Phoenix Rising

Fire trucks, ambulances, and busses were already standing by.

Fort Rucker—Monday, March 19

Although Jake and Karin had each taken fifteen days’ leave, they used only five days, spending most of it in Philadelphia, before returning to duty. Coming back from his leave, Jake found that, if anything, the conditions in the Army in general, and on the base in particular, had gotten even worse. Captain Greenly had not returned from his leave, and Jake didn’t think he was going to. Captain Greenly and the three warrants who were assigned to EFT were all gone now, ostensibly on leave, though Jake had serious doubt that any of them would return. All four officers had completed their mandatory service and could leave the service simply by submitting their resignation papers, and Jake was reasonably certain they had either done so, or were going to.

That meant that Jake was not only chief of the environmental flight detachment, he was the only officer remaining. And now, in an effort to keep his men gainfully occupied, Jake was totally reorganizing Environmental Flight Tactics, the department he was responsible for. He was redoing the curriculum and rewriting all lesson plans, lesson objectives, and specific objectives, as well as reevaluating the course exams.

He went home late that night, planning to eat alone, primarily because Karin had night duty at the hospital.

After warming a can of chili, Jake took it and a can of root beer into the living room, where he turned on TV to watch the news.

President Ohmshidi announced today that, effective immediately, all banks in the nation with assets greater than twenty million dollars would be nationalized. CEOs and members of the Board of Directors of the affected banks will be asked to step down without any terminating compensation. The Federal Reserve will appoint government officials to run the banks, and any profits derived therefrom will accrue to the United States Government.

As a part of this proposal, all banking, savings, bond, and stock accounts are being inventoried, and a fair tax is being applied. An absolute limit of ten million dollars is being put on private wealth, and any amount of privately held funds greater than ten million dollars will be confiscated by the government. Persons with a net worth of between five and ten million dollars will be assessed a tax of seventy-five percent. Those people with a net worth of between one million and five million dollars are being assessed at a rate of fifty percent. There will be a twenty-five percent tax on all accounts between half a million and a million.

Those with a net value of from two hundred fifty to five hundred thousand will be taxed at ten percent and there will be no tax for those who have a net worth of less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Anyone who has less than one hundred thousand dollars will come under the president’s new program of equalization. To those people, the government will be sending out checks within the week, totaling up to one hundred thousand dollars per check, the amount calculated to provide a baseline of at least one hundred thousand dollars for every American.

This is being done, the president says, to provide, fully and equitably, for all our citizens.

Jake did not have two hundred fifty thousand dollars, so he would not be subjected to a tax this year. He imagined there would be many people in the country who would welcome this tax relief, and many more who would welcome a government contribution that would elevate their net worth to one hundred thousand dollars. But Jake didn’t feel good about it at all. This could not bode well. Where would be the incentive of the more successful and entrepreneurial people to build businesses, which provided jobs?

Finishing his bowl of chili, Jake went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, then took out a block of cheese and carved off a thick slice. He grabbed a handful of crackers and another can of root beer, then returned to the living room to watch George Gregoire.

Hello, America.

I wish I weren’t doing this show today. I wish I did not have to say to you, what I am going to say.

But I told you when I started this program that I would always question with boldness and I will always tell you the truth.

Well, I’m going to tell you the truth now, and it is something that I never wanted to say, even though it is exactly what I have been suggesting for three months now—ever since Ohmshidi took office.

I believe, in all sincerity, that this nation is now on a path to utter destruction. We are on a luge course, sliding downhill at ninety miles per hour, with no brakes, and with no barriers to hold us back.

My advice to you is to dig in, and hold on. While there is still food available, and while money still has some value, though its value decreases each day, start stocking up. Buy packaged foods and canned foods, foods that have a long shelf life. Make a survival bunker in your basement; fill it with food, blankets, water, clothing, and yes, guns and ammunition.

We are going down. Prepare for a very rough landing.

Tuesday, March 20

When Jake went into his office the next morning, he saw a lot of smiles on the faces of the lower grades. Although no checks had yet been issued, they were already spending their money.

“I’m going to get a new Mustang,” one specialist was saying.

“Mustang, hell! I’m going to get new Caddy,” a sergeant replied.

“Not me. I’m investing my money,” a sergeant first class said.

“What makes you think you will be able to buy a Cadillac with one hundred thousand dollars?” Sergeant Major Clay Matthews asked. “Or for that matter, even a Mustang?”

“Cadillacs don’t cost no hundred thousand dollars,” the sergeant said.

“And for sure, Mustangs don’t cost that much,” the specialist put in. “I’m gettin’ me a red convertible with white leather seats.”

“Yeah,” the sergeant said. “You know what? That don’t sound half bad. Maybe I’ll get a Mustang my own self, and save the difference in the money between that and a Caddy. Only I want mine to be white, with black leather seats.”

“You’re both crazy spendin’ money like that. You ought to be like me, and invest it,” the sergeant first class insisted.

“No,” Clay Matthews said. “The truth is they have a better idea than you do. They are right about spending it as soon as they get it, because the way things are going, if you invest your money now, within six months it will be worth about half. If it takes that long.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t plan to speculate. I’ll probably buy mutual funds. They will spread it out, and be very conservative.”

“Jenkins, if you double your money in six months—say you run it up to two hundred thousand, or a quarter of a million, it won’t make any difference,” Clay said. “Two hundred fifty thousand dollars, six months from now, will be worth what fifty thousand is now. And fifty thousand now is worth what five thousand dollars was three months ago. My advice is to spend it as soon as you get it.”

“Yeah,” the other two said. “Come with us, we’ll all three buy new cars.”

“When is the last time you priced a new car?” Clay asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had enough money to buy a new car before.”

“You don’t have enough money now, either. I have looked; the cheapest new car on the market today is one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“What? That ain’t right.”

“Go online, find your dream car, then tell me what it costs,” Clay invited.

“I’ll do it,” Jenkins said, sitting down at a nearby computer. He did an Internet search, found a car that the