The Republic of Texas

by on April 3, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

At a time when many military bases fell apart or joined the State they resided in to survive, Joint Base White Sands continued flying the American flag atop their flagpoles. Their operational reach was greatly diminished compared to pre-Second Great Depression levels, but they eventually deployed small teams into the Borderplex to coordinate with local police and sheriffs in an effort to drive out the gangs and drug cartels. And they maintained enough of a watch on matters on the southern side of the old Mexican border to keep tabs on their foreign enemies. By the time the Texas State Guard was ready to roll into Mexico and deal with those enemies for good, Joint Base White Sands provided them with the best aerial intelligence in the remaining Free World. And the remains of their Army units rolled with the Texans as well, though they made it clear that they remained in the American chain of command. Even if they did not precisely follow the insane orders still coming from Washington. They did not subordinate themselves to Texan command, but were happy to coordinate with them. The Texans, supremely confident that would change in due time, accepted both the clarification and the help with equal cheer. Not everyone was blessed enough to be born a Texan after all.

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The Republic of Texas

by on April 2, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Fort Bliss and Holloman Air Force Base lacked the personnel or the equipment to continue operating at previous levels after the Second Great Depression set in. With no more federal support arriving, and the cities around them suffering their own chaos, their leadership sought a way to remain relevant. The Fort Bliss commander was a capable and thorough administrator, though lacked the finer points of social etiquette. The Holloman commander was a hard charging fighter pilot with more charismatic attitude than organizational aptitude. The one thing each of them shared was a loyalty for America sufficient to keep them from setting aside their oaths to the country, even if their government had fallen. That was enough for them to work together. And they eventually chose to combine their operations, along with White Sands Missile Range, into a new, single consolidated base with a single chain of command. The Army kept things under organizational control. The Air Force became the face of command. And so Joint Base White Sands was born.

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The Republic of Texas

by on April 1, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Second Great Depression was not kind to the military reservations surrounding the White Sands Missile Range. The drop in federal funding left them surviving off local resources alone. Many soldiers chose to go home, often taking whatever supplies or weapons they could carry with them. Some were already affiliated with the local gangs and drug cartels, and sold various military supplies to them. By the time open street fighting hit the nearby Borderplex cities, Fort Bliss had shrunken to something not much larger than a skeleton security force trying to secure what weapons and supplies it still had. While also searching for the traitors in their own ranks still selling supplies and weapons to the enemy. Holloman Air Force Base had similar issues and only retained enough people to fly a handful of aircraft at a time, most of which were unarmed drones. They did what they could to help the Borderplex fight the gangs and drug cartels, but their reach was severely limited.

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The Republic of Texas

by on March 31, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The El Paso-Juarez-Las Cruces Borderplex was a major center of industry, higher learning, research and development, military training, healthcare, and tourism with over three million citizens when the Second Great Depression began. Many corporations had offices on the American side and manufacturing plants on the Mexican side due to labor costs, but they were effectively one large economy with an international border running through it. Much like Texas in the days of the Spanish Empire and early America, they had far more in common with each other than with those distant capitals. They were neither Mexican nor American, but an amalgamation of the two forged by business and cultural ties. And even the best efforts of various politicians who wanted to divide them had never managed to change that. So when the American federal government fell, and the Mexican government quickly followed, the Borderplex leaders looked to each other for help before anybody else.

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Social Distancing

by on March 30, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Social Distancing is a phrase most of us never heard of before this recent unpleasantness. Though as an introvert, I have always practiced it. Few things annoy me more than people who feel the need to walk into my personal space without first being invited. Or those who try to walk right past “employee only” signs and into business back rooms. The fact that social distancing during the current unpleasantness has made that unthinkable is greatly pleasing to me in a great many ways.

If more people followed such a rational idea of maintaining appropriate personal space we would not have to even worry about the current unpleasantness. Especially if they took the equally rational precautions of washing their hands or not coughing on other people. Unfortunately, not everybody does, and so we have our current unpleasantness. One that can only be mitigated by changing the entire paradigm of what most people consider to be normal society. It is my profound hope that Social Distancing as we now understand it becomes the new normal.

The various jokes on the internet about this being the day I was made for are not far off. Though they are dark jokes, trying to hide the ugliness of the current unpleasantness. People are dying. A great tragedy for everyone. And many more people are losing their livelihoods. A further tragedy for all.

Orders in some States to shut down businesses have brought many industries built over literal centuries to a complete stop. The economic engine that built the world we know right now, the cars we drive, and the internet we talk to everybody on right now, has come to a screeching, screaming halt. We’re crawling right now, and I don’t know what it is going to take to restart all of this.

And to make it worse, States like New York that demand we accept their people traveling to our areas do not realize they are acting exactly like China when it demanded that nations not blockade their travel when they were the source of all of this. We delayed the Wuhan Virus’ arrival in America by blocking direct travel from China, but all those nations who caved to Chinese pressure have suffered. Look to Italy as an example of that. And now New York is the center of all this in America, because people came from China to other countries, and then passed it on to us through there.

Social Distancing must be maintained, both on an individual, and a societal scale, if we are make it through this current unpleasantness with the least amount of pain. And the more we let bullies drive us into ignoring it because they don’t feel the need to observe it, the more people will die. We don’t need to shut down our businesses and our economy to bring this Wuhan Virus to an end. We need to observe our personal and our cultural space.

Keep others at a distance. Especially those who are sick. Or who are vulnerable. Not because we don’t like you, but because we DO like you. Because we want you to be safe. Because we want you to live. The key here is not to keep Social Distance because you are afraid of what other people will do to you. Keep it because you wish what is best for them. Because you would not presume to invade their personal space. Their security. Their life.

Good fences make good neighbors. Personal space makes everybody happy.

Accept this new term called Social Distancing and recognize the very old idea that it represents. Protection. Security. Space. Relaxation. For everyone. If we do, the world will be a more enjoyable place when all of this is over.

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