Federated States of America

The Federated States of America is a fascist corporate state in the early 22nd century dystopian world of White Wolf's Aeon Trinity roleplaying game.

Age of Super Heroes
During the early 20th century, the United States of America was the center of human civilization. It was the economic, technological, cultural, and military superpower of the world. It was also wear superhumans first appeared in the modern era and attracted the lion's share of superhumans ("Novas"). They flocked to America from around the world, especially the developing world just as immigrants had done for over two centuries. Which resulted in the United States benefiting from the presence of all those Novas.

When many of the super beings started to go mad due to how their powers were affecting their brains, the United States due to its geopolitical power and the fact that it was the home of so many of the Novas became the main target of the twisted super beings (now called "Aberrants"). Though there were Novas that remained sane and there those who fought on the side of humans, many others either waged war against humans to establish their rule over humanity or decided to take matters into their own hands to improve the world, sometimes with disastrous results. Ground zero for the Aberrant War of 2048-2061 was the United States.

Aberrant War
In the United States, an Aberrant fundamentalist Christian by the name of Calvert Wycoff established an apocalyptic cult in Nebraska. When the FBI raided the compound, he exploded, creating two wave of energy. The first which was a type of plasma killed all within a 200 km radius. The next wave of an unknown type of energy reached 1,200 km in every direction. In 2055, crops failed to grow on ground that was exposed to the 2nd wave. In addition the major strains of high-yield wheat and soy refused to germinate in any part of North America. The incident and zone came to be called the Blight.

Famine combined with Aberrant attacks on most of the urban centers resulted in the deaths of millions in the United States. In 2056, the United States military declared its independence from all political authorities within the government and basically took charge. They established regional districts which were managed by the military and the regional military forces cooperated with each other, but were independent of each other. They then invaded both Canada and Mexico (aka, the North American Police Action) in 2057 to seize control of those nations' barely healthier economies.

By 2060, U.S. military had finally consolidated their political control of the United States with the help of a few private corporations, establishing the Federated States of America. Finally in 2061 the Aberrant War ended as the superbeings left Earth after the New Chinese Empire issued an ultimatum for them to leave or the Chinese would use nuclear weapons wherever Aberrants were located. All superbeings were believed to have left at that time, both the power hungry and insane Aberrants, and the minority of sane and heroic Novas (which not actually the case, though most of them left).

The Nation
The Federated States of America is a fascist state ruled by a military-corporate elite It is nation which is attempting to regain America's global primacy. On the eastern and western coasts, massive arcologies dominate. Ruling the arcologies is the vast military-corporate complex, which consists of the megacorps and the Federated States Military (FSM). The dirty work of governing is left to the skeletal infrastructure of the federal government. Surrounding the shining arcologies of concrete and steel are wastelands of crumbling shantytowns.

The countryside is unsafe as rural communities experience attacks from the few remaining Aberrants and various criminal elements. Nomadic tribes of the survivors of the Blight roam the land, trading and scavenging the ruined and abandoned cities. The corporations round up citizens in the slums that surround the arcologies and among the rurals to provide them with cheap labor. Acting as the law enforcement at most levels is the FSM, though not without a contract.

The FSA is a militarily powerful state and is involved in the interstellar scene, but commercially and politically they are a minor player out in space. Nor is the FSA a major player globally on Earth itself. When it comes to both Earth and interstellar space the superpower is the New Chinese Empire and the runners up are Australia and Brazil. It is a nation in which a small minority lives in luxury and the vast majority of the population lives in a nearly subsistence level. Where the people are monitored by the secret police (Central Security Agency), psions are persecuted or forced to work for the CSA, and both the service and justice you receive from the government is purely contingent on how much money you make.

Government
The Federated States of America has modeled its government on the managing structure of corporations. At the national level is the Federal Board with 10 members, one from each district plus the Federal States Military and the Central Security Agency (the secret police). If the board deadlocks, the desires of the latter two receive priority. Each of the six regional districts has its own board, and likewise at the local level there are corporate-style boards. Members serve on the boards for 3 years and every year a third of the seats on a board are up for election. After the election a board coordinator is chose, whom is the one who received the most votes.

