On July 5th, 1852, the former slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech entitled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” It highlighted all the positive aspects expressed by the founders in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But contrasted it with the reality of slave life at the time. It showed the idealistic flaws between words and actions in a democracy. While human slavery has been long gone from America, one cannot doubt the transition is not done. This “transition” reaches a fevered pitch in the eras right before the Second Age of Humanity in Rosella’s World.

This is when you see the U.S.’s Fourth of July ceasing to be a national celebration of unity, and one that devolves into scenes of chaos. There are no more backyard barbeques. No more houses flying American flags. No patriotic parades or orchestras playing John Philip Sousa. There is no more American solidarity for being American, or politicians making speeches.

Instead, you have illegal gatherings of protestors calling for substantive changes in the U.S. Constitution from how citizenship is done to the promotion of what today we call affirmative action. Then to counter these groups you have organizers from a wide array of “patriot groups” picking fights with them in the streets. Nowhere to be seen are the police. The rioters set afire property and loot businesses. People are injured or killed. The Fourth of July became the one day in the year when Americans riot for political causes. The day became known on the developing Social Media Net as Protest Day.

Later by Rosella Tolfree’s time, the Fourth of July is nothing more than another Federal holiday for her. Gone is all the protesting in the streets, except the occasional small group of fundamental radicals being arrested. It's a day off from work when the electronic banking system shuts down for maintenance. Or a good day to buy something online if there’s a sale. No American jurisdiction celebrates the Fourth with parades or fireworks. You only know it’s the Fourth in Washington, D.C. because of the U.S. flag ordainments on the Federal buildings. The U.S. President doesn’t even issue a statement about the day. America has gone through so much that no one has the ambition or will to celebrate American patriotism (except groups considered to be domestic threats). Such ideals are from an age long gone. Only obscure college professors care about the ancient history of the founders.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, human society embarked on efforts to deal with potential zoonotic viral sources. Out of panic, a few governments resorted to burning whole forests to wipe out potential zoonotic sources. This didn’t change the equation of how the viruses worked, and it created new niches. Niches that would cause economic disruptions in human society.

From Mice to Rabbits to Humans

One such niche was the migration of mice from a burn near the port city of Matadi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From there they ended up in France via cargo containers. The mice were infected with a weakened strain of SDAV. It did nothing to the mice, but once it got to Europe, it infected meat producing cuniculture farms near the Port of Marseille. The dead rabbits were tested, and they found the meat to be safe for human consumption. During the following month after the mean went to market, a strange seasonal allergy surfaced around the region of Marseille. Its symptoms were like most seasonal allergies, with runny eyes and nose, with an occasional sneezing and cough. Except traditional antihistamines were not working. It wasn’t until this “seasonal allergy” began to spread to other parts of France, and both infants and elderly were dying from it did medical experts realize they were dealing with a new epidemic.

It wasn’t long before the scientists had identified the virus as a mutated version of Sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV), a Murine coronavirus (M-CoV). The new disease was given the designation of H-SDAV, and they developed a new mRNA vaccine to combat it. This new mRNA included coding for the M, N, and S proteins allowing for a maximum human immune response. The problem was initial dose testing showed that having all three proteins caused recipients to experience a severe adverse response. It was determined the most effective regiment was to spread four shots over a six-month period.

By the time vaccine production was ramping up, the virus had already spread throughout Europe and had made it to the United States. Governments were in acting various infection spread controls such as regional quarantines, shopping restrictions, school closures, and travel restrictions. Major businesses reported large numbers of sick employees which caused the European and U.S. stock markets to drop by 27% in a month long sell off. An economic depression was settling in Europe and the United States despite central bank and legislative efforts to prop up the economies. Too many people were becoming sick to do work with the infants, immunocompromised, and elderly taking the brunt of the deaths.

