Which, once that's done, means that all that's left is the Front.
Anyone who hasn't rolled yet is free to take a crack at it. Anyone who has rolled yet needs to wait until Whumbly's post is an hour old with no further rolls.
One of the most important radio plays of the era was the 'Dukes of Hazard' radioplays. The first one was released in June of 1934, during what would be called the first Long, Hot Summer of many in this troubled time in American history.
The storyline involved Bo and Luke Duke in Rural Georgia and their friends and allies. Luke is a committing communist, while Bo is a rabble-rousing quasi-anarchist, something of a naer' do well. The play, written by a native Georgian, Myron Smith* gives their background as booze smugglers against Georgia's own strict Prohibition laws. Prohibition is something that few today understand, but there was a time in which there was a national push to ban alcohol.
Bo and Luke Duke are joined by their cousin Daisy Duke, a clever and liberated woman who in the radioplay mixed the femme fatale with the devoted revolutionary, and Joseph White, an African-American youth who joins in on their adventures and quickly becomes something of a sidekick, learning the ways of gun smuggling and syndicalism.
But the radioplay is also defined by its villains, and the racist, odious Boss Hogg was the primary villain of the first five or six pieces, which were released monthly. He spoke in a stereotypical southern twang and hated Catholics, Jews, women, Negroes, and frankly anyone who wasn't himself. He was aided by the corrupt sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
But the heart of the radioplay was the way that, despite not being a visual medium, they were able to fake the gun-smuggling and booze-smuggling car chases that are the heart of the story.
For Bo and Luke have the most souped-up car in existence, the Comrade Lenin, named after the doomed hero of a failed revolution. With it, they jet around, and the first five or six adventures top each other in absurdity. The stories do eventually begin to take a darker turn, but early on they were adventure stories of heroism and derring-do by relatable 'good new' southern boys, as the tagline would eventually become. The radioplays grew more and more popular as time went on, and a series of short stories and novels would come out of the same process, stories that would capture much of the public imagination.
They would sometimes be accused of promoting southern stereotypes, but the heroes were always southern as well, and the pacing and tight schedule of turnaround all made them highly popular with the masses.
Season 1--
Episode 1, The Dukes of Hazard (Aired June 15, 1934): After Boss Hogg, the odious capitalist who owns the entire Hazard county, cuts the budget of the hospitals, both white and black, in Georgia, the Duke brothers need to smuggle in medicinal alcohol and other needed goods. After a thrilling car chase, they run across Myron and together they save the hospitals. It also includes a sub-plot about small rural farmers and how much hurting the hospitals was a case of spite against everyone.
Episode 2, The Primary Reason (Aired July 15, 1934): An election is coming up in Hazard County, and Daisy Duke has been hard at campaigning for Progressive reformers, sure that that's the ticket to save the day. But when Boss Hogg has the primary ballots stolen to be 'cured' of 'Red' influence, Daisy Duke begins to radicalize as she joins her family members in chasing down the stolen car and delivering the ballots to the proper authorities. The Progressive wins, but there are hints that he too is on Hogg's payroll.
Episode 3, Go Down Moses (Aired August 15, 1934): The Duke brothers and their two new allies need to help a lawyer who defended a black man escape from the National Front and other KKK-like groups. He turns out to be Jewish, and there are some hearty messages of equality that are, to modern tastes, a little clumsy and sing-song but which still ultimately end in a strange and compelling 'car jousting' incident in which the 'General Lee' of the Klu Klux Klan winds up almost going over a cliff during a race-off, leaving the KKK members precariously about to tip over the edge while engaging in absurd banter regarding the Klan's silly names, titles, and phrases.
Episode 4: An Investigation (Aired September 15, 1934)--This episode is most known for introducing Theodore Jefferson, the canny and yet intensely boring BOI agent who is after the Dukes in Hazard. Most of the plot involves an investigation into the actions of the previous episodes, with the Dukes forced to flee their home to a secret hideout, only to triumphantly roar back by the end of the episode. One of the most thrilling chases of the while first 'season' occurred during this episode, when the Dukes need to outrun an enemy car... but not fast enough to get away. This leads them to a remote neck of the woods, where defying all odds the Comrade Lenin manages a spectacular jump across a lake to safety. Jefferson swears revenge, and meets with the Progressive Lawmaker, who is revealed to be a racist of the 'Socialism for White People' variety.
Episode 5: Thrown Down The Sickle (October 15, 1934)--There's a major strike at sharecrops across Georgia, and the Dukes of Hazard find themselves running both guns and food when the Bosses, including Hogg, all decide to crush it by any means necessary. Most known for the part in the middle where the African-American strikers code-switch effortlessly, talking to the bosses with a lot of "Suh and Massa and hokey dialect" and then talk to each other frankly and cynically, and point out that all this obedience stuff, it's just a job. The Dukes ultimately do help some of the strikers, but for the first time ever the ending isn't entirely happy: an attempt to register to vote led by Daisy Duke has led to a tenth of the county, and all the socialists, being arrested... and the BOI plans on taking all of them away.
Episode 6: And Justice For All (November 7, 1934)--Things are at their worst, and Bo and Luke begin the episode discouraged. The election proper is coming up, and the only candidates are the racist and the racist, and Boss Hogg controls both of them. Disconsolately, they start drinking and talking about Comrade Lenin and the October Revolution--which was actually in early November--and how it all seems doomed. That's when one of them gets a bright idea. They need to draw attention towards themselves, and they need to save the people. And so they make a big announcement that they were coming in with a whole shipment of guns and goods on the anniversary of the October Revolution, and suddenly the entire force of the BOI, local Sheriffs, and more came down to try to stop them. They run an impossible gauntlet that takes them across all the places they explored in the last five episodes, as gravel is chucked by foley guys and the race is on. While the authorities are distracted by the chase, Joseph and Daisy and everyone else break out of prison, in what is almost implied to be a miracle, but with the help of a mysterious organization of do-gooders. As the people surge out into the street to protest, Bo and Luke flee with this secret organization and the Comrade Lenin, but not before one last Rebel Yell and an emotive request that Joseph and Daisy help free Hazard. They ride off into the literal sunset, as they easily outrun the frustrated and broken BOI forces.
One of the most important radio plays of the era was the 'Dukes of Hazard' radioplays. The first one was released in June of 1935, during what would be called the first Long, Hot Summer of many in this troubled time in American history.
The storyline involved Bo and Luke Duke in Rural Georgia and their friends and allies. Luke is a committing communist, while Bo is a rabble-rousing quasi-anarchist, something of a naer' do well. The play, written by a native Georgian, Myron Smith* gives their background as booze smugglers against Georgia's own strict Prohibition laws. Prohibition is something that few today understand, but there was a time in which there was a national push to ban alcohol.
Bo and Luke Duke are joined by their cousin Daisy Duke, a clever and liberated woman who in the radioplay mixed the femme fatale with the devoted revolutionary, and Joseph White, an African-American youth who joins in on their adventures and quickly becomes something of a sidekick, learning the ways of gun smuggling and syndicalism.
But the radioplay is also defined by its villains, and the racist, odious Boss Hogg was the primary villain of the first five or six pieces, which were released monthly. He spoke in a stereotypical southern twang and hated Catholics, Jews, women, Negroes, and frankly anyone who wasn't himself. He was aided by the corrupt sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
But the heart of the radioplay was the way that, despite not being a visual medium, they were able to fake the gun-smuggling and booze-smuggling car chases that are the heart of the story.
For Bo and Luke have the most souped-up car in existence, the Comrade Lenin, named after the doomed hero of a failed revolution. With it, they jet around, and the first five or six adventures top each other in absurdity. The stories do eventually begin to take a darker turn, but early on they were adventure stories of heroism and derring-do by relatable 'good new' southern boys, as the tagline would eventually become. The radioplays grew more and more popular as time went on, and a series of short stories and novels would come out of the same process, stories that would capture much of the public imagination.
They would sometimes be accused of promoting southern stereotypes, but the heroes were always southern as well, and the pacing and tight schedule of turnaround all made them highly popular with the masses.
Season 1--
Episode 1, The Dukes of Hazard (Aired June 15, 1935): After Boss Hogg, the odious capitalist who owns the entire Hazard county, cuts the budget of the hospitals, both white and black, in Georgia, the Duke brothers need to smuggle in medicinal alcohol and other needed goods. After a thrilling car chase, they run across Myron and together they save the hospitals. It also includes a sub-plot about small rural farmers and how much hurting the hospitals was a case of spite against everyone.
Episode 2, The Primary Reason (Aired July 15, 1935): An election is coming up in Hazard County, and Daisy Duke has been hard at campaigning for Progressive reformers, sure that that's the ticket to save the day. But when Boss Hogg has the primary ballots stolen to be 'cured' of 'Red' influence, Daisy Duke begins to radicalize as she joins her family members in chasing down the stolen car and delivering the ballots to the proper authorities. The Progressive wins, but there are hints that he too is on Hogg's payroll.
Episode 3, Go Down Moses (Aired August 15, 1935): The Duke brothers and their two new allies need to help a lawyer who defended a black man escape from the National Front and other KKK-like groups. He turns out to be Jewish, and there are some hearty messages of equality that are, to modern tastes, a little clumsy and sing-song but which still ultimately end in a strange and compelling 'car jousting' incident in which the 'General Lee' of the Klu Klux Klan winds up almost going over a cliff during a race-off, leaving the KKK members precariously about to tip over the edge while engaging in absurd banter regarding the Klan's silly names, titles, and phrases.
Episode 4: An Investigation (Aired September 15, 1935)--This episode is most known for introducing Theodore Jefferson, the canny and yet intensely boring BOI agent who is after the Dukes in Hazard. Most of the plot involves an investigation into the actions of the previous episodes, with the Dukes forced to flee their home to a secret hideout, only to triumphantly roar back by the end of the episode. One of the most thrilling chases of the while first 'season' occurred during this episode, when the Dukes need to outrun an enemy car... but not fast enough to get away. This leads them to a remote neck of the woods, where defying all odds the Comrade Lenin manages a spectacular jump across a lake to safety. Jefferson swears revenge, and meets with the Progressive Lawmaker, who is revealed to be a racist of the 'Socialism for White People' variety.
Episode 5: Thrown Down The Sickle (October 15, 1935)--There's a major strike at sharecrops across Georgia, and the Dukes of Hazard find themselves running both guns and food when the Bosses, including Hogg, all decide to crush it by any means necessary. Most known for the part in the middle where the African-American strikers code-switch effortlessly, talking to the bosses with a lot of "Suh and Massa and hokey dialect" and then talk to each other frankly and cynically, and point out that all this obedience stuff, it's just a job. The Dukes ultimately do help some of the strikers, but for the first time ever the ending isn't entirely happy: an attempt to register to vote led by Daisy Duke has led to a tenth of the county, and all the socialists, being arrested... and the BOI plans on taking all of them away.
Episode 6: And Justice For All (November 7, 1935)--Things are at their worst, and Bo and Luke begin the episode discouraged. The election proper is coming up, and the only candidates are the racist and the racist, and Boss Hogg controls both of them. Disconsolately, they start drinking and talking about Comrade Lenin and the October Revolution--which was actually in early November--and how it all seems doomed. That's when one of them gets a bright idea. They need to draw attention towards themselves, and they need to save the people. And so they make a big announcement that they were coming in with a whole shipment of guns and goods on the anniversary of the October Revolution, and suddenly the entire force of the BOI, local Sheriffs, and more came down to try to stop them. They run an impossible gauntlet that takes them across all the places they explored in the last five episodes, as gravel is chucked by foley guys and the race is on. While the authorities are distracted by the chase, Joseph and Daisy and everyone else break out of prison, in what is almost implied to be a miracle, but with the help of a mysterious organization of do-gooders. As the people surge out into the street to protest, Bo and Luke flee with this secret organization and the Comrade Lenin, but not before one last Rebel Yell and an emotive request that Joseph and Daisy help free Hazard. They ride off into the literal sunset, as they easily outrun the frustrated and broken BOI forces.
One of the most important radio plays of the era was the 'Dukes of Hazard' radioplays. The first one was released in June of 1934, during what would be called the first Long, Hot Summer of many in this troubled time in American history.
The storyline involved Bo and Luke Duke in Rural Georgia and their friends and allies. Luke is a committing communist, while Bo is a rabble-rousing quasi-anarchist, something of a naer' do well. The play, written by a native Georgian, Myron Smith* gives their background as booze smugglers against Georgia's own strict Prohibition laws. Prohibition is something that few today understand, but there was a time in which there was a national push to ban alcohol.
Bo and Luke Duke are joined by their cousin Daisy Duke, a clever and liberated woman who in the radioplay mixed the femme fatale with the devoted revolutionary, and Joseph White, an African-American youth who joins in on their adventures and quickly becomes something of a sidekick, learning the ways of gun smuggling and syndicalism.
But the radioplay is also defined by its villains, and the racist, odious Boss Hogg was the primary villain of the first five or six pieces, which were released monthly. He spoke in a stereotypical southern twang and hated Catholics, Jews, women, Negroes, and frankly anyone who wasn't himself. He was aided by the corrupt sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
But the heart of the radioplay was the way that, despite not being a visual medium, they were able to fake the gun-smuggling and booze-smuggling car chases that are the heart of the story.
