
gets his shot.
Immediately after Operation Deliverance has finally been launched, reports of U.S.citizens dying by the hundreds—although they have been inoculated against the virus—reach the White House. Only too late do scientists find out that, due to the vaccine having been hastily mass-produced, certain production regulations were neglected, which resulted in the vaccine being inefficient. ("The free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
made America and the free market destroyed America.")
In the end, Ritchie L. Ritchie is the only human survivor, as his vaccine was the only one produced outside the United States. He continues living in the White House for several years until his death.