The Effects of Social Media

During this time, a considerable number of cure-alls and remedies were circulating on the precursor to the Social Media Net. One of the biggest social media influencers was Dr. Ida Kofol. She had published a few scientific studies that supported her claims with funding from the Contemporary Patriot Coalition (CPC). Majority of her medical claims concerning H-SDAV were that if one made improvements to their lymphatic system flow, this disease wouldn’t be so severe or long lasting. She advocated drinking plenty of water to flush the lymph system; taking garlic, turmeric, and citrus pills; and doing a lymphatic cleanse by eating asparagus for an entire week. She also featured videos showing various exercises and personal ways to clear your lymphatic system. Not to mention a lymphatic drainage detox suit that could be purchased from her online store for a discounted amount of $350 USD.

Her claims were challenged by various scientific and mainstream sources, and yet her ideas kept circulating at a high volume around social media sites. This was despite attempts by the social media operators trying to curb the flow of the information by removing fake sites and flagging the shares.

The Post Pandemic Changes

After the pandemic, the FTC enacted regulatory changes concerning health and fitness claims as it related to “Truth in Advertising.” These changes narrowed what was scientific evidence to non-competing interest; peer-reviewed journals and/or publications of high standards; and not to include industrial or special interest sponsors. They attached all claims to include recirculated social media posts amplifying the original claim either organically or through an influencer platform. These changes sent shock waves through much of the social media community that depended on either scientific backed claims, and/or the recirculation of posts.
Then the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program requested help from the FTC concerning a review of cases involving the mRNA vaccines. The cases dealt with occurrences of hepatitis, enteritis, and encephalitis. The claim that the vaccines caused hepatitis had been ruled as fake by the CDC. These claims were based on rat studies years earlier. The encephalitis cases were never linked to the vaccines but were found to be issues associated with the births themselves. Only the enteritis was considered a valid problem with one of the mRNA vaccines. It wasn’t certain if one compound in the vaccine or the LNP was reducing the effects of medications for Chron’s disease. As a precaution, those with Chron’s disease were advised to receive one of the other vaccines.

All these claims in the injury compensation program had one commonality, all the victims were supporters or customers of Dr. Ida Kofol. While Dr. Kofol never advocated to people not to get the vaccine, she wanted to inform people of alternatives and possible unspoken risks. The FTC reviewed all of Dr. Kofol’s online material and noticed that under the current regulations she would be in violation. The problem was, under the old rules, she wasn’t in violation during the pandemic itself, but only the current activity. The FTC then reviewed other similar sites and social media active during the pandemic and found similar claims to that of Dr. Kofol. Under the direction of the White House, the Chair of the FTC pushed legal action against the operators and influencers of these sites.

All these lawsuits would end up in the U.S. Supreme Court as a free speech case versus the commerce clause. The court would rule in favor of the commerce clause citing “that free speech doesn’t include the promotion of false claims for nefarious purposes” but added that “it’s up to commissions and government entities, such as the FTC, to prove to the courts both that the claims are false and nefarious.”

It was at this point in the United States that the supplement, diet and “alternative medicine” market collapsed. An approximate 75-billion-dollar industry was replaced with the established medical and pharmaceutical complex. The only alternative medicine groups to survive were those that had state licensing boards, like those for Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, and massage therapy.

While not part of the lawsuits, physical trainers and exercise experts pulled their videos for fear of being the next target. How we dieted and exercised changed in the post-human-SDAV pandemic economy. People had to use certified dietitians, clinics or medical professionals for supplements and diet issues. While you could still do exercise on your own, more people used monitored gyms and/or signed up for classes since there was a lack of videos.

Some saw this as a major social improvement since now the quackery and misinformation was gone, but it had a chilling effect on medical science by reinforcing entrenched biases.

Off Interstate 94, west of Wibaux in Montana, grew the town of Virhead which served the genomic research group Yewsun. The population of Virhead was 426. 22% of Virhead’s population worked at Yewsun.