For Bo and Luke have the most souped-up car in existence, the Comrade Lenin, named after the doomed hero of a failed revolution. With it, they jet around, and the first five or six adventures top each other in absurdity. The stories do eventually begin to take a darker turn, but early on they were adventure stories of heroism and derring-do by relatable 'good new' southern boys, as the tagline would eventually become. The radioplays grew more and more popular as time went on, and a series of short stories and novels would come out of the same process, stories that would capture much of the public imagination.
They would sometimes be accused of promoting southern stereotypes, but the heroes were always southern as well, and the pacing and tight schedule of turnaround all made them highly popular with the masses.
Season 1--
Episode 1, The Dukes of Hazard (Aired June 15, 1934): After Boss Hogg, the odious capitalist who owns the entire Hazard county, cuts the budget of the hospitals, both white and black, in Georgia, the Duke brothers need to smuggle in medicinal alcohol and other needed goods. After a thrilling car chase, they run across Myron and together they save the hospitals. It also includes a sub-plot about small rural farmers and how much hurting the hospitals was a case of spite against everyone.
Episode 2, The Primary Reason (Aired July 15, 1934): An election is coming up in Hazard County, and Daisy Duke has been hard at campaigning for Progressive reformers, sure that that's the ticket to save the day. But when Boss Hogg has the primary ballots stolen to be 'cured' of 'Red' influence, Daisy Duke begins to radicalize as she joins her family members in chasing down the stolen car and delivering the ballots to the proper authorities. The Progressive wins, but there are hints that he too is on Hogg's payroll.
Episode 3, Go Down Moses (Aired August 15, 1934): The Duke brothers and their two new allies need to help a lawyer who defended a black man escape from the National Front and other KKK-like groups. He turns out to be Jewish, and there are some hearty messages of equality that are, to modern tastes, a little clumsy and sing-song but which still ultimately end in a strange and compelling 'car jousting' incident in which the 'General Lee' of the Klu Klux Klan winds up almost going over a cliff during a race-off, leaving the KKK members precariously about to tip over the edge while engaging in absurd banter regarding the Klan's silly names, titles, and phrases.
Episode 4: An Investigation (Aired September 15, 1934)--This episode is most known for introducing Theodore Jefferson, the canny and yet intensely boring BOI agent who is after the Dukes in Hazard. Most of the plot involves an investigation into the actions of the previous episodes, with the Dukes forced to flee their home to a secret hideout, only to triumphantly roar back by the end of the episode. One of the most thrilling chases of the while first 'season' occurred during this episode, when the Dukes need to outrun an enemy car... but not fast enough to get away. This leads them to a remote neck of the woods, where defying all odds the Comrade Lenin manages a spectacular jump across a lake to safety. Jefferson swears revenge, and meets with the Progressive Lawmaker, who is revealed to be a racist of the 'Socialism for White People' variety.
Episode 5: Thrown Down The Sickle (October 15, 1934)--There's a major strike at sharecrops across Georgia, and the Dukes of Hazard find themselves running both guns and food when the Bosses, including Hogg, all decide to crush it by any means necessary. Most known for the part in the middle where the African-American strikers code-switch effortlessly, talking to the bosses with a lot of "Suh and Massa and hokey dialect" and then talk to each other frankly and cynically, and point out that all this obedience stuff, it's just a job. The Dukes ultimately do help some of the strikers, but for the first time ever the ending isn't entirely happy: an attempt to register to vote led by Daisy Duke has led to a tenth of the county, and all the socialists, being arrested... and the BOI plans on taking all of them away.
Episode 6: And Justice For All (November 7, 1934)--Things are at their worst, and Bo and Luke begin the episode discouraged. The election proper is coming up, and the only candidates are the racist and the racist, and Boss Hogg controls both of them. Disconsolately, they start drinking and talking about Comrade Lenin and the October Revolution--which was actually in early November--and how it all seems doomed. That's when one of them gets a bright idea. They need to draw attention towards themselves, and they need to save the people. And so they make a big announcement that they were coming in with a whole shipment of guns and goods on the anniversary of the October Revolution, and suddenly the entire force of the BOI, local Sheriffs, and more came down to try to stop them. They run an impossible gauntlet that takes them across all the places they explored in the last five episodes, as gravel is chucked by foley guys and the race is on. While the authorities are distracted by the chase, Joseph and Daisy and everyone else break out of prison, in what is almost implied to be a miracle, but with the help of a mysterious organization of do-gooders. As the people surge out into the street to protest, Bo and Luke flee with this secret organization and the Comrade Lenin, but not before one last Rebel Yell and an emotive request that Joseph and Daisy help free Hazard. They ride off into the literal sunset, as they easily outrun the frustrated and broken BOI forces.
"Riots across California farms put down at heavy cost. Many dead or injured."
• The Los Angeles Times; August 2, 1934
"Improved travel time on state-controlled railways."
• The Philadelphia Inquirer; August 2, 1934
"Concerns about Huntington Support Group harassing anti-syndicalist individuals dismissed by uncaring government."
• The Huntington Report; August 2, 1934
"Mexican agitators revealed to be behind recent riots!"
• The Los Angeles Times; August 3, 1934
"Anti-capitalist strikes across Californian farms continue to form, strikers organizing into Green Brigades to defend themselves."
• The San Francisco Worker; August 3, 1934
"Bloody Streets: A Revelation of Life in Syndicalist-Occupied Louisville"
• The Chicago Times; August 3, 1934
"D. M. Bingham, Kentucky judge and robber of the people, executed by Red Guards after public trial. Replacement pledges to cooperate with investigations."
• The Kentucky Revolution; August 3, 1934
"Huntington Report offices firebombed by unknown assailant last night. No deaths due to the late hour and quick action of the fire department."
• The Huntington Worker; August 4, 1934
"Anti-Syndicalist militias and police forces begin disarming black communities, demanding protection taxes."
• The Kentucky Vindicator; August 4, 1934
"Travers City paper mill collectivized after allegations of unsafe working conditions confirmed!"
The Michigan Report; August 4, 1934
"Police under attack by snipers across Montgomery!"
The Alabama Times; August 4, 1934
"Deaths in Frankfort as black communities refuse to surrender arms, Protectors promise to restore order despite police opposition."
• The Kentucky Vindicator; August 4, 1934
"Seven Protectors dead after gun battle outside Frankfort church, none surrendered."
• The Kentucky Revolution; August 4, 1934
"Continued allegations of corruption among the Huntington Support Group"
• The Huntington Worker; August 5, 1934
"Riots consume Frankfurt once more, police struggle to retain control as heavily-armed syndicalists wield fire as a weapon."
• The Chicago Times; August 5, 1934
"Death in Frankfurt as police forces set fires before abandoning barricades and pulling back to richer areas of town."
• The Kentucky Revolution; August 5, 1934
"Racial violence across Frankfurt as militias clash before negotiations begin."
• The Kentucky Vindicator; August 6, 1934
"Christian against Syndicalism March halted by police and Red Guards due to disrupting other demonstrations, several members arrested for anti-democratic behavior after attempting to continue."
• The Columbus Inquirer; August 6, 1934
"Ship seized by socialist criminals, demand release of imprisoned thieves and rapists."
• The Los Angeles Times; August 6, 1934
"Courageous Red Guards seize ship, demand release of innocents held without trial."
• The Truth of Los Angeles; August 6, 1934
"KKK march in Birmingham bombed! Local leaders demand justice!"
• The Alabama Times; August 6, 1934
"General MacArthur pledges support to anti-Syndicalist police and National Guards, plays coy about Presidential run!"
• The Chicago Times; August 6, 1934
"Rumors of machine guns and armored cars being shipped to anti-Syndicalist militias! Red Guards, be ready!"
• The Kentucky Militant; August 6, 1934
"Governor considers banning subversive radio stations! Treasonous politicians protest!"
• The Chicago Times; August 7, 1934
"Attempted anti-syndicalist riot in Long Island broken up, ringleaders identified and imprisoned. Despite their frantic begging, the National Guard refuses to intervene."
• The New York Worker; AUGUST 7, 1934
"Black population of Macon and Townesville forcibly de-housed, randomly beaten by KKK before Red Guards, supported by Minutemen, intervene."
• The Black Belt Report; August 7, 1934
"Two dozen deaths among the innocent population of Alabama, aid workers from the Combined Syndicates report."
• The Black Belt Report; August 8, 1934
"Rumors of arm shipments to anti-white militias have no truth to them, governor promises,"
• The Mississippi Journal; August 8, 1934
"Governor Long announces new law that formally bans any affiliation to the KKK, the National Popular Front, and several other organizations."
• The New Orleans Times; August 8, 1934
"Treasonous, anti-American laws spread across America!"
• The Chicago Times; August 8, 1934
"The W.C. S. Liberation and her role in the defense of the Louisville Commune"
The Louisville Worker; August 8, 1934
"Attempted mass poisoning of all-black school in Birmingham foiled by Red Guards, perpetrators were executed after trial"
• The Black Belt Report; August 8, 1934
"Red Guards lead the charge, driving off White Defense Front and other militias from local towns, seize assets of their supporters for redistribution!"
• The Black Belt Report; August 8, 1934
"Minutemen liberate towns from Popular Front control with the aid of Red Guards and All-Black Defense Force!"
• The Black Belt Report; August 8, 1934
"Plans for improved transportation between Chicago and New York City discussed by representatives of several cities and the American Railway Union."
• The New York Worker; August 8, 1934
"Successful defense of the Black Belt from populist forces using mounted patrols, armed wagons."
• The Black Belt Report; August 9, 1934
"Demands for removal of the death penalty lead to protests in Saint-Paul and Minneapolis."
• The Northern Journal; August 9, 1934
"Allegations of anti-Christian and anti-Jewish language in New York City law under discussion by City Council."
• The New York Revolutionary; August 9, 1934
"Anarchists bomb several museums, statues, other institutes of learning, demand destruction of the past tense,"
• The Atlanta Journal; August 9, 1934
"Law forbidding anti-American language and symbols successfully passed despite crypto-syndicalist opposition."
• The Southern Star; August 9, 1934
"Execution of suspected syndicalist infiltrators in Atlanta."
• The Atlanta Journal; August 9, 1934
"As new measure to protect the white race, National Popular Front begins mandating Negros carry passcards signed by Front members."
• The Dixie Times; August 9, 1934
"Louisville Commune attacked by militias equipped with mortars, machine guns, armored cars. City Hall destroyed, defenders executed in cold blood."
• The New York Worker; August 10, 1934
Rumors and News
America continues to suffer. Not only does dust and desolation continue to plague the once-fertile Midwest, but it has spent another bloody, bitter month savaging itself. Kentucky is in a state just shy of open warfare, where gangs of paramilitaries run entire towns and politicians are assassinated in their homes. The South is in significantly worse shape, as white blood and black both soak the sun-scorched soil. Machine guns and mortars both see frequent use, leaving bullets and craters scattered across the landscape. Even more horribly, multiple militias are engaging in tit-for-tat atrocities.
Mass lynchings, brutal beatings, violations...it is undeniable savagery, and no one seems immune from engaging in it. Homes are destroyed, towns are ruined. Sharecroppers, white and black, are executed in paranoid frenzies. Planters are crucified and burned alive. The Congaree swamp, the Everglades, the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky and the Carolinas are swarming with vicious guerilla bands. The bloodshed extends into the relatively peaceful Virginias too.
You force yourself to regularly read reports on what happens. You cannot forget the price of revolution. No matter how painful it is.
Even men who are nominally on the same side can inflict horrors on each other, such as what happened at the Montgomery Massacre when a unit of Red Guards came across a unit of Longists, or perhaps the other way around, and possibly one unit was majority black and one was majority white, but one unit found the other executing surrendered Protectors, or possibly finishing off wounded ones, or mutilating bodies, and a fierce firefight ensued. The sheer lack of clarity has kept anyone from being outraged about it.
It also helps that the situation in Washington, DC is even more intense. The neighborhoods of the city are effectively divided into warring micronations, with only a few regions indisputably in government control. Even as teams of Marines and police raid into paramilitary controlled areas to make shows of force, rumors spread of planned government purges using poison gas and machine guns to destroy all resistance, rumors that most consider outlandish.
The occupation of Kansas has been ruled temporarily legal, but MacArthur is already vacating that state in favor of supporting the authorities in the Southeast. He has left behind a fragile pro-government consensus, one that looks to topple within a month or two.
Unfortunately, the general has demonstrated a fair bit of intelligence in his methods. Hundreds of soldiers have been honorably discharged and stockpiles of weapons have been "lost" and then ended up in their hands. These supposed "civilians" are sent into Kansas and Kentucky to reinforce the government presence in those two states. More will likely be sent even further afield as time goes on, while replacements for men and material come from across the nation. The thousands who foolishly flee massacres that will never come from the SPA prove to be a particularly useful source of manpower. But the factories that produce his guns are worked by unionized men, as are the ones that fill his shells. Sabotage and theft are both rife, occasionally working at cross-purposes, but the weapons of the Red Guards are continually increasing in numbers and quality.
The federal government is aware of this, and so they have been working to establish new factories in areas they can trust to be loyal. It's not enough, it can never be enough, but the government controlled factories pay well and have good conditions and that's enough to stem the bleeding, if not do anything more.