Assisting the military-corporate complex in its rule over the FSA is the Central Security Agency, which functions as both the secret police and the intelligence agency. It was established in 2062 and it's origins date decades earlier when the various American intelligence agencies began to consolidate their operations. The CSA employs many in the FSA as spies, including one million in the South alone. All of America's psions (those with psionic abilities) work for the CSA, though their status is for all intents and purposes that of a "special prisoner" whom is constantly monitored by the CSA. To keep the psions suppressed, the CSA sponsors various anti-psion groups and it is in the old American south where anti-psion propaganda has been most effective.

Citizenship
In the FSA, apart from diplomatic dignitaries all are given a classification per the citizenship scale. Non-citizens, Class 2 citizens, and Class 1 citizens. Depending on your classification are the rights and privileges that you may or may not have. The vast majority of the FSA's populace are Class 2 Citizens.


 * Class 2 Citizenship = Have a limited set of rights which include their property and person being secure against investigation or seizure, unless a FSA official gives such authorization which does not require a warrant. They are able to attend and participate in board meetings but they cannot vote. For a fee a trail in a FSA-approved court may be requested. For a month they can purchase class-1 privileges or for shorter periods they can purchase specific rights.


 * Class 1 Citizenship = Earned through their wealth. Every 10K in yen paid annually in taxes gives you one vote. If you have 3 or more votes, you get the full spectrum of civil rights. As the corporations pay taxes and are considered to be individuals under the law, they also vote. It covers the upper tiers of the corporation, resulting that most of the votes that are cast in a election come from the corporations.

Laws
When it comes to the law, to have it enforced or to defend yourself in a court you need to pay a fee. Depending on what it is that you desire for the government to enforce or what is being enforced against you, and where you are in the citizenship scale is what you have to pay. Which includes among other things;


 * Issuing a warrant.
 * Protecting your personal property.
 * Trial before a judge or jury.
 * Enforcing FSA laws and regulations against a non-citizen, a Class-2 citizen or a Class-1 citizen.
 * Enforcing specific FSA laws and regulations in a specific are.

The Blight
The region which was tainted by the exploding Aberrant is known simply as the "Blight". It has become a viable point for the Aberrants to warp to as the taint that continues to linger in the area after 60 years makes it easy for Aberrants to hide from psionic detection. Originally it was over a 1000 km in diameter, but it has gradually shrunk into an area 100s of km in size. The taint also affects scans conducted by satellites. Currently there are several dozen Aberrants hiding in the Blight and they are using the area as a staging ground to conduct raids on North America or contact pro-Aberrant cults via a network of subterranean tunnels.

Mexico
The upper half of Mexico is a war zone, between the Mexican rebels and the FSA. In reality the FSA only has firm control of the cities of Monterrey and El Dorado and the area north of them, and the east coast from Tampico to Veracruz. The Mexican freedom fighters receive their training and teamwork-enhancing drugs from Norca and have a good number of psions whom are sympathizers. In addition they receive aid from the megacorp Orgotek and covert support from both Australia and Brazil (including mercenaries sent by the latter).

Due to the successful manipulations of the CSA and its propaganda, they have been able to make both Veracruz and Coahilu pro-FSA which has led to them petitioning the FSA for membership. The southern half of Mexico is filled with small-time dictators and provinces at odds with each other.

Texas
In the lone star state, there is low-intensity rebellion against the FSA. Nowhere near as large or effective as the one in Mexico. It involves short-lived bands of "rebels" that sooner or later get wiped out, mobile groups of dangerous rebels that operate as mercenaries within the Texan rebellion, and an effective network of hidden rebels that track down and eliminate CSA agents.

Canada
Up north, especially in the region across from the old American Midwest there is another rebellion. Like the Texan one it is nowhere as effective or as large as the one in Mexico. The Canadian rebellion takes one of two forms, the non-violent resistance which attempts to undermine the rule of the FSA through non-violent subversion is one. The other form is the one taken by the radicals who use terrorist methods;


 * Free Canada = Terrorists who bomb a corporate HQ or FSA office on a monthly basis, are willing to commit suicidal bombings, and pay little attention to collateral casualties among the civilians.
 * Canadian Liberation Front = Terrorists whom have a younger membership than that of Free Canada and are just as violent but are far less suicidal.