Yewsun was working on a man-made variant B.1.1.7 of SARS-CoV-2 virus known as B.1.1.7.j of SARS-CoV-2. The B.1.1.7.j variant was 2.25 times more contagious than SARS-CoV-2 and caused higher deaths among younger populations from micro-blood clots in the lungs. Yewsun based this on theoretical computer modeling from the alterations applied.

All this information was according to popular conspiracy theory channels of the social media net. Based on their information, a lab leak occurred from Yewsun infecting the town of Virhead. The town’s only medical clinic was overwhelmed in less than a week. Local police brought in state and federal forces to establish a large quarantine perimeter. They immediately put isolation protocols into place to restrict the residents from leaving. Any who attempted to leave was shot dead and their bodies incinerated.

The Operation Pixie Dust Documents

Years later came out redacted documents called Operation Pixie Dust. The state forces were withdrawn, and the Federal forces remained. The USAF brought two military-grade heavy lift planes in, each carrying a 6 kt ANFO bomb. They dropped one bomb on the Yewsun laboratory and the other on the town of Virhead without regards to the civilians present. The Federal forces performed a mob up exercise incinerating any human remains. They then placed the area on the Federal registry of contaminated and restricted zones. Any trespasser could be shot and killed on site.

From time to time, a conspiracy theory channel would air Retired Sargent Ralph Garner’s story of the events based on an online published transcript. But searches for this individual have proven fruitless. Even a House subcommittee review turned up nothing. Some believe the story was a plant to provide creditability for Operation Pixie Dust. In the Ret. Sargent’s story, he cites how potentially disloyal soldiers were shot by CIA operatives at the time to prevent leaks. The CIA denies such allegations. It claims that Operation Pixie Dust was an Airforce testing of non-nuclear weapons at White Sands, New Mexico. And as for the redacted document, the CIA notes a clerical error caused two unrelated incident files to be merged into one resulting in the confusion. The CIA’s story is Virhead suffered from a chemical containment leak from Yewsun’s chemical stores, and that’s why the town was evacuated and sealed off as a Federally restricted zone.

President Veronica Simmons

Rumors of how President Veronica Simmons had devised plans to deal with the overcrowding of the Stacks by releasing an even deadlier version of smallpox would eclipse the Operation Pixie Dust story. Her test ground was to be the camps that were established in the flooded remains of New York City. According to the conspiracy theory channels, this one action caused some of the military to take matters into their own hands and force her out of office. To this day, no government documentation has surfaced to support these claims. Most of these shows use supposed “insiders” claiming firsthand knowledge, but none of these people reveal their true identities. They go by handles like SwiftMule or AwesomeOyster. And yet no one has seen or heard from President Veronica Simmons since stepping down.

On SNL, Elon Musk joked that Dogecoin was a hustle. This was followed a couple days later, as reported on Bloomberg, that Mr. Musk tweeted Tesla would no longer accept the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as payment for his cars. He cited green energy issues. This sent the prices of Bitcoin tumbling.

Following all this, the Economist had a piece on the idea of central banks issuing digital money and if banks could survive. The piece noted that in October 2020 the central bank of the Bahamas became the first group to issue a digital currency. China has since followed with the e-yuan. Other central banks are now looking into the idea.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has had a dual mandate [price stability (i.e., the rate of inflation) and maximum sustainable employment] for a long time. They do this through the control of monetary flows through the various areas of the economy. This is not the same throughout the world with other central banks. But could this change with digital currencies? Digital currencies allow for greater control features not part of the current fiat money supply.

So, What Happened?

As the First Age of Humanity continued to unfold, cryptocurrencies kept having issues. There were problems with the mining aspects from how block chains worked. An ever-increasing number of anti-trust lawsuits were launched by miners against other miners, to increasing social concerns over power and resource consumption. There was also the ever-increasing pressure by the SEC against various U.S. entities launching cryptocurrencies in violation of trade and security acts. Then came a big Federal crackdown effort on cybercriminal activity involving not only general hacking, but also the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering and other criminal activities. Arrests of crypto crimes were becoming news click bait as people became increasingly reluctant to use the digital currencies for trade. Then Wall Street became unwilling to deal with the space until the government developed greater oversight. This is when the ride stopped with the current known cryptocurrencies as the market collapsed.