The other efforts of the federal government have been...schizophrenic. Their authority and legitimacy has continually decayed, collapsing fastest in the Rockies and Texas, but they are grimly holding on, having somewhat re-secured their grip in California. The Socialists and Longists and some Progressives in the Assembly and Senate in that state have withdrawn in protest of the irregularities, and Creel keeps denouncing his former Lieutenant Governor, but Shortridge seems to have the loyalty of most institutions in the state and has kept the situation from exploding further.
A number of initiatives have been attempted by state governments to re-secure loyalty, including open bribery, assasination of organizers, political concessions, and every desperate tactic a band of capitalists recognizing they are on the verge of their historically inevitable extinction can imagine. Some of them are even effective, as the ordinary concerns such as nepotism are discarded from sheer panic. They have successes, albeit limited ones.
The Supreme Court has also achieved a pair of successes, deftly threading several needles regarding MacArthur's maneuvers and the forced nationalizations by giving a mealy-mouthed, centrist ruling for one and refusing to rule for technical reasons for the other, sending the case back to make its slow way through the court system again.
The coalition Olson and others have worked so hard to put together is beginning to splinter. The most radical elements of the Progressive Party have nearly fully joined the SPA, with figures like Clarence Darrow and James Davidson beginning to outline a partly syndicalist "Peaceful Reform" program that calls for mutualism, workplace democracy, and strong welfare. Meanwhile, the more rightwing, "sensible" progressives like John W. Davis and Franck R. Havenner have both demanded "an end to violence and attacks on innocent Americans" before any reform can be considered.
There are enough compromises being made that the Progressives have retained their capability to act as an organized party, but that's not their only problem. Their actual organizational base is beginning to falter, as segments turn to other parties and their influence begins to falter.
The government is seemingly beginning to grow aware of just how precarious their situation is. Several emergency bills were proposed to dramatically strengthen the security state, but each was narrowly defeated by the combined majority of the SPA, AFP, and the Reformists. Some of the more conservative figures have begun to murmur about how they clearly need to do something, to give in a little. They have even begun approaching the Reformists, looking for some sort of compromise. And they have been increasingly pushing the need for all "sane and sensible" parties to form a "quarantine against dangerous authoritarian rabble," as Hoover said in one speech that actually resulted in him being cheered.
And the explosion of enthusiasm the announcement of the Front caused fades against the reality of endless paramilitary clashes. The Silver Legion, the True Ku Klux Klan, the Redeemed Ku Klux Klan, the Protectors, the Anti-Syndicalist Association, the Black Legion, the Anti-Syndicalist Action Front, the Knights Templar, the Christian Knights Templar, the American Knights Templar...none of them have the strength or endurance they desire, and they have fallen back to lick their wounds, even as others throughout the country begin to turn to such groups in the hopes of fighting off syndicalism. Their numbers grow, their popularity soars, but even so they are losing battles everywhere they fight. The horrific savagery they inflict every chance they get avails them nothing. Butchered children and burned churches may terrify, but they also enrage. And very few Protectors are able to surrender now.
Some of the more open atrocities have also seen their use criticized and condemned. Several states have outright banned them, even if the ban seems to be in practice toothless. Even so, it has embarrassed the Front.
The Front has also been heavily embarrassed when a member of the Anti-Syndicalist Action Front attacked the leadership of the Anti-Syndicalist Association, gunning down two dozen of the National Popular Front's Executive Dragons in the process, because he thought they were infiltrated by Jews.
The infighting this led to has not helped their cause.
Foreign affairs have been only somewhat less tumultuous.
Germany has begun reaching out to America, offering economic and military aid. The US government slapped the insulting offers aside publicly, but you have heard enough to know that was only in public. You are uncertain what sort of aid they are getting, but the two champions of capitalism will not allow each other to fall so easily.
Mexico is continuing to slowly recover from their civil war and revolution, and keeps putting down bands of Cristeros and other rebels. It's a Herculean task, but one that they are succeeding at. It's just taking time. Combined with their support for the Sandistas in Central America, they are at their limit.
Canada has managed to avoid a further rise in labor militancy, with "shocking revelations" and smear campaigns being used to try and crush the indomitable spirit of the workers. While such efforts will inevitably fail, it has bought Canadian government time as people turn against the most advanced sections of the working class.
But you don't have too much energy to spare to worry about foreign revolutions, not when one is so close here in the States. It's so close you can just about reach out and grab it.
The tide of support continues to wax. Even as Protector militias attempt to break the revolutionary in Idaho and Montana and the Dakotas, even as reactionary ranks swell in the Red Belt, more grain-and-gear symbols decorate homes and stores and factories, more workplaces are seized and democratized, more farms are turned into consolidated co-ops.
The planning commission begins their first efforts, setting hard limits on working hours, funding fertilizer plants, and prioritizing the seizure of more steel mills.
And more support grows for anti-racist and anti-nativist policies, although the neccessary steps for women's liberation seem too radical for many.
However, you are more distracted by internal politics. Although you are able to convince the syndicalists of the necessities of economic planning and central control of the most vital industries, and you are able to deflect accusations of tyranny, excessive control, creating a cult of personality, and Bonapartism, you are forced to make concessions. Minor ones, but it still annoys you.
Also annoying is a foolishly planned assasination attempt by a former police officer who was gunned down before he even grabbed his pistol out.
But any annoyance from those unfortunate events is overwhelmed by the sheer exultant glee you feel as you gain more and more support and see a red flag fly over Louisville once more. Can anything stop such a powerful movement?
The Red Guards sweep forward invincibly, shattering resistance wherever they go. Disciplined and drilled and supported by extensive other militias, they are able to crush ramshackle bands of Pinkertons and send police fleeing in terror. Many among them speak eagerly of returning to the Red Belt to secure the revolutionary center, removing all remaining reactionaries from it in preparation of the coming revolution. Surely it can only be a few months away?
And you receive a most welcome bit of information from the RAF. They have dealt with their most recent round of pursuers, at least enough to resume operations. So they are going south, and they are going to send a message.
Long has sent another offer to you, two of them actually. First, he proposes yanking on the leashes of various paramilitaries who have been favoring fighting each other over the "real enemy," perhaps with some symbolic mutual condemnations, and second, he proposes having a "neutral zone" of states between your heartlands where you agree not to suppress AFP votes in exchange for him not suppressing SPA votes.
He seems to be doing well enough for himself. There's been some political turmoil inside Louisiana, in which several of the more reactionary members of Long's cronies have formally split from the America First Party. All were soon arrested on corruption charges. Long has appointed new individuals to hold their seats temporarily until the election. This has led to some muted protests, less for the arrests and more for the appointments.
It has also led to someone attempting to murder Long's puppet governor, but they were arrested and have vanished into a Lousiana prison.
Meanwhile, Longist militias have been fighting in Texas and Tennessee, Missouri and Montgomery, battling their enemies determinedly and claiming swathes of territory. Even in the heart of the embattled city of Tulsa, the Minutemen are holding their ground.
Plans from Subordinates
The Coordination Committee will be spending most of their time and efforts looking after their constituents and supporting refugees from famine and unrest.
The State Legislative Committee has heard the demands of the people, and will be replacing as many judges as they can. In addition, they are moving to begin repairs and restoration of infrastructure across the country.
Norman Thomas is continuing his work on the bill and aiming to peel off some individuals from the Reformist Coalition by pushing for reforms that he knows will be defeated, hopefully radicalizing their membership.
Smedley Butler is looking to procure more arms for the Red Guards as well as cover for their training, and to begin a second reform of the structure of the Red Guards by modifying how sergeants and other non-commissioned officers are handled in their ranks.
Charles Schenk is extending spy networks into ununionized factories and arranging for infiltrators to join up with the army and marines.
Ben Stevens is continuing on his successes by organizing further support among the farmers of Kansas, paying particular attention to their Red Guards and various allied militias.
The Propaganda Committee is seeking to continue their campaign against racism and misogyny, especially by establishing childcare. They are also determinedly launching a campaign against the National Popular Front.
Ben Little is dedicating his full attention on arranging the successful distribution of clothing, especially winter gear.
The SPA Cadres are heavily divided. Some are working to help distribute clothing, some are advocating for judicial reform, some are planning judicial reform, and some are demanding changes to government structure to make them more democratic.
EcPlaCom is focusing on surveying existing safety standards and improving transportation, among other tasks.
You have 10 Influence and 2 Gravitas total. 0 Gravitas and 4 Influence are committed to ongoing actions. You have 1 Temporary Influence. You are currently taking The Union Forever!
+10 to the next 2 rural organization or agitations actions. +10 to the next Union action.
Liberation cannot just be economic. The chains of capital weigh on the mind as well, in the forms of patriarchy, racism, imperialism, and more. Just as we advocate for the breaking of the chains of capital, so must these chains be broken. And the party and syndicates are both united behind us on this. Make 1 significant step on the path of social justice within 3 months. (From the Syndicalists, the Orthodox, the Anarchists, the IWW MA, the AFL-CIO, and the ASA. + Support from the IWW MA, the AFL-CIO, and the ASA, +Relations with the Syndicalists, the Anarchists, and the Orthodox, +1 Temporary Influence for Union actions, -support the IWW MM, the TUUL, and the Red Grange, -Relations with the Parliamentarians and Ultraleft Farmer-Labor if completed. +Relations with the Parliamentarians and Ultraleft Farmer-Labor, +support with the IWW MM, the TUUL, and the Red Grange, +1 Temporary Influence for rural-focused Union actions, -Support from the IWW MA, the AFL-CIO, and the ASA, -Relations with the Syndicalists, the Anarchists, and the Orthodox, if failed.
California is one of the largest states in America, with an enormous population, a powerful industrial base, and a vast agricultural heartland. It also features some of the most powerful opposition to the workers' movements, thanks to endless bombardments of propaganda, foreign support from many parties, and the judicious use of force. But the workers there are nevertheless ripe for organization...and an election is coming up. Make major gains in popular and political support in the Golden State. (From the Parliamentarians, the Center, the Orthodox, the ASA, the AFL-CIO, and the Teamster's Union. ++ Support from the ASA, the AFL-CIO, and the Teamster's Union, ++ Relations with the Parliamentarians, the Center, and the Orthodox, +2 temporary Influence if completed.)
This Frankenstein of an economic system is an awkward kludge, albeit one that is growing increasingly ordered. While many are concerned and confused about the vouchers, enough progress has been made that the situation has stabilized, even if it has not been entirely steadied. The worst stresses are mostly gone, but mostly is not entirely. Take steps to finish reforming and stabilizing the economy within 4 months. (From the Syndicalists and Orthodox. +10 to the next two Union actions, +Relations with the Syndicalists, +Relations with the Orthodox, +Relations with the Center, -Strength to the Center, +support from the ASA and both factions of the IWW, increase in popular support if completed. -Relations with the Syndicalists, Orthodox, and Center,-support from the ASA and both factions of the IWW, loss of income, severe decrease in popular support if failed)
The investigation revealed a far more serious presence of reactionaries in nearly every city and town than previously believed. Often built around church groups and other social institutions, they could serve as a potential nucleus for unrest, sabotage, counterrevolution, and potentially a white terror. All who are aware of this are in agreement: one way or another, this must be dealt with as soon as possible. As violence cascades throughout Kentucky and the South, many advocate for meteing out the treatment reactionaries favor so to their kindred in the Red Belt. (Bonus to CSA support for using harsh methods, penalties for using conciliatory methods. ++support from all CSA factions when completed. Minor losses of support in the CSA if the reactionaries cause problems until then.)
The American education system was carefully designed to serve the will of the capitalists as part of their effort to ensure their dominance. From deliberately enforced inequality to classroom structures designed to make children acquiesce to the abuses of capitalism, no portion of it was left unscathed. We shall create an education system with higher ideals, for adults and children alike. Accurate history and economic science will be taught alongside art and music and math, and none shall be denied any knowledge. All it needs is to be built. Which will hopefully commence soon. Start 2 education-related actions within 6 months. (+Support from the AFL-CIO, ++ support from the IWW MM, slight increase in popular support if completed. --support from the IWW MM if failed.)
One matter that is being debated is policing. While the cops are often reactionary, they have largely been broken of their power across the Steel Belt and turned into tools of the working class. And they have performed admirably in that role. However, there has been a noticeable rise in unrest and criminal activity in many areas fueled by the many ills of capitalist society, especially one undergoing such a crisis, and it is only to get worse before it gets better. As such, there has been a moderate rise in popularity for programs that will improve the effectiveness of police while preventing them from becoming the lackeys of capitalists once more. Complete policing reforms within 2 months. (++Support from the ASA, the IWW MM, and the Teamster's Union, slight increase in popular support if completed.)
Too much has been done too fast. Mobs are forming across the steel belt, protesting our attempts to steal their wives and daughters, panicking about what a threat we are to the social order. We are upending everything they have ever known, and they are understandably scared. So as much as it might gall to accept such reactionary demands, we must acknowledge that we have reached a temporary limit. Until the small-minded people and their lingering reactionary instincts are soothed and calmed, we need to take a step back and focus on other things. Avoid making further extreme social reforms for at least 2? months, possibly less or more depending on the circumstances. (Moderate losses of popular support you will be blamed for if failed.)
