Mafiopia, a short story by WriterDanni. Date added: 2011-07-20. Times viewed: 609.
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- Intro: Complete. A fictional excerpt from a futuristic history textbook designed for grade school children. Mafiopia provides the headline basics of the fall of the parliamentary governments through to the time in which the text was made. A 'capo approved' history of the future.
From the Author: This was written several years ago now, and may show dating in some aspects. Namely, that Australia’s most recent election was a ‘hung parliament,’ and the country hasn’t gone to the godfather’s. I imagine this fall of the parliaments to be in the near future. I also imagine that with no votes the Government of Australia made an attempt to install its previous Government as well as to hold another election. Protests from the people made this unviable at the time. (That is my explanation for the plot hole the size of the pot holes in the Bruce Hwy, and I’m sticking with it.)
Mafiopia
(A history of the future)
________________
In much the same way that the church had once failed to impose its law and order upon the rest of humanity; and the way monarchs had failed to retain their power before that, so also the parliamentary systems inevitably failed.
Grown over time from the embers of dead empires, in one form or another, Parliamentary Systems once ruled more than half the nations on Earth. There was no single issue that brought down the longest successful Governing System in history. A number of issues coalesced to form the inevitable end. The people voted for by the public become a joke. In order to attempt to achieve a utopian ideal of equality and fairness for all, the parliaments became so bogged down by their own laws that they were unable to keep law over anyone else.
Underfunded and over-policed hospitals stopped being able to cure, the unemployed had no money for even the most basic of necessities and so had to turn to crime in order to survive. Paedophiles and human traffickers spilled out of the courts and into the streets with little more punishment than community service. Conversely, teenagers with various addictions were hung, rather than cured.
A majority of citizens feared for their lives, as well as their children’s future. Slowly they began to turn elsewhere for justice. To their minds, if the law could not keep their city streets safe, there were others that would.
Rather than punishing only the wrongdoers, the Government of the time attempted to prevent crime by censoring everyone equally. The arts became a dangerous occupation, the newspapers told nothing of real worth, and music with insightful lyrics no longer resonated within the souls of the people who listened to it. Civilians found their voices and thoughts strangled, and their lives in peril. So, they did what humans have done since the dawn of the species – they found a way around it.
It started when the communications blockages were hacked. Music, art and political secrets flowed into households once more. Literature on how to bypass government firewalls began to hide in the drawers and devices of almost every household.
Underground meetings sprung up in many cities around the world. They weren’t the political rallies of disruptions gone by; but, secreted concerts with thumping music and passionate words. Cavernous walls underneath the cities were covered in photographs, graphic art, and comic style paintings that inspired a fire inside the people who looked at them. During the day, there were poets, dressed colourfully and standing on podiums throughout the caverns. Their almost forgotten art curled dangerously around the minds of those who listened to the words which were banned inside of their homes.
In Australia, the people had never had a steady relationship with the parliamentary government which had so often burned their fingers and persecuted its own citizens. Australia had fought against its government since those first convicts had that iron ball and chain attached for the crime of stealing food to survive. It didn’t surprise anyone that Australia was the first country to get rid of the governing system which was failing globally.
Votes had been dwindling for a number of years, but without any collaboration, it just happened one year that not a single ballot sheet in the country had a candidate ticked. For the curiosity, and the humour value, the people counting the ballot sheets tabulated the scribbled additions people had jokingly put onto the compulsory forms. Yoda won that year. Sadly, Yoda was unable to govern Australia.
The aftermath which followed the failed election was horrifying to even the most seasoned underworld professionals. Without a government, there were no checks on the importation of illegal drugs. Without taxes for funding, the long failing medical services stopped entirely. Many citizens felt fear in their homes and workplaces as unchecked crime spilled through to every sector of society.
In the midst of such complete chaos, there was only one thing a normal Australian citizen could do to protect themselves and their family. Speak to a crime lord.
Since the earliest times, crime lords have existed in almost in almost every civilization throughout history. As long as there has been crime, there have been the men in charge of it all. Government’s come, and Government’s go, but the Crime Lords are a mainstay. This was no different when the parliamentary system fell.
The only difference now was that this time, the crime lords didn’t have to pretend, or fight legal systems. They didn’t have to tell people they worked in other occupations, they could be honest about their dishonesty. This time, they were the only civil law around. There were no bodies higher than they, and they loved it.
Despite the unsurpassed anarchy which enveloped Australia, in the time immediately following the collapse of the parliaments; other countries around the world began to also topple their Government’s. It was not only those parliaments based on ‘The Westminster System’ which fell. Nor, was it even limited to Parliament based systems as a whole. It was also Constitutional Monarchies, Dictatorships, and Communist Governments. All Government’s everywhere began to fall in a global outcry against oppressive political correctness.
Amongst the more powerful crime syndicates, global alliances began to form. These alliances eventually progressed into globalised crime syndicates which overpowered the local the crime lord’s people had known before.
These syndicates were the early beginnings of global law as we know it today, and a number of organisations rose to prominence above the rest.
Within fifty years of the fall of the Australian Parliaments, twelve crime syndicates had established themselves as contenders for global power. Smaller local gangs either incorporated themselves into of these twelves families, or otherwise broke up to become part of the general population.
Great wars began amongst the twelve organisations as each attempted to achieve singular global rule. This was a time of great turmoil for the average citizens who were unsure of which organisation to go to if they required help with a situation.
During the ‘War of Twelve,’ many innocent citizens were killed or maimed in retaliation for their seeming alliance with another of the twelve.
Five years after the official beginning of the ‘War of Twelve,’ over 5 billion global citizens had been killed. The twelve clans united for one day of memorial for these citizens. On this day, no citizen was killed, maimed or threatened. One minute’s silence was held, followed by speeches delivered by the twelve Capo on behalf of their organisations.
It was on this day, that discussions began to end the ‘War of the Twelve.’ Two years after the memorial, the twelve organisations made an announcement to the public that they were to be merged, under a single Capo.
Today, the “Unification” ensures freedom of action for the people within socially accepted guidelines. The Unification has brought about a single global language, tax-free trade, and sponsors both science and the arts.
Because of the “Unification,” we now enjoy a close and supportive global community that is both free and safe to a degree which humanity has previously not enjoyed.
Essay Tasks:
- Name 5 classic poets from the underground caverns, and explore their work. What were the social influences of the time that were incorporated into their poetry?
- Who was the local crime lord in your area immediately following the fall of the governments? Explore the reach of their territory.
- Who were the 12 Organisations that rose above the others, and who were their Capo (crime lords)?
- What countries did these organisations originate in? Discuss why this was.
- What year was the first memorial for the deceased 5 billion citizens killed during the ‘War of the Twelve’?
- What was the name of the first Global Capo? Where was he born, and which organisation of the Twelve was he originally from?
- Who is the Capo of the Unification today? What are his greatest achievements?
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