It was at this point the U.S. federal government reasserted its authority under Section 31 U.S.C. 5103 and Title 18, Section 471 to issue any currency for trade, debt, and any obligation by creating its own digital version of the US dollar. It then relegated the remaining cryptocurrencies to a variant of tradable security like stocks, bonds, and futures. These moves reassured Wall Street allowing the reopening of trading in the cryptocurrency space, but in doing so subjected the transfers to greater scrutiny. Such as removing off book transactions, the public announcement of certain transactions by insiders, and subjecting domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to the same rules as all other security exchanges.

The Digital USD Technology

The adoption of a digital USD, or d-USD, caused a consolidation of the US banking industry. Left were shadow bankers, investment bankers, credit unions, and saving & loans associations. Gone were retail bankers, commercial bankers, and cooperative bankers. The accounts from lost banks were redistributed and merged into either the remaining bankers or under the new division of the Federal Reserve handling the d-USD working with the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department and Small Business Administration.

The US Treasury continued to print coin denominations but discontinued the printing of paper bills. Except now all coins had Nano-chips imbedded in them, making them digital and traceable.

By Rosella’s time, d-USD transactions were tracked through an A.I. reinforced Byzantine consensus mechanism instead of older block chain technology. People kept all their d-USD transactions online in a “g-wallet” maintained by the Federal Reserve. The “g” isn’t for government but is for gene. This is because it granted access through a gene scan from a person’s finger. Some people employed a second layer of security using a “key chip”. Key chips could be imbedded in the hand or kept in something physical, like a card. They used a special form of algorithmic encryption that required both parties to know the formula. Each key chip formula is unique and registered with the g-wallet that there is one.

A g-wallet ties in all aspects of the finances of a person into one digital location allowing individuals to get loans, buy stocks, or conduct any wide range of financial transactions. The downside was the government now monitors all transactions.

Cord Cutters & Criminals

There are hold outs who’ve cut the cord from digital money. This is common for poorer or remote areas of the United States. It’s also found in the communities of Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and parts of San Francisco, California. These areas have returned to basic bartering or use of any precious commodity, like jewels or gold for trade.

Many criminals have also moved to physical gold and silver for transactions finding it has a lower digital footprint. More clever criminals have multiple fake g-wallets using 3-D printed DNA fingers to do money laundering. These criminals act as the go between for transacting gold and silver for goods and weapons then passing the metals on to other people for d-USD. Allowing them to purchase more supplies for gangs.

Local, State and Federal law enforcement are constantly investigating links between the cord cutting communities and the criminal networks. In Seattle and Portland there are street protests, even in Rosella’s time, by those who support the people’s right to barter and not deal in the new digital currencies.

The Rest of the World

As for the rest of the world, by Rosella’s time you see other central banks with digital currencies and government monitored digital wallets. Some places removed all their banks while others kept private banking systems in place. With the digitization of currency came a precise control over the economy by nation states that rivaled all previous control measures. For the first time nation states could stop certain sales of products because of illegal activity or safety issues with the push of a button. But it also made central banks an increasing target for cyberwarfare and espionage creating a security tech race among the nations. This alone helped to power the increasing development of more powerful A.I. systems for both defense and attack.

In the early 21st Century, the Governor of the former State of Florida signed into law an ‘anti-riot’ bill. It wouldn’t be until the Presidency of Gilbert Sheppard, during the Ross Perot Period of U.S. Presidents of the Second Age of Humanity, that we would sign a similar act into law at the Federal level.