The army has demonstrated amply that it is capable of smashing any paramilitary in the country in open battle. Kansas and Kentucky have both proven this beyond any doubt. And so the Red Guards and Union Defense Committees and all the other militias aligned with us must grow in size, in discipline, in training, and above all else in armament. Make 3 major steps at increasing the effectiveness of the Red Guards within 5 months. (--Support from everyone if failed.)
People must be reached and educated about the nature of a revolutionary state and the benefits the revolution will bring to them personally. To that end, the capabilities of the propaganda committee must expand. Discipline must be tightened, performance must be improved, new means and methods developed. We cannot allow a propaganda gap! Make 2 improvements to the SPA's propaganda machinery within 5 months. (--Support from everyone if failed.)
The shoes and clothes of the workers have begun wearing thin. The endless unrest in the South has greatly reduced the harvests of cotton and other crops, while the chaos in the western ports and German economic blockades have badly reduced what cloth can be imported. Many clothing factories have utterly ground to a halt in response to the lack of raw material, and while the various safety nets established have kept people from starving or being driven from their homes, clothes are growing increasingly expensive, and the workers demand your aid.
The great mass of workers have demonstrated that they desire judicial reform, while the judges of the nation have proven that they are unworthy of their offices, that they are nothing more than stooges of capital and champions of reaction. Drive them from their offices, destroy their power. Complete Judicial Reform and either Judicial Replacement or Judging the Judges within 3 months. (--Popular support if failed).
You are being accused of overbearing, excessive power by many who fear you becoming a Napoleon or some other form of tyrant. However, they also seem to recognize that despite your immense popularity, despite the dedicated support of the Red Guards, despite your influence...you do not desire such a thing. Even so, they are cautious enough to push you to decentralize power a little, to add a few offices that will be staffed by their supporters and help them influence the way things happen. Spend a net total of 8 Influence on new subordinates within 3 months. (From the Syndicalists, the IWW MA, and the IWW MM. ++Support from both factions of the IWW, ++Relations with the Syndicalists, all Union and Militant actions have a temporarily reduced DC, -Support with the TUUL, the ASA, and the Red Grange, -Relations with the Orthodox if completed. +++Support from the TUUL, the ASA, and the Red Grange, +++Relations with the Orthodox, --Support from both factions of the IWW, ---Relations with the Syndicalists if failed.)
There are only a few short months before the upcoming election, and major victories at the polls will legitimize our cause, give us influence in more states, and strengthen our hand against the reactionaries, capitalists, and populists. The primaries are over, the campaigns have begun, with debates and tours and propaganda being used to energize supporters and recruit the undecided. Major figures in the SPA have gone on tours in support of campaigns for all levels, you must join them, Comrade Reed!, and join them soon! (-Support from all factions, -Relations from all factions if failed.)
Hold a Rally: It's a classic for every political party for a reason. There's nothing quite like a grand rally with banners waving and people cheering to make you seem unstoppable and to gather more support. The demonstration of the energy and might of the working class will have the capitalists shaking in their boots. It is a message to your supporters as well, that all the power of the SPA stands behind them. Here is what it says: Let your foes try and stop you. They will be ground under your heel. Cost: 1 Resources and a risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/50/85/120. Results: Variable change in support, chance of intimidating your enemies. Can synergize with other actions.
Wave the Red Banner: The Red Banner is not the only SPA-affiliated or favoring publication, but it is the only one produced by the Party itself. And it is immensely popular. New ones go out constantly, but you could write an article of your own and make a special edition. This would receive extra attention and possibly some new readership, allowing you to make your opinions heard and sway the hearts and minds of others. You could shape the narrative on something, make an argument for or against a particular course of action, attack an enemy or uplift an ally. Or to defend yourself and your decisions. The possibilities of the written word are limitless. Cost: 1 Resource and a risk of backlash. May be additional costs depending on the topic. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100/150. Results: Variable change in support or party factions, results depend on the topic. The topic must be written in. Some examples: "The importance of unity in the socialist cause," "The corruption of the Hoover administration," "Why feminism and socialism must go together," and "Why Farmer-Labor should unify with the SPA." Can synergize with other actions.
Send Socialist Agitators To: Nearly every street corner in Chicago, New York City, and Seattle has a man or woman standing on a crate and telling the passerby of the virtues of the cause and encouraging them to donate. They are often beaten brutally by the bourgeois or by police (and just as often protected by their listeners), but they nevertheless persist, determined to gain recruits and funds for the cause. Some of these agitators are amateurs doing it in their spare time, but quite a few are dedicated and skilled speakers. Sending these speakers in significant numbers to an area can turn your foe's supporters against them, especially if it is followed up upon with meaningful organization. Cost: Risk to the lives and health of the agitators depending on where they are sent to. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Results: Write in an area (such as New York state, the Midwest, New Orleans, etc. The bigger it is, the more diffuse the impact) and reduce Federalist and AFP support there. Unlock actions to follow up on the agitation.
Create Shadow Government: You have had a brilliant idea: Though you lack power at the federal level, the Socialist Party has substantial control of many mayorships and county governments alongside even more widespread but less official influence. You even control most states of the Steel Belt. Creating a forum to help these various governments cooperate and resolve disputes will be useful, especially if you have further requests from these governments. You have only discussed this concept briefly, but the idea of the Interstate Committee of Socialist Governments (name subject to change) has dazzled many. Especially since it will help you gain influence over their legal codes, voting laws, and National Guard armories. However, given the likely federal determination to show strength, such a provocative action could be risky. Cost: External backlash. Time: 3 months. DC: 25/40/55/105. Results: Various states and lower-level governments integrated into a coordinated body, many new possibilities available, although the body could be unwieldy.
Support Faction: The party is more than a little divided, even if everyone is determined to stick together, they still clash frequently, with each other and with you. Spending some time and effort backing a particular faction in these debates could gain you some gratitude, which is always a valuable currency. Cost: Risk of losing support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Results: Increase Relations and Strength of selected faction, chance of gaining support within the CSA.
Make Changes To Subordinates: You do not have the time or capability to make all the decisions involved with bringing the Revolution to America, and so you have trusted subordinates to help. Occasionally, you will need to redirect their efforts, invest more in their success, or even replace them immediately. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Make any number of changes to 1 subordinate. Can be taken multiple times. Cannot be done for SPA Cadres
Party Donation Drive: Your income comes from party dues and a cut from the incomes of the unions that make up the CSA. And it is proving insufficient for all the demands placed on your party. Asking for additional voluntary donations on a one-time basis would help ease the strain and buy time for you to begin finding additional sources of revenue. And doing it once shouldn't make you look too bad. As long as you make it clear you are asking. Cost: Extremely low chance of loss of support or Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/110/140. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
The International Question: With contact made with the Syndintern, they will soon begin encouraging internationalist behavior. Considering the amount of assistance you will need for them, it would be wise to help support revolutions in Canada and in the various client states of America, along with taking part in the broader Syndintern in less overt ways. Gauging the positions of various factions on this will help you understand your position. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Find out the position of all factions of the SPA and CSA on internationalism.
Display your Dedication: You are being accused of weakness, softness, and cowardice. Despite all you have suffered and sacrificed, it is not enough for some. Fine then, you will show them how much the cause means to you. A whirlwind tour across the country, visiting every union and party office you can meet, will provide the proof and silence their accusations. From Seattle to New York City, from Portland to Houston, anywhere men and women struggle for their liberation you will stand in their support. Cost: No Personal Action next month. Time: 2 months. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Gain Relations with all SPA factions.
Squeeze the Fosterites: TheFosterites are a potent political force, one with an ideology that demands action and brutality. If unleashed, they could provoke a dangerous alliance and cost your critical support as they laud the most savage and terrible deeds. They must be restrained and controlled for the good of the movement. The more mainstream factions recognize this, and would likely be willing to cooperate with you to hammer the divides in them and pressure them to return to the fold (with a price in mind, of course. Such is politics). Those who resist this pressure will be embittered, but they are going to be a minority of a minority. What harm can they do? Cost: Will further radicalize any remaining Fosterites, will politically indebt you to other factions, annoys the RAF. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75/100. Result: Begin campaign to marginalize the Fosterites, will have options on how to handle it until it ends.
Pro-Liberation Politics: The anti-racism program must be built on. The party's ideological limitations on the matter must be removed. There is more to be done...there is always more to be done. Some will back you to the hilt on this, others will oppose it to the end, but you must trust that the desire for unity triumphs over factional bickering...and you will spend some time laying the groundwork first before announcing your new proposals since they will likely be controversial. Cost: Relations with party factions, support in the CSA. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/20/45/65/115. Result: Lay the groundwork for and then propose modifications to the party line to further support anti-discrimination measures. Higher Relations will mean better results.
Shore Up Support: The CSA is growing increasingly independent from you, and members of it have expressed numerous concerns about some of your decisions. They say you go too far, or not far enough. They claim you are overly centralizing or excessively decentralizing. They have a lot of complaints. But you have friends and allies in their ranks no matter how truculent they are. So use friendly conversations and private meetings to shore up your support, turn aside hostilities with kind words and minor concessions, and work to rebuild your relationships with the CSA Cost: Slight increase to Stress, time spent schmoozing is time not spent building up to a Revolution. Time: Until ended. DC: 10/25/40/50. Result: Reduced negative impact of actions on CSA support, increased growth of CSA support, hear requests and suggestions from your supporters.
Assistant Adjustment: Even as your assistants work to make sure their views are supported by the party machinery, they are also being genuinely helpful in managing the fractious ranks and building towards the coming revolution. You could always use a few more...or perhaps you need to remove someone. Cost: Political turmoil, modification to bonuses. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Options to change assistants.
Speak for Liberty: While the SPA is at least somewhat united behind you, your willingness to push for social revolution has had the anarchists in the party and their similarly socially left allies be some of your most enthusiastic supporters, despite their relatively small numbers. If you want to make use of that support, you will need to help them. Speak on the topic of liberty, encourage support for racial minorities, demand women's liberation...perhaps go so far as to say homosexuality is acceptable. Let them know they have an ally in you. Cost: Political turmoil. Time: 1 month. DC: 40. Result: Increase in Strength and Relations of Anarchists.
Condemn Atrocities: If you wish to keep the violent and vicious Fosterites from gaining strength, you need to lay the groundwork before you break them. Make it part of the SPA program to condemn excessive brutality, the murder of non-combatants and innocents, and wanton destruction. While the language will mostly be used against capitalists and Longists, it can also be applied to the sort of things they advocate for, making a useful cudgel against your enemies in the party. Cost: Some political turmoil, annoys the RAF. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/60/90. Result: Decrease in the Strength of the Fosterites.
Insist on their Effectiveness: Though the Fosterites have had some of their bloodlust slaked, they are still demanding more blood, more death, more destruction. They appear to have no compromise in them..let's see if they have any common sense. While they may decry these reforms as cowardice and giving in to bourgeois demands to muzzle the workers and "suppress their righteous rage until the flame of revolution gutters out," you are doing nothing of the sort! You are simply trying to make them a more capable and organized force, an army capable of winning the revolution you all want. Cost: Some political turmoil. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/45/60/80. Result: Decrease in the Strength of the Fosterites.
Divide and Defeat: The Fosterites are united only by their insistence that you go faster, that you birth the revolution sooner - and that like all births, that it be bloody and painful. And so the right pressures, ever so gently applied, can leave them broken and adrift, eliminating a potential political threat and greatly weakening an adventurist segment of the SPA. The pressures are asking what they want, which might be a dangerous question if you don't have a good answer... Cost: Some political turmoil, annoys and weakens the RAF. Time: 2 months. DC: 35/70/100/120. Result: Decrease in the Strength of the Fosterites.
Command the Cadres: The SPA Cadres have been enjoying their newfound independence and will be reluctant to give it up again even temporarily, but you are liked and respected enough that they will do it. Even if they will complain. Cost: Political impact depends on what you choose. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Adjust SPA Cadre actions as you see fit.
Organizational Reform: With yet another intra-party spat developing, you find yourself getting frustrated. You need to take measures for preventing these sorts of problems from arising again...along with making sure reformist sentiments and corruption don't set themselves back in. Clear out the deadwood, impress your authority upon the leadership, and get everyone working together for the greater good of the workers. Cost:???. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100/125. Result: Reduced chance of further political crises, +1 Gravitas, reduction in Stress.
Ban the Nativists: With anti-nativist sentiment at an all-time high in the ranks of the SPA and among the workers, you can easily push through a change to the party platform and membership requirements to formally expel what dregs of nativist influence have slid in. This might mean a drop in your support, given that you have effectively forced out will doubtless take their votes and voices elsewhere, but all their efforts will be nothing more than spit in the wind. Cost: Minor losses in SPA Relations, CSA Support, and popularity. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/70/100. Result: Purge nativists from the SPA, +1 Gravitas.
Ban the Racists: With anti-racist sentiment at an all-time high in the ranks of the SPA and among the workers, you can easily push through a change to the party platform and membership requirements to formally expel what dregs of segregationist influence have slid in. This might mean a drop in your support, given that you have effectively forced out will doubtless take their votes and voices elsewhere, but all their efforts will be nothing more than spit in the wind. Cost: Minor losses in SPA Relations, CSA Support, and popularity. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/70/100. Result: Purge racists from the SPA, +1 Gravitas.
