America: The Obliged and Election 2024

 

The Latest Interview. 

Ruqi: Hello, Nathan! Welcome to the ATO Forums webcast. 

Nathan: Hello, Rookie. Nice to chat with you. 

Ruqi: Yes. So, it is Election Eve in the US...

Nathan: [laughs] It is, it is. Crazy election year, may I add. 

Ruqi: How are you feeling, overall? 

Nathan: Nauseated. Nervous. Anxious. You know, universally Americans are all feeling this negative energy; it's how you process the negative energy as it manifests itself. I think a lot of liberals and moderates are nervous, a lot of far-right folks are feeling a little aggressive. 

Ruqi: Aggressive? 

Nathan: Absolutely. I put up a TikTok, a very mild and respective one, may I add, and the responses were very vitriolic from Trump voters.  It doesn't bode well if things turn out not in their favor. 

Ruqi: I guess that brings us to our first question... America: The Obliged. It's due out at the end of this month, and obviously being a near-future dystopic, how does things tomorrow play into what happens in the book?

Nathan: Well, as many of you know, I wrote the manuscript in 2017, inspired by the Charlottesville protest and how President Trump responded to that event. So in that moment I was under the impression that things had turned dire in our society and really I wanted to play out a scenario where Democrats were just locked out of power for decades; like trying to envision the world where MAGA Republicans got everything they ever wanted, complete and unmitigated implementation of their platform as it existed in 2017. So, obviously, I didn't foresee President Biden, but with the luxury of sitting on the manuscript I was able to alter the infliction point to 2024. 

Ruqi: So in the book Trump wins?

Nathan: Well... I don't reference the Trump years much, he is a catalyst for much worse leaders in our country from the MAGA movement. Trump kind of gets the ball rolling, normalizing violence, normalizing the vitriol, normalizing the concept that compromise and democracy are weak. Things build from there, leading to the elections of President Hanover and President Connor. Anyway, I won't be Kamala and give you an answer non-answer [laughs] Trump wins, yes. The concept is based on twenty years of MAGA rule.

Ruqi: You are registered Republican? And have voted Republican?

Nathan: Well, I won't get into my personal politics much, but I have voted Republican for President in the past, correct. 

Ruqi: So in that regard you are a Derrick? 

Nathan: Well, remember; Alyssa, Chase, and Derrick are all three based on my own personality tropes. Alyssa is an idealist who envisions a liberal America that's equitable and free. Chase is calculated and nervous. Derrick is a protector. Those are all qualities that I have in myself, for better or for worse. 

Ruqi: So, a Derrick today... A Chase tomorrow? 

Nathan: Well I would say I am much more Chase today, dreaming of a peaceful and tranquil society like Alyssa but prepared to become a Derrick if needed; to protect my family and friends. 

Ruqi: Do you anticipate violence? 

Nathan: Well, if we go back to 2021, you know, January 6th, I was on a personal journey in my life and living part-time in DC when that calamity went down and really got to see the violence and chaos that ensued firsthand and that obviously gave me insights into the lifestyles and way of life in DC which sets the first chapter of the book. I also saw how fast things went from a peaceful protest on the national mall to protesters occupying the Capitol. It was literally within minutes. There were some protesters saying the next time they will come back with the guns. They were angry, they had bought into the Big Lie and really seethed contempt for the democratic principles that have grown and endowed our republic for so long. So, unfortunately, I do anticipate some fallout this election. As I say in the book, each election gets more violent than the one that came before it. 

Ruqi: So 2028 will be worse?

Nathan: In the book, yes. Remember, this is fiction, not necessarily a forecast or prophecy, just a foreboding tale of what can happen if we get complacent. 

Ruqi: Did you early vote? 

Nathan: I did. 

Ruqi: What was that like?

Nathan: It was calm. The lines were much longer than I recall them ever being, but this was my first time voting in my new precinct, so I don't have a proxy to judge it by. A lot of women were there, easily a 3:1 ratio. I can tell you that in front of me was a guy who owned a car detailing shop and two elderly women behind me and we all got off to talking about the vitriol of the election and the consensus was that we are just plum tired of the name-calling, the viciousness, the child-like behavior from our elected and the candidates especially. Now, my own biases say that all three were Republicans, and when I got to the ballot, as I was coloring in the box, I really wondered how they voted, because I know, as does anyone else, there's one candidate in particular who loves to pander names and invests in child-like behavior. 

Ruqi: Trump. So, Who did you vote for?

Nathan: Harris

Ruqi: Is that an endorsement? 

Nathan: If you want it to be [laughs]. Listen, ATO [America: The Obliged] is foreboding things based on real-world observation. I don't want our country to fail. I don't want us to need a Derrick Reddon or a Chase Lewis or an Alyssa Cambridge to save us from ourselves. I want compromise back. I want decency back. You know, a lot of folks say the two-party system is broken but look at all that America accomplished in the 225 years that we have had a two party system. We overcame a civil war once before. The industrial revolution. The World Wars. The Great Society. Equal Rights. These things weren't easy, but we respected one another. We respected opinions contrary to our own. That's what I want to get back to. I want a world where a liberal lawyer from Chicago named Chase can fall in love with a conservative hick from a no-name town in Kentucky named Derrick and the world not wince at the odds of that. I want a world where I can voice my support for a candidate on social media and not be deranged by insults on my manhood, masculinity, and get death threats. 

Ruqi: You got death threats? On your TikTok?

Nathan: Absolutely I did. And it has got to stop. Like, I posted all the comments, even the ones placed behind TikTok's pedestrian anti-bullying filter; because I wanted discourse. I wanted both sides to see how ridiculous they are being; obviously one side is much worse than the other, but to see it unfiltered and unmitigated; it was truly disappointing. We have fallen, and we have fallen hard.

Ruqi: So we should hope that there's a little boy named Derrick in Kentucky right now?

Nathan: [laughs] Oh, I don't question that The Obliged actually exist. I draw parallels of them to real world leaders and heroes our nation has already been blessed with. John Lewis. Susan Anthony. Franklin Roosevelt. Abraham Lincoln. Just to name a few. The dream shall never die, someone, somewhere, will save us when we need saved. They will inspire the best of us and we will correct ourselves. I do believe that.