FACV came into being because of the extensive amount of uncontrolled violent acts against people and property prior to the ratification of the Minority Race Economic Adjustment Amendment. Afterwards there were continual minor acts of vigilante violence, especially as the governments dealt with the natural disaster of the Great Melt and the forced displacement of people. The ultimate catalyst was the Battle in Warrenton​ that proceeded the ratification of the Naturalization Amendment (a.k.a. Immigration Amendment) under President Veronica Simmons. This battle and how President Simmons dealt with it, destroyed all confidence in a civil society for America.

All this violence was claimed to be legitimate under the hospice of the citizen’s arrest code of conduct, and the rights of assembly and free speech. This wasn’t true in many jurisdictions based on the criminal arrests, but lenient judges created a situation that gave license to this behavior.

The Act's Creation

FACV spelled out what made up a person(s) as a vigilante under the Federal code and differentiated it from that of a terrorist. Senator Hobbs and Representative Bridges modeled FACV after the Federal laws dealing with criminal street gangs, but they made changes. During the filibuster on the Senate floor, lengthy speeches were given showing how many of the “vigilante groups” were nothing more than street thugs acting out a “conspiracy to commit an offense” such as “violence or physical force against the person of another.” Other Senators invoked the words of past revolutionaries, and historical figures who had to fight for change against mounting odds. Emphasizing that sometimes that required violence to do so.

This time the nation was not ideologically split on this issue. An overwhelming majority knew of the violence that proceeded the passing of the Minority Race Economic Adjustment Amendment, as well as the violence with the passing of the Naturalization Amendment. They thought American society had gone too far and something new was needed to help quell this problem. FACV in the end was best legal solution too many. It was because of this broad support, and too many key Senate seats were up for reelection, that the filibuster attempt in the Senate failed.

What the Act Did

FACV made it illegal for an individual member of a vigilante group, or a vigilante group itself to gather intelligence on a business, government, or individual. Only those states which provided those powers to perform citizen’s arrests could perform what used to be known as “doxing.” Other crimes included “tagging” or the use of graffiti; Flash mobbing or illegally assembling in the name of a protest; Verbally abusing or insulting individuals with incendiary speech to provoke a violent reaction; and creating a public nuisance in a community through any form of property destruction, harassment, or even the use of the social media net to berate a community or specific person or entity in a community.

FACV also included more grave acts dealing with exploitation, money laundering, and other violent crimes such as murder or conspiracy to commit murder. FACV was all in compassing in describing any possible attributable crimes to vigilantes and their organizations. The act required in all states that standards be adopted for making individuals licensed to perform what was under the behaviors of a citizen’s arrest. No longer could any person detain another. Exceptions were made for bonafide news media covered under the freedom of press, as well as certain forms of free speech covered by previous Supreme Court decisions.

The initial penalties for FACV were considered a felony with an automatic penalty of 50 years in prison with no chance of parole and no chance of bail. Supreme Court struck the last two provisions down, and Congress changed the act to include a parole procedure and a minimum bail set at $1 million USD. Otherwise, all other provisions were upheld by the Supreme Court allowing states to develop a new class of citizen-based policing.

FACV provided the Ranger Marshals, and other Federal policing agencies, a greater number of legal abilities in bringing up charges against those they suspected were vigilantes. It would be from the FACV that Pattyroller licensing was adopted in all other states to retrieve rogue androids. This was despite four Southern states (GA, AL, LA, and TX) and the northern states of Ohio and Pennsylvania having a Pattyroller-like license on the books since the creation of the A-3 androids.

Note-

Ross Perot Period of U.S. Presidents–This period was named after Henry Ross Perot by historians because his 1992 campaign had at one point created a three-way split in the polls. In theory, if he had won enough electoral votes, it would have been the first time since 1877 that Congress would had to decide on a president. For it’s during this period that 10 sequential presidential electoral cycles would have to be determined by Congress. This was because of the amount of political party division in the U.S.