Standards of Integrity: With the removal and punishment of many corrupt individuals, it's time to make sure they and their ilk don't come back into power. You tried to push through higher standards of integrity and behavior for people running on SPA tickets or on the SPA payroll, including requiring them to publish their finances for all to scrutinize, but it floundered due to a lack of momentum. So you will get behind things and push. Cost: Loss in Relations with all factions, loss of support from the Teamster's Union. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/55. Result: Pass reforms to make it harder to be corrupt in the future.
Push for Moderation: So far, actual resistance from these reactionaries has been minimal and easily dealt with. There's no need to step things up and provide martyrs or risk radicalizing them. They should be marginalized and propagandized against, but they should not be repressed. They aren't threatening enough to require it. Cost: Increases political costs of attacks from reactionaries. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Nonviolent methods for dealing with the current crop of reactionaries grows more popular.
Meet Them With Violence: Already these reactionaries have resisted the seizure of the means of production and protested against the transformation of society. They are receiving support from far more dangerous groups as well. They are obstacles before the tide of history, and they must be swept away. And we shall not hesitate in doing the sweeping. Cost: Increases political costs of attacks from reactionaries. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Violent methods for dealing with the current crop of reactionaries grows more popular.
Remove the Reformists: The threat of the incoming bill is not just to your voters, it could also dangerously embolden the dormant reformist wing of the SPA. Purging them after the bill is revealed will be taken badly. Purging them before...it won't be taken well. But it will be less costly. Of course, you could work to marginalize them without resorting to having them full-on removed from the SPA. Cost: Severe loss of SPA Relations and CSA Support. Time: 1 month. DC: 50/100/150. Result: Purge reformists from the SPA with varying degrees of efficiency
United in Action: Tighten regulations and rules and push through a few measures granting you more authority over internal SPA matters. It might upset some, but it won't be too controversial. You'll put forth a slate, people will argue about it...you have done this dance before. And if you do it right now, you can get people used to you having great authority before they realize why you want it. Cost: Varying loss of SPA Relations and CSA Support. Time: 1-2 months. DC: ??? Result: Pass a package of various reforms to further centralize power around you.
A Long Evaluation: What do people think of Long? Do they view him as a reactionary, a reformist, an opportunist, or perhaps a potential comrade? Any of these are correct from a certain point of view. If you ever intend to deepen your informal agreement into a proper alliance, it would be worth getting an idea of what people's views are. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Find out what factions of the SPA and CSA think of Long and the America First Party.
Begin Campaigning: September, October, and a few days of November. That's all you have until the election. While many candidates have already been on the campaign trail for months, you have been understandably delayed by the various responsibilities of being the head of the SPA. But you can't keep putting it off, especially given the relative importance of your role: you are going to be helping as many people as possible by speaking in their favor and rallying support to them, and trying to get some early support for a future presidential run...assuming this country lasts that long. Cost: Reduced positive impact of Personal actions, temporary -2 Gravitas, increased vulnerability to assasination, annoys those who don't like electoralism. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Begin going on the campaign trail to help various SPA candidates run.
Internally Cleaning House: The corruption that has led to some severe unrest cannot just be in the CSA, but in the SPA as well, given how closely the two institutions are intertwined. Investigations in one will surely help with investigations in the other. And given that the various SPA officials are less entwined into patronage networks and the steady spread of internal SPA democracy, you can expect less backlash for digging into corruption inside the SPA, so long as the investigation remains confined that way. Cost: Minor loss of Relations with all factions., small risk of angering the bureaucrats. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/??. Result: Begin investigating corruption in the CSA, reduced difficulty of actions for dealing with the bureaucracy.
Representation Reform: Although you have not made any promises to change the nature of the representation in the CSA, justice makes its own demands. Itinerant workers, rural people, and the unemployed are all underrepresented in the current system. For the CSA to truly be a vanguard of the working class, it must be able to represent all the working class, although many argue that its current form is sufficient for that purpose. Overruling their objections may well be costly, especially if you introduce some form of geographic representation like some in the Red Grange have suggested. Cost: Varying losses of Relations and support. Time: 2 months. DC: 30/90. Result: Begin reform of the structure of the CSA.
Preparatory Measures: You are not going to transition to a state-within-a-state just yet. The working class is powerful, but it's not that powerful. Such a brazen declaration of the political and economic independence of the working class will provoke the entirety of the federal army to fall on your heads while you are wrangling the CSA and readying the Red Guards. So you will take steps to make ready for it, preparing cross-state institutions, tightening bonds between different party and union locals, and ensuring that every base that can be covered will be. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??. Result: Reduced time, DC, and cost of Create Shadow Government.
Cross the Line...: The federal government has grown increasingly unstable, it's a rotting structure just waiting to be kicked down. Doubtless, a few defeats will have their army falling apart and will see syndicalism spreading from sea to shining sea. So it is time to step things up, to provoke them, to push for action. Change the tone of party propaganda, throw your weight behind the most revolutionary. The world will know what you are doing. But it cannot stop you, no more than King Canute could turn back the tide. Cost: Will provoke backlash and upset reformists. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/?. Result: Increased cost and impact of actions related to attacking capitalism and your enemies. Note: only 1 Influence or Gravitas may be used.
Toe the Line...:The federal government has grown increasingly unstable, it's structure is rotting more and more every day, and there are no reforms that can save it. Just wait a few months, a year or two tops, and it will fall apart on its own and we can pick up the pieces. And in the meantime, we will avoid getting shattered by the still mighty army, so that we can be intact enough to do the picking up. Cost: Will upset the most radical faction of the party. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/?. Result: Decreased cost and impact of actions related to attacking capitalism and your enemies. Note: only 1 Influence or Gravitas may be used.
...Or Dance Across It: The federal government has grown increasingly unstable, it's structure is rotting more and more every day, and there are no reforms that can save it. Every day it still stands is a blessing and a curse. While it gives us more time to grow our support, organize our economy, and arm our Red Guards, it also means more suffer and die under the iron heel. So we must provoke its destruction, but do so with caution. Cost: None...if you succeed. Time: 1 month. DC: 85/? if Influence is used, 65/? if Gravitas is used. Result: Decreased cost and increased impact of actions related to attacking capitalism and your enemies. Note: only 1 Influence or Gravitas may be used.
Integrate the State and Planning: The various governments, both state and local, are nominally unconnected with the planning bureau, but there is no reason to have that. They will both be far more efficient if they can work together, and damn any concerns about "illegal collusion" and "corrupt party machines." The planning commission is elected by the people, the state governments are controlled by the party of the people. Let them work together, until the day the rotten machinery of the capitalist state is smashed and supplanted. Cost: Likely to provoke an external backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50. Result: Decreased cost and time for Create a Shadow Government, improved efficacy of the Planning Commission's actions and State Control actions, increase to income for the states and Reed.
Anti-Corruption Commission: Corruption forms in any centralized system, unless measures are taken to prevent it. The measures that have been taken are too little and too late, and entrenched, anti-worker interests have formed. To prevent the rise of kleptocracy, decisive action must be taken and the organization of syndicates and parties must be reformed. To that end, some propose empowering a democratically organized commission and giving them sufficient backing to root out the worst examples of the corrupt. Cost: Will require investment of Influence, will be a tug-of-war between various factions, may not be entirely neutral. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/45/90/135. Result: Establish a democratically-elected commission empowered to investigate corruption as a Subordinate. Efficacy and neutrality will depend on choices made.
Cadre-Union Coordination: The SPA Cadres have often acted independent of union locals, in contravention to the principles of the party. While in some cases, this is willful disobedience to the directives of the leadership, in others this is because of lacking coordination. Arranging to improve the ability for cadres and unions to work together more effectively will enable the greater success of various initiatives and benefits for all the workers. Cost: -1 Influence, will anger Orthodox members of the SPA and the ASA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/75. Result: Beneficial traits for the SPA Cadres, improved efficacy of their actions.
Co-Operative Support Commission: With plans being made to centralize the economy and use state-controlled enterprises which will hopefully maintain their democratic character, worker-organized enterprises such as the farming co-ops and the factories directly seized by liberated workers must not be disadvantaged. To that end, a commission to subsidize, advise, and assist the co-ops and help keep them as viable alternatives to state-controlled enterprises. Cost: Will require investment of Influence, will anger Orthodox members of the SPA and the ASA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75/105. Result: Establish a democratically-elected commission empowered to support and advise co-ops with votes on structure and priorities.
Send Union Organizers To: While agitators can disrupt other political organizations and explain why you are better, to actually gain support of the kind that makes people spend blood and gold and sweat on your behalf requires a different approach. Establishing that takes time, but sending union organizers to an area can make for a start. In many ways, the risks these organizers take is even greater than that of the agitators, especially if there is sufficient hostility to socialism already. Some have literally been tarred and feathered...Cost: Risk to the lives and health of the organizers depending on where they are sent to. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Results: Write in an area (such as New York state, the Midwest, New Orleans, etc. The bigger it is, the more diffuse the impact) and gain temporary support there. Unlock actions for following up on the organization.
Union Donation Drive: Your income comes from party dues and a cut from the incomes of the unions that make up the CSA. And it is proving insufficient for all the demands placed on your party. Asking for additional voluntary donations on a one-time basis would help ease the strain and buy time for you to begin finding additional sources of revenue. And doing it once shouldn't make you look too bad. As long as you make it clear you are asking. Cost: Very low chance of loss of support or Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/110/120. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
Union Charities, Donations: The unions of the CSA have their own individual strike funds and incomes, used for various events. These funds are often rather significant in size, and could be used to supplement the charitable endeavors of the SPA. Doing so would ease the logistical strain providing for so many causes, but not every union is entirely dedicated to socialist ideals, especially not when it comes to the outsiders who will inevitably come seeking aid. Cost: Increased risk of corruption. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75. Result: +X Resources per month.
Union Charities, Fundraising: The unions of the CSA have their own individual strike funds and incomes, used for various events. These funds are often rather significant in size, and could be used to supplement the financial resources at your command through direct donations and holding fundraising events. It may somewhat aggravate your supporters, but as long as you are using the money for their benefit there won't be more than grumbling. Cost: A new mandate. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/120. Result: +X Resources per month. Gain support from the Teamster's Union.
Social Bonds: With the credit unions established, one immediate possibility to secure desperately needed funds is a simple scheme inspired by ones begun then abandoned during the Weltkrieg. Ask people to buy Labor Bonds, which can be redeemed at a later date for an amount equal to their purchase value. The money raised in the meantime can be put to use for any number of programs or initiatives. Cost: You will have to pay them back in a year. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50/75/100/110/120. Result: Large, one-time boost to Resources.
Mass Recruiting, Pt. 2: The sheer mass and organization of the working class gives you a potent tool for further empowering the American socialist cause. The overwhelming pro-SPA propaganda has begun countering the decades of mystification the American workers have undergone, but there are still many groups who stubbornly resist the tide of revolution. Some, such as the petty capitalists and highly-paid workers, need an explanation of the benefits of your cause. Some, such as reactionary churches, need to be exposed for the falsehoods they spread. But for some, financial and material incentives will be needed to secure their support, along with reminders as to the fate of class traitors. Cost: 6 Resources.Time: 3 months. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Further increase to size of the unions.
Mass Organization: With the unions growing in size on a daily basis, measures need to be taken to ensure the democratic control of the unions is maintained. Through vote-buying, carefully designed structures, and coercion, corrupt bosses maintain their positions, while other leadership figures openly advocate for reformism or racism. The Revolution will not succeed with dedicated leadership from dedicated syndicalists. The political fight caused by this will be long and bloody and painful, but it will secure your position in the party, hopefully without causing too much splintering or outcry. Cost: Significant losses of support from party factions and the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/100/160. Result: Grip on party politics strengthened, subvote, actions to follow up unlocked.
Medical Assistance: The economic dislocations are leading to constant grumbling, but for those who have taken control of their labor, the shortages and unpredictable prices are acceptable, especially since food and shelter and other such essentials are not too badly affected. But one matter of significance has been: many doctors are finding the prices of medication are rising, and many others have simply left for places they view as safer. It's not a crisis...yet. But it could become one if effective, decisive action is not taken soon. And of course decisive action is expensive action. Cost: -5 Resources, -3 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/45/70. Result: Hire doctors, improve the production of medicine, and make medical care easier to access for your urban supporters.
(3 Influence Committed) Socialist Markets: An alternate proposal, one popular among the more Orthodox wings of the party, is that workers at these facilities could be given labor vouchers representing the value of their work. These vouchers could then be exchanged for products at markets. The main difference between this and conventional finance is that the value of vouchers would be decided democratically and that they cannot be accumulated. Cost: Decrease in support and relations with the syndicalist wings of the SPA and CSA, 5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Increase in income, establishment of labor voucher-based markets in locations with a strong SPA presence. Gain of support and relations with orthodox wings of the SPA and CSA. Increase in economic efficiency. Reduced strength of the Center, increased strength of the Orthodox.
A Union Shop: Socialized stores have become common in Chicago as workers inspired by the strike or owners compelled by it create democratically run stores. Though mocked by some on the left and some in the more syndicalist wing as "market socialism" and accused of not removing the profit motive, even their strongest critics cannot deny they serve a useful person during this transitory phase. Begin encouraging local unions to establish shops along these lines, and ask for a small cut of the proceeds perhaps? The widespread establishment of these grows ever more vital as the toll of being forced to pay ridiculous fees for the use of capitalist's services and the inefficiencies of going without begin to take their toll. Cost: loss of support from TUUL and ASA, loss of relations with the Orthodox. 5 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 20/50/80. Result: Increase in income, establishment of market cooperatives in locations with a strong SPA presence. Gain of support from IWW, Teamster's Union, and Regional Unions, increased Relations and Strength for the Syndicalists. Increase in economic efficiency. Decrease in Strength of the Centrists.
Rationalize Production Schemes: With the vast number of factories seized, different product schematics, manufacturing methods, and research facilities are now in the property of the workers. Though some of the men responsible for the more cutting edge possibilities are reluctant to work with "filthy Reds," sufficient bribery has overcome such concerns. Begin working to integrate the best of each factory and develop further innovations to turn the existing industrial base into the greatest in the world! Cost: 4 Resources, -4 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Begin integrating the segmented knowledge and innovations of the various companies and improving on their work.
Arms Production: The Red Guards need more and better weapons. They need ammunition. They need grenades and uniforms. They need vehicles to transport them and fuel to supply them. An army is an incredibly difficult thing to supply, but you will need to support one. While you can't make anything heavier than mortars currently, small arms can be produced in significant quantities. It's time to start arming the forces of revolution so that they can match the foot soldiers of reaction and the servants of capital. Cost: 8 Resources, -6 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: 30/70/120. Result: Begin producing large quantities of weapons, Red Guards better armed and equipped, unlock new options to supply and train them.
Appoint an Outreach Manager: With efforts at denying you support growing in numbers and sophistication, you need to develop your advocacy among workers in response. From the imported Chinese scabs and desperate Okies of California to the suffering smallholder farmers of the Great Plains to the exploited miners and factory workers to the American heartland, there are millions just waiting to join your cause...if only they could be persuaded of their exploitations and educated of their class interests. Cost: Influence, loss of support in the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Appointment of a subordinate responsible for outreach and agitation, vote on how much to commit to them, potential gains in Support or Relations.
A Purge of the Bureaucracy: The byzantine bureaucracies of the CSA have decided to demonstrate their distaste for you. Fine. You will return the favor. You will gut them. Have them fired. Have them arrested. You are this close to having them shot. Every scrap of evidence suggesting corruption will be waved around, transformed by your pen and your presence into an unforgivable sin, and they'll be forced out. And trustworthy, loyal men will be put in their place. Cost: Political backlash, likely to weaken the capabilities of the CSA and upset a lot of people. Time: 1 month. Result: Remove Passive Bureaucratic Resistance.
Organizational Charts: The structure of the CSA's non-elected offices and departments and committees and commissions is a complete and utter mess. There are redundancies, there are fiefdoms ruled by petty tyrants, there are deliberately obtuse chains of command, all designed to protect and preserve unearned, unelected power. It's a great snarling knot, and it needs to be unraveled. So you will have your loyalists in the CSA begin tracing the structure, finding every scrap of information they can so you can plan an attack. Cost: Will further anger the bureaucrats. Time: 3 months. DC: 25/50/75/90. Result: Gain detailed understanding of the mess that is the CSA Bureaucracy.
Simplify the Structures: Instead of mapping a labyrinth, you could cut a knot. You have the votes, you have the support. You will spend some time designing a new structure that's more sane and effective. And then you will make it so. The parasites and corrupt bastards will retain positions and power, but they will have no way to hide now, and it should hopefully be more efficient since that's the purpose it will be designed for. Cost: Will further anger the bureaucrats. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/125/225. Result: Dramatically modify and simplify the structure of the CSA Bureaucracy.
Set Some Boundaries: You could also take a more peaceable approach to things. Crack down on a few of the worst cases, let a few of the more moderate ones slide, and then back off. They'll get the hint (you hope) and things will return to more or less a status quo...but now you are aware of the problem. And that means you will be halfway to solving it. Cost: Moderate increase/tolerance of corruption. Time: 3 months. DC: 40/80. Result: Remove Passive Bureaucratic Resistance.
Democratization: Yet another possibility is to force them to accept more democratic participation and oversight in their decision-making. It will doubtless be popular among many even as it will enrage the bureaucrats, but it will hopefully force them to stop playing silly buggers and tone down on the theft and double-dealing and backroom games. Hopefully. Cost: Will further anger the bureaucrats. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/???. Result: Hopefully remove Passive Bureaucratic Resistance and democratize the bureaucracy, increased support from the CSA.
Leave Them Their Fiefs: Finally, you could just leave well enough alone. Pull away, give them what they want. There will be costs in resources, time, and tears, but you just aren't in a position to handle another crisis. This can wait till after the revolution. Or until it's a little closer to it, anyway. Cost: Severe increase/tolerance of corruption. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Remove Passive Bureaucratic Resistance.
The Second Round of Seizures: The furor of seizures has by and large died down as the heat of summer wears on even the most dedicated socialist. And so many factories continue operating almost as they almost have, albeit with greatly empowered unions and the ever-present threat of Red Guards and Union Defense Committees should the workers be abused. But this status quo cannot be maintained, one class or another must triumph. Make sure it is the working class which will be victorious through seizing more factories. Cost: Backlash from others, will provoke reformists. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/75/130/190. Result: More factories seized, increase to income.
Take the Major Factories: The giants of industry have been left unscathed by the rise of socialism and syndicalism. Though powerful unions have squeezed the occasional penny from their grasp, the intense level of security and threat of direct government intervention has stayed the hands of the Red Guards from bringing the arsenal at Rock Island, the mighty automobile plants of Ford and Chrysler, and similar facilities into the grip of the working class. That can't be allowed any longer, no matter the price. Cost: Will provoke reformists, severe backlash, will cause an immediate reaction from the federal government. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/75/130/190. Result: More factories seized, increase to income, better equipped Red Guards, completely changes the economic game.
Clothing Distribution: As summer ends and fall begins, everyone braces in anticipation of another round of chilling winds. They won't come yet, but they are inevitable. And so the unions have made their demands: they want help funding clothing drives and organizing the distribution of enough wool sweaters and winter coats to ensure that no one will be freezing this winter. Thankfully, they have arranged for stocks of coal and wood to be gathered already, so at least you don't have to worry about that. Cost: 2 Resources, -1 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: 25. Result: Provide and distribute warm clothing.
Look Into the CSA, Token: While somewhat provocative, it would be quite reasonable to order an investigation into the CSA. It will temporarily damage capabilities as missing expertise is replaced, and may cause a negative response, but you find that to be very unlikely. Anti-corruption investigations are just an accepted part of the game. You won't get everything, but you will get enough to make future...reforms easier. Cost: Very slight risk of angering the bureaucrats, temporary maluses. Time: 1 month. DC: Special. Result: General slight improvements to actions and events, more Influence will have more impact, use of Gravitas will have a dramatic impact. Will make future anti-corruption actions slightly easier.
Look Into the CSA, Moderate: While somewhat provocative, it would be quite reasonable to order an investigation into the CSA. It will temporarily damage capabilities as missing expertise is replaced, and may cause a negative response, but you find that to be unlikely. Anti-corruption investigations are just an accepted part of the game. You won't get everything, but you will get enough to make future...reforms easier. Cost: Slight risk of angering the bureaucrats, moderate temporary maluses. Time: 2 months. DC: Special. Result: General improvements to actions and events, more Influence will have more impact, use of Gravitas will have a dramatic impact. Will make future anti-corruption actions easier.
Look Into the CSA, Serious: While somewhat provocative, it would be quite reasonable to order an investigation into the CSA. It will temporarily damage capabilities as missing expertise is replaced, and may cause a negative response, but you find that to be somewhat unlikely. Anti-corruption investigations are just an accepted part of the game. You won't get everything, but you will get enough to make future...reforms easier. Cost: Risk of angering the bureaucrats, severe temporary maluses. Time: 3 months. DC: Special. Result: Major general improvements to actions and events, more Influence will have more impact, use of Gravitas will have a dramatic impact. Will make future anti-corruption actions much easier.
Crime Prevention Units: There is endless unrest and crime in the cities. While the ordinary Red Guards do well enough in preventing it, along with the socialized police forces, they always have other priorities and other duties that need attending. Quite simply, there aren't enough of them. Many neighborhoods have taken to having patrols of unarmed individuals watching stores and streets, keeping theft down and handling other affairs such as public drunkenness or the occasional trouble caused by capitalists unwilling to accept the new order. Once more, it is a measure backed by the most libertine and the most conservative factions of the movement, one seeing it as a way to democratize law enforcement and the other as a tool for keeping order in increasingly chaotic neighborhoods. Cost: -0.5 Resources per month, ??? Time: 1 month. DC: 15/45/75/105. Result: A program of nonviolent neighborhood patrols is established.
Communication Networks: The telegraph and telephone networks are worked, at least in part, by some of the most intensely organized laborers in the nation. That power must be brought into the hands of the working class. While directly claiming all for the workers would immediately ignite a civil war, one in which public sympathy would be against us, we can begin leveraging the organization immediately for information and resources. Cost: Will cause backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/20/30. Result: Increase to income, better opportunities to find out about information.
Recruit the Labor Aristocracy: Doctors, engineers, professors, and more are exploited proles like the rest of us, but the relative rarity of their skills has helped convince them they have no need of our movement. But the America of today does not care where you got your medical degree, you are in the bread line just like us. Or perhaps fleeing in a falling-apart car, desperate for a safety that will never come. Reach out to those people and help bring them into the union, taking advantage of the varied levels of the labor vouchers and the growing polarization of the republic to persuade them that we are the ones they should side with...if only because their deaths are inevitable if they stand against us. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/95/150. Result: Recruit middle-class professionals into their own unions, seek support from doctors, engineers, and other professions.
Planning Transparency: The Planning Commission has published their goals and priorities, as well as the information they are using to make decisions, but that involves an immense amount of data and math and statistics. They might as well not have bothered, no worker or soldier or spy can make heads or tails of it. And that's not something that can be tolerated. True democracy requires information to be transparent and accessible. So you will make sure the Planning Commission publishes easily digestible summaries of their plans and their logic. Cost: Minor costs to CSA support, will annoy Schenk. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/45/90. Result: Ensure easily understandable summaries of the economic plans is available, gain more ability to influence the Planning Commission's decisions.
Voucher Printing: With the transition to vouchers beginning, there needs to be large numbers of vouchers that cannot be easily fabricated and record books to record the signatures. You have the factories, you have the pulp to make the paper and the ink to write on them. Let the production begin. Cost: 4 Resources, -2 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/80/120. Result: Begin large-scale production of vouchers and related supplies.
Empower the Chief of Staff: Butler has appointed Walter W. Waters, the commander of the Payment Army, a veteran of several US interventions, and a newly-come socialist to the office of his Chief of Staff. While relatively inexperienced, the man is popular among the Red Guards and other militias, especially with those who were in the military, and he's loyal to Butler. The choice has been broadly acceptable to the Combined Syndicates, but Waters has little influence among them except as a vehicle for Butler. Getting involved could change that, and help make the Red Guards more independent and more effective. Cost: Will require investment of Influence, possible political consequences. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/45/60. Result: Options to increase Butler's Influence and change his bonuses.
Create the Commission of Procurements: Butler is not an expert at logistics by his own admission. He has mostly left things up to the individual Red Guards units, only interfering with a few specific ones to make sure they have access to quality arms and ammunition. There have been many reasons for that, but it is time for things to change. The Commission of Procurements will be responsible for coordinating with the Planning Commision and the Red Guards to make them as well-equipped and supplied as possible so that they will be ready for the upcoming class war. Cost: Will require investment of Influence, possible political consequences. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/50/75. Result: Options to increase Butler's Influence and change his bonuses.
Establish Sporting Clubs: The wholesale purchase of firearms and ammunition by individuals draws attention. But sporting clubs, shooting ranges, and similar institutions doing so would not be a concern. Create a network of these companies as a means of subtly acquiring not just equipment for the Red Guards, but a way for them to train. Cost: 4 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/60/100. Result: Increased armaments for Red Guards, ease of training Red Guards increased, further actions to arm and equip Red Guards unlocked.
Arm the Police: In the cities where you control the government, the attitudes of the police have shifted dramatically. They are now proud and determined supporters of their fellow workers against the ravages of capital. While they will need further restructuring to truly socialize them, that will have to wait until after the revolution. For now, you must prepare to fight it. Taking measures to increase the discipline and armaments of friendly policing departments will strengthen your control of the cities. Cost: Loss of relations with the Anarchists, Syndicalists, and Parliamentarians. Time: 2 months. DC: 10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Street Medics: One of the tactics used by the heroes of the Shanghai Uprising was the establishment of street medics, noncombat members of the Left-KMT who helped keep injured members in the fight and provided aid and comfort before the soldiers of the Legation Cities resorted to bloodier measures. Implementing such measures could be useful...Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 2 months. DC: 40. Results: Red Guards gain street medics, help reduce casualties.
Acquire Explosives: The Syndintern has access to large stocks of a variety of explosives. In addition, there are many ways of making things that can blow up when you have access to vast amounts of industry. Begin stockpiling explosives for use in defensive or offensive actions, although giving them to inexperienced Red Guards could be risky. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/25/40. Result: Acquire small but growing and highly eclectic stockpiles of explosives.
