The old woman, once a vibrant college professor, now sat in her small, sparsely furnished room in what was once New York City, the silence a heavy blanket over her. Outside, the streets were eerily quiet. The echoes of diverse conversations, the aroma of global cuisines, the sight of people from every corner of the world – a memory fading with each passing day since the Great Consolidation. The new Administration had been true to its word. The borders, once a symbol of welcoming a new world, were now heavily fortified, the flow of people and ideas stifled.
The "democratic process" had been eliminated years ago. It began subtly, a creeping erosion masked by patriotic fervor. First, there were the "emergency powers" granted to President Trump in the wake of the manufactured border crisis. Then came the suspension of term limits, justified by the need for "stable leadership during unprecedented times." The judiciary, once a check on executive power, was gradually filled with loyalists. The independent media was systematically dismantled, either through outright acquisition by state-aligned corporations or by crippling regulations disguised as "truth in reporting" initiatives.
Year 1 (Post-Democratic Collapse): President Trump declares a "National Unity" government. The Constitution, a sacred text, becomes a historical curiosity, replaced by the "National Mandate," a vaguely worded document granting the President absolute authority.
The Constitution of the former United States became a historical curiosity, replaced by the "National Mandate," a vaguely worded document granting the President absolute authority in all matters of governance. Elections became tightly controlled referendums on the President's policies, with opposition voices effectively silenced through a combination of censorship and intimidation.
Year 3: The final vestiges of a free legislature are dissolved. Regional "Administrators," appointed directly by President Trump's office, assume complete control. Dissent is met with swift and severe consequences by the Alliance Security Forces.
The right to protest, once a vibrant aspect of American life, was criminalized as "disruptive to national harmony." Surveillance became ubiquitous under the guise of national security. The universities, including the once-esteemed institutions, were brought under strict government control, their curricula tailored to promote the "approved narrative" of American exceptionalism and the wisdom of President Trump's leadership.
Year 5: Internal communications are heavily monitored. Independent thought is subtly discouraged through social credit systems tied to compliance with government directives and consumption of approved media. The expulsion of "non-integrated elements"—anyone deemed not fully aligned with the Administration's ideology or of non-approved ethnic origin—begins in earnest across America.
She looked at a faded digital photograph of her former colleagues, a diverse group of scholars from around the world who had enriched her life. Many had already been deported under the Administration's "Homogeneity Initiative." She clutched a worn copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a dangerous artifact from a bygone era. The America she had always known was gone, subsumed into a single, authoritarian entity under the absolute rule of President Trump. All that remained was the chilling silence of a country where individual freedoms had been sacrificed at the altar of absolute authority.
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