Toll Fees: With your control of railways and the strength of your paramilitaries in many transportation hubs, you could easily gain substantial incomes by insisting on donations for those passing through, although you will need to make sure there are exceptions for those who already support you or who it would be dangerous to stop. Cost: Decrease in support among moderates, increase in corruption. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/35/75. Result: Increase to income.
Scab Intimidation: The scabs and reactionary militias are outnumbered, outgunned, and outclassed. This may change as refugees continue flowing into the cities and capitalists fund their running dogs, but for now you have the advantage, and you must seize it. The Red Guards will defeat and drive off these "self-defense groups" and "protectors of the American way" and "private security forces" and show them that they are as dust before the tides of history. Cost: Risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/?/?/?. Result: Reactionary militias and scab groups defeated and destroyed in areas you are strong.
Security Procedures: The protection of leadership is the duty of the Revolutionary Guard, but there are not enough of those brave men to protect everyone. So it will be up to the Red Guards to protect union halls and party offices. To do so successfully will require the development of better security procedures than standing outside the front door. Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 10/30/50. Result: Improved security for SPA facilities.
A Red Terror: The furthest fringe of the party, as disorganized and bloodthirsty as they are, does have a point. You have allowed reactionary militias to prosper in places, and the miners of Montana and the workers of New York City have both paid the price for it. In the Midwest and West Virginia, preachers thunder brimstone sermons and incite their followers to arms against you. Collapsing Klan remnants and their equally violent offspring cling to power in Indiana and Ohio and the Dakotas. And everywhere federal agents and police attempt to suppress the Revolutionary Spirit. It is time to cleanse your holdings of them. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/30/50/70/90/110/150/190. Result: Begin operations to shut down remnants of reactionary and capitalist military forces begin
Honor of the Regiment: One way to encourage good behavior of the Red Guards is to have that behavior reflect on something larger than themselves but more digestible than the syndicalist cause: their unit. Encouraging pride in the larger Red Guards groupings, the creation of distinct uniforms, and the utilization of unique symbology will hopefully create a spirit of socialist brotherhood between the members of the Red Guards groupings, and this spirit can be used through propaganda to make some of the more volatile individuals think twice. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Create larger Red Guards units with a greater sense of esprit de corps.
A Show of Strength: The furthest fringe of the party, as disorganized and bloodthirsty as they are, does have a point. Reactionary militias are growing bolder, feeling empowered by the collapse of order. Wherever you are weak, they grow powerful, and this cannot be tolerated. Striking a few of these groups, such as some of the Green Mountain Boys who live close to your stronghold, will let your point be made with relatively little bloodshed. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60/75/90. Result: Launch a few operations to attack some easy targets.
Create Oversight Committees: One thing the capitalist "democracy" of America got right was making sure the military is entirely controlled by the civilian government. While de jure this is true for the Red Guards, it is not always de facto. One way to fix this would be to create committees of mixed soldiers and civilians that severe misbehavior can be reported to and that would generally provide oversight and direction. This may well be a controversial effort, but it will definitely be popular with some segments. Cost: Loss of Relations with Totalists and Fosterites, loss of Support from TUUL, and the Teamster's Union, potentially upsetting to Red Guards Time: 3 months. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Create oversight committees, greater control over Red Guards, increase in support from ASA, IWW, and AFL-CIO, gain in Relations from every other faction.
Making Bankers Bleed: While most banks have collapsed under the strain of crisis and depression, several have been consolidated into larger enterprises that are more effectively able to withstand bank runs and anti-foreclosure efforts. But these banks have offices and vaults in cities throughout America, cities dominated by the Red Guards and friendly police forces. Steal their gold, destroy their paperwork, execute their corrupt leadership. Make them understand that there will be no place for men like Morgan and Fargo. Cost: Likely to provoke a severe reaction, loss of support from AFL-CIO and SPU, loss of Relations with the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/25/50/100. Result: One-time influx of Resources, records of debt destroyed, bourgeoisie terrorized.
Purchase More Arms: Relatively few arms factories were seized, but some were, and already Red Guards units have begun to benefit, but the acquisition of weapons for them is an often haphazard process and only a few units have even standard rifles. But it would be easy enough for larger quantities to be purchased and distributed so that the vast throngs of syndicalist soldiers have good guns and adequate ammunition. Cost: 5.5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/10/25. Result: Better-equipped Red Guards.
Distribute Trainers: There are only so many skilled, experienced veterans who can serve as a training cadre. While there are plenty of men who survived the Legation Wars and the various Latin American Interventions, only some of them are willing and able to assist you. But equally, there are only so many camps set up. One proposed alternative is to send the trainers to the Red Guards instead of the other way around. Cost: Somewhat weakens the training cadre. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/60/80. Result: Trainers dispersed, slow improvement in the Red Guards.
Raiding Reactionary Groups: The most powerful and organized reactionary groups have been identified. Their threat cannot be tolerated, and so it must be suppressed. They will be surrounded in their churches, attacked in their homes, arrested at their workplaces. They will be purged. Hopefully, the remainder will take the hint and cease being a thorn in our side, or we will have to purge them too. Cost: Possibility of provoking unrest, collateral damage, possible backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/60/80/120. Result: Attack and break up the most notable counterrevolutionary organizations identified previously.
A Central Command: There are always more reforms that need to be completed. And the next one Butler wants to work on is establishing some sort of central command and general staff for the entire Red Guards, or at least for the more professional components of it. Consisting of Butler, some other experienced soldiers, and...you'll need to figure out the rest. Should they be elected like other officers, or perhaps by the CSA? Or some combination thereof? Or maybe only the supreme commander should be elected, and he can decide who will be on his staff? It's going to be a tricky business. But it's an important one. Cost: May upset the CSA and the Red Guards. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/50/90. Result: Establish a unified central command for some/all of your paramilitaries.
Sending Weapons West: The workers of California, American and immigrant alike, have rallied against the economic and political tyranny of capitalist, liberal democracy. They deserve uncritical support in their struggle, and right now what they need most are guns and ammo. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/65/100. Result: Sneak meaningful quantities of weapons and ammunition into California
International Volunteers: The Syndintern has made their first request of you. The situation in South America is unstable. Chile is half-Syndicalist, there's unrest in the north and south of Brazil, and rumors of organizing farm workers in Argentina. And they need support and a demonstration of international solidarity. Sending volunteers from their hemisphere will do some good in that regard. Cost: 1 Resource, reduced effectiveness of Red Guards. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Increase in SyndIntern Relations. Vote on how many to send.
More Black Belt Volunteers: Though the battle for Kentucky seems to have been more-or-less won, and the Red Guards of Kansas are ready to take the state from the unpopular Army-backed regime, the Black Belt still struggles. Attacks on them are daily affairs, to say nothing of the horror stories that come from those who have fled to the Black Belt. The cities of the South see especially frequent and bloody violence that demands support for the anti-racist, capitalist, and populist struggle. So more men and women shall go south with red bands on their arms, rifles on their shoulders, and John Brown's Body on their lips. And their truth is marching on. Cost: Red Guards in one place cannot be in another. Risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Increased success in the battle in the South. Vote on how many to send.
Anti-Tank Tactics: A tank is a terrifying thing to face, you understand. Dozens of tons of armor and guns, treads that can crush you into pulp, a cannon that can shatter the walls and barricades soldiers hide behind. But they have weaknesses. They can be blinded by machine guns, suffocated by petrol bombs, shattered by explosives. They are not invulnerable, and those who fight for the cause of the workers must be shown how to destroy them. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??? Result: Begin devising anti-tank tactics and spreading them amongst the Red Guards.
Standards for Sergeants: The Red Guards are brave soldiers led by skilled officers, but Butler feels that they have several critical weaknesses. The lack of high command, the chaotic array of equipment, the relative vulnerability to casualties compared to a more traditional army are all serious problems. But perhaps the most important issue Butler has is how the role of noncommissioned officers is dealt with. Many Red Guards units do not have any sort of sergeant equivalent, while others have the office being elected. Which he feels is dangerous, as sergeants need to have a somewhat antagonistic relationship with the men under their command. "Sergeants have to be the hardasses," he tells you. What he wants is for sergeants to be appointed by the captain equivalents, which will hopefully serve as an adequate compromise between the democratic nature of the Red Guards and Butler's concerns. Cost: Likely to upset the CSA and elements of the Red Guards. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Institute reforms to establish appointed sergeants in the Red Guards.
Paramilitary Coordination: As the size of the Red Guards and their ideological diversity increased, the number of independent paramilitaries and splinters from larger forces increased. There are minority militias, local self-defense groups, the Union Defense Groups, armed brigades of anarchists and agrarian syndicalists, various extremely radical groups, and more. And with the occasional, temporary alliance with the Minutemen getting thrown into the mix too, something needs to be done before we have another Montgomery incident. Begin working to establish lines of coordination and communication between various aligned forces and the Red Guards as a whole. Cost: ??? Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??/???. Result: Begin instituting reforms to help coordinate different paramilitaries.
Judging the Judges: The attacks have ended, the vast majority of judges have been allowed to live. They sit in their courts with their arrogance undimmed, convinced they have escaped the consequences of their crimes. And they might well have, except they continue to obstruct the will of the people and defy the desires of the masses. The most obstinate and obscene will be arrested by Red Guards and put on trial. And their broken bodies will show the rest that they cannot rely on the capitalist state, not anymore. Cost: Likely to cause backlash, loss of support from the AFL-CIO, loss of Relations with the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/30/50. Result: Examples made of obstinate judges.
Commission for Culture: The Propaganda Committee has made some minimal investments into the fine arts and into various forms of entertainment, but people are rather hoping that there could be more. People have bandied about ideas about libraries of gramophone records, expanded dance halls, community made ornamental gardens, publicly organized art classes, and more. With your backing, a sub-department for the Committee could be organized to help improve the cultural richness of life for all workers. Cost: Will require investment of Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 5. Result: Change to Influence and bonuses of the Propaganda Committee.
Office of Communication: Control of radios, telegraphs, and telephones should rightfully be in the hands of workers. And it should be used to provide information and entertainment for the betterment of the workers, as well as helping to coordinate industrial and military efforts. Several members of the Combined Syndicates and the SPA wish to establish an office of communication to help organize, expand, and improve the telecommunications capabilities we have access to before the impending revolution begins. Cost: Will require investment of Influence. Time: 1 month. DC:15/30/45. Result: Create the Office of Communication as a subordinate.
Committee of Education: Education is undoubtedly vital. Americans today are largely brought up under a system designed to produce good capitalist workers. Only those wealthy enough to afford homeschooling and tutors can avoid exposing their children to such filth. There needs to be huge reforms to the educational system as a whole. Private, religious schools need to be transformed, educational discipline must be reformed, the content of history and economics at the very least must be revolutionized. Cost: Will require investment of Influence. Time: 1 month. DC:15/30/45. Result: Create the Committee of Education as a subordinate.
Christian Socialism: Most Americans are Christians, and despite the words of the Constitution it is widely considered a Christian nation. Given that many churches are staunchly opposed to socialism while socialism is just as staunchly secular, this could be troublesome. Fortunately, this Gordian knot can be cut rather easily. The concept of "Christian socialism" and claiming that Christ himself would be a socialist is simple enough, with ample support for this notion coming directly from the Bible. Combining this message with a few displays of piety will help reduce criticism from the pulpit, although significant portions of organized religion will doubtless remain hostile. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Anarchists, loss of support from Jews and other religions. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from Protestant Christians, increased ease of recruitment.
The American Revolution, Pt.2: The first connections are drawn, the first pieces of theory are created. Now it's time to poke holes in them and see where it doesn't hold up, either to your ideals or to reality. Your ideas are published, but now it's time to see how people have torn them apart so that you can make them better. Cost: Chance of loss of CSA support, chance of increased stress. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/120. Result: Refine the results of The American Revolution, Pt. 1
Organize Education: Education is a necessity for workers. Reading, writing, 'rithmetic, critical thinking and understanding history, the skills and knowledge so they can labor and explain why they labor, all these are vital. American schools are fundamentally capitalist institutions, but alternatives can be established. Cost: -3 Resources, -1 Resources per turn. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/25/50/100. Result: Create a system of cheap socialist private schools.
Public Libraries: While libraries are a common and immensely popular institution, they can be improved in a number of ways, from increasing the resources available to them to broadening the services provided to include rentable instruments and instruction programs. Many have advocated for them to provide even broader functions, seeing the library as a fundamentally socialist institution that should be expanded and supported wherever possible. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/70/100. Result: Improve the variety of services offered by libraries.
The Worker's School: There are many subjects not taught in great detail to the workers through the American education system. Leadership, management, socialist ideology...and of course anything behind the most basic parts of math, science, and history, not to mention various less immediately practical subjects. Creating schools for adults, or training wandering schoolteachers to help them, is yet another way to expand your influence and benefit the workers. Cost: 2 Resources, -1 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/70/105. Result: Establish schools for adult workers.
Photos for All: Photography is an incredibly powerful medium for displaying the impact of events upon people. The Dust Bowl, the Bleeding Midwest, the many deprivations and horrors caused by capitalism...and the triumphs wherever such things are fought would all make excellent subjects for photography. The camera can spread your message and make another potent tool in your arsenal. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Expanded use of photography in propaganda.
Propagandize Professionals: Doctors and lawyers and managers, all have been greatly affected by this latest crisis. More than a few have been forced into breadlines and soup kitchens alongside the workers they have once looked down on. Approaching them, convincing them to join their cause, will give you access to their skills, which are undeniably useful and valuable. Perhaps more importantly, the "middle-class" individuals who have fled in unnecessary terror are often the most fervent and dangerous opponents of syndicalism. Thousands have joined Anti-Syndicalist Associations and other organizations when they could have been saved. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: Begin propagandizing destitute professionals.
Pillory Capitalist Greed: The Reformists and the Federalists agree on one thing: capitalism is here to stay. They desperately seek to keep the same failing system, and they will spend as much blood as they need to in order to preserve their hierarchies and privileges. Capitalist greed is behind every death from want or violence since at least 1925. Politicians love to proclaim millions have died to syndicalism and revolutions. It is time to count the tally killed by capitalism and reaction. It is time to lay out the contradictions of capitalism and destroy any denial or defense. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Increase in general anti-capitalist propaganda.
Against the Opium: Religion has historically played a large role in American life, and the chaos of the Great Depression has led to something of a revival for its most unusual and esoteric branches. Many churches are strongly reactionary, offering pie in the sky for empty bellies on earth. And many are corrupt as well. Stephenson had pastors helping him, and reaping the sick "benefits" of his brutal actions. Publicize these sins, demand an accounting, and begin breaking the stranglehold of religion on American thought. Cost: 1 Resource, risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 50/100/150. Result: Increase in anti-church propaganda.
Radio Debates: One of the many potential uses of the new radio networks is to publicize debates between syndicalists and their opposition. The concept has attracted a great deal of interest, since such arguments were an important part of Lincoln's electoral victories. There is also a great deal of debate in how they are to be structured...Cost: Variable. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30. Result: Votes on how to structure the debates.
The Moral of the Story: The radio is also being popularly used for entertainment, and there is the occasional show you like to listen to in order to relax. There's no reason the SPA can't sponsor a few shows about bands of thieves stealing from robbers, the ordinary adventures of hard-working laborers, or perhaps a grand tale of an alien world wracked by civil war...Cost: 3 Resources, -2 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Create socialist-themed radio entertainment.
Public Life: The gardens have begun to bring people together who were formally separate: members of different tenant's unions now work together to turn an abandoned ruin into a fruitful garden, people from all walks of life relax in them when they can do so without interrupting work, and the recent arrivals and old hands can come together over an appreciation of fresh vegetables. This is a success worth building on. While people are adding to these gardens already, asking musicians to play by them or setting up benches and tables on the edge, or even segregating spaces for children to play, you could encourage this effort to spread thousands of miniature parks alongside the gardens to help encourage the entwining of various communities. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Expand community gardens with other (cheap) community activities and facilities, encourage interaction between different groups.
Challenge the Instability: The evident failures of bourgeois democracy are displayed before all of America. People have died because of these failures, thousands of them. They choked on dust created by capitalist mismanagement of the Great Plains. They died of crime the federal government allowed to flourish. And most damningly of all, they were massacred in multi-month clashes that have spanned the length and breadth of the nation. What sort of nation could accept this, what sort of system could allow this? And what alternative is there? All these questions are to be answered. Cost: 1 Resource, risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/10/15/30/45/60/90. Result: Condemn the failures of the United States government, explain why your proposal is a superior alternative. Gain popular support, especially from those who desire stability above all.
There is Power in a Union: Strength can be its own sort of comfort in dark and dangerous times. And you have strength aplenty. While there are many who might fear you, the alternatives are equally terrifying. Promise them protection, promise them safety as members of the CSA, promise them peace and stability, as much as can be gained. Cost: 1 Resource, risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/70/105. Result: Convince people to join you to protect themselves from various other threats.
Anti-Americanization: While the melting pot is a lovely concept, it also means that meaningful elements of various individual cultures are destroyed or appropriated. To resist such trends will require meaningful and long-term effort, but a start can be made through advocacy over the use of autonomy to establish holidays celebrating ancient customs and adding languages such as German, Yiddish, and Finnish to the days of schoolchildren so the tongues of their ancestry are not lost. Cost: 1 Resource, loss of support from socially conservative factions. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/20/30/60/90. Result: Agitate for expressions of local cultural heritage.
Street Theater: Work and labor are all well and good, but people need to relax and be entertained as well. And so entertainment shall be provided. Plays, skits, comedy groups, all shall be created. And of course, aside from the classic and common sorts of entertainment, some of it will have an edge to it as the entertainers seek to provoke thought and encourage the questioning of the current order. With some of the worst entertainers around encouraged to work on their craft, hopefully, new auditions will go better. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 20/53/84/100. Result: Establish small traveling syndicalist entertainment groups.
Youth Groups: Children are the future. They must be protected and nurtured and educated, given the tools they need to succeed in a world that changes more and more by the day. And if their parents can't care for them, there needs to be an alternative. An extension of the existing childcare institutions, informal practices, and an alternative to the Boy Scouts all in one has been proposed: The Young Worker's League (the name was chosen to avoid coming down on the syndicalist vs. socialist debate). The idea of establishing such a group has grown increasingly popular Cost: 1 Resource, -0.25 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45/75. Result: Establishment of youth groups and clubs.
Catholic Liberation: The Catholic church is a powerful reactionary force, particularly after the savage anti-clericalism of the Italian Revolution. But many of its adherents are syndicalists or at least progressives, and the Irish and Italian voting blocs have allowed themselves to be courted by the SPA despite unease from some segments of the party. Now it is time to take that relationship to the next step, and this begins by reducing anti-clerical tendencies in the party and presenting a face friendly to the Catholic church in theory, if not in practice. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Anarchists, Totalists, and Ultraleft Farmer-Labor, loss of support from Protestants. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from Catholics, increased ease of recruitment.
Anti-Olson Approaches: Olson has already begun working to secure his power base through the remains of the Progressive Party and Farmer-Labor, reaching out to Federal and even Longist groups to increase the strength of his reformist movement. Even with it's partial co-opting and the beginnings of splits within developing, his movement is a potential rival. And so it must be taken over or destroyed. Attacks on his character, attacks on his politics, attacks on his record, any and all will be used to dismantle his support. His allies will not be spared either. Cost: Increased tensions with the Progressives and Longists, increased hostility with reformists. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/60/75. Result: Decreased support for reformism.
Against All Racism: Racism is not something you will tolerate, nor is it acceptable to the CSA. While proclamations can only have so much impact, it is worthwhile to make them, especially if they can be followed up by action. But simply speaking against it will count for something. Cost: Decreased support from the IWW MM. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/60/105. Result: Racism and discrimination are condemned, chance of action being taken independently of you.
Encourage New Seizures: There will be no cowardice in the SPA. You are seizing factories because the system they operate under is inherently unjust, and the workers of the world will be rectifying that. And if you don't like it, stay out of their way. Rally the workers to your banner, radicalize them, and go forth! Take the means of production, for the Revolution nears every day! Cost: Very provocative. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/45/65. Result: Increased support and radicalization within the party, more enthusiasm for seizing factories and other facilities.
The Growing Pie: Yet another possible propaganda angle to approach would be the economic benefits of syndicalism. When all the workers are united and capitalist and banker leeches are no longer siphoning off the hard-earned profits of the workers for their own ends, we can expand the amount of wealth and industry for all, no matter their color or faith or place of origin. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Begin spreading propaganda about the economic benefits of syndicalism and socialism.
Religious Freedom: While you will not go so far as to demand the inclusion of religious symbology and rhetoric into the propaganda of the SPA, you will make it clear that you stand unswervingly for religious freedom. Many workers share many faiths, from Catholicism to Episcopalianism to Baptism, to say nothing of the minority religions of the country. And you promise that none shall be oppressed or suppressed. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/120. Result: Begin spreading propaganda in favor of religious freedom and tolerance, hopefully countering the rumors describing you as a bunch of church-burning lunatics.
Painting a Picture: The museums and art galleries now only operate with the approval of Red Guards and have been opened to all. But the collections of the rich still shelter within their mansions. Bring them out, let there be art for all the people. And let work be done on creating new art, on sculptures showing the unity of the people and paintings showing the future of socialism. Cost: 0.5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/35/70. Result: Bring art galleries, private collections, etc. under worker control, begin developing socialist-themed works of entertainment.
Speeches on the Ground: There are many who hesitate and vacillate, who fear what socialism will mean. They have seen undisciplined bands of Red Guards exacting "taxes" and heard of merciless slaughters of wedding parties and church groups. They worry about how the means of production will be seized and what the social revolution will entail. Some degree of concern is understandable of course. They labor under capitalist realism and mystification. So they need to be reassured. Let them talk to dedicated socialists, let them hear that their concerns are meaningless. Surely many of them will become good syndicalists and socialists once their fears are assuaged. And if not...well, that can be dealt with too. Cost: 1.5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 60/95/130/170. Result: Create and spread large amounts of propaganda, aim it at those scared at the prospect of revolution with the goal of reassuring them.
Attack the Selfish: Selfism behavior and profiteering is not acceptable, but it has continued. Middlemen charging outrageous prices, foremen and union leaders abusing their positions, farmers trying to take advantage of the famine, thieves and criminals and racketeers, corrupt bureaucrats stealing and skimming. It cannot be tolerated, it cannot be allowed. Begin a campaign encouraging boycotts, rejection, and reporting of those who engage in such antisocial behavior. Target the bureaucracy, target the criminals, target the profiteers, target the corrupt, target the hostile co-ops, and leave no stone unturned. Cost: 1.5 Resources, will upset a lot of people. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/45/80/120. Result: Begin massive anti-corruption campaign, attacking it on all vectors.
Condemn Cowardice: There can be no half-measures, no limp, tentative reforms. So long as capital holds power in this country, the workers will not be safe. Rumors of collaboration between the rich and poor for the sake of stability, whispers of compromise, none of it will matter. In a few years all that hard work will be rolled back and the gains of the worker's movement will be lost, unless they are set in stone. And so nothing less can be tolerated. And that must be made clear. Cost: 1 Resource, will upset some people. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/80/105. Result: Begin anti-reformism propaganda campaign.
Political Cartoons: In many newspapers, there are mocking cartoons with labels and captions showing the author's opinion on various events. In recent months, a common motif is a ship sailing through dangerous waters. They are quick, easy to understand, and popular. And it's time to have some of your own...or some more of your own, anyway. They can be part of newspapers or posters or pamphlets, they can be everywhere. Cost: 1 Resource, -0.5 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/45/65. Result: Create lots of political cartoons and hire lots of political cartoonists.
Educational Articles: The news is meant to inform. It can also be used to educate. Short columns can be included on science and history, but they can also include, and will also include, theory. Short, easily digestible chunks of theory for the casual reader. Hopefully it can be made to work, you can't imagine how someone would make Das Kapital easy to understand. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/60/80. Result: Begin publishing short, understandable, educational articles on various subjects including politics and economics.
Editorial Control: With the growing power of the newspapers, you need to make sure that the editorials demonstrate correct attitudes. Tighten your control over their offices, set firmer standards for what can be said, create a mandatory list of topics to be discussed at least once a month to help shape public discourse. The power of the written word will help bring about the Revolution, so long as it is used properly. Cost: 1 Resource, minor loss of Relations with the Anarchists. Time: 1 month. DC: 15. Result: Gain ability to set tighter editorial standards, including a free action to have a topic be discussed and emphasized for a month.
Limited Editorial Control: With the growing power of the newspapers, you need to make sure that the editorials demonstrate correct attitudes. Tighten your control over their offices, set firmer standards for what can be said, create a mandatory list of topics to be discussed at least once a month to help shape public discourse. The power of the written word will help bring about the Revolution, so long as it is used properly. And to make sure you are using it properly, you will ensure this control is limited only to official SPA newspapers and not the many more that align to you. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 15. Result: Gain ability to set tighter editorial standards for SPA newspapers, including a free action to have a topic be discussed and emphasized for a month. This will have a lesser impact than the version in Editorial Control.
Demonstrations of Force: With an accommodation having been reached with the Fix-the-Price movement,the plan for using propaganda to emphasize the prowess and power of the Red Guards has been modified. Instead, it will be targeting the increasingly bold reactionary fifth columns within the Steel Belt to impress upon them the fact that they would be wise to not stand in the path of history, lest they be crushed beneath it's wheels. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/125/150. Result: Produce propaganda emphasizing the strength of the Red Guards to intimidate reactionaries.
Minorities in the Spotlight: American culture has long relegated colored individuals to sideshow rolls at best. At worst, they have been made subjects of mockery and abuse in the media, such as in blackface minstrel shows. That is a narrative that must be corrected, through showing colored characters as capable heroes in their own right and through encouraging colored authors to tell their stories. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/70/105. Result: Encourage the work of colored creators, and the use of colored characters in roles they would not ordinarily have.
Women Heroes: American culture has long kept female characters to a few, narrowly defined roles, all solely important for their relationship to the obviously much more important male character. That is a narrative that must be corrected, through showing female characters as capable heroes in their own right and through encouraging women authors to tell their stories. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/80/110. Result: Encourage the work of women creators, and the use of female characters in roles they would not ordinarily have.
Widespread Childcare: The earlier childcare initiatives have been left to languish, and many women have complained and protested about it. While there have been some reforms to make the various improvised institutions more efficient, it has been considered a lesser priority. But the recent conferences have led to an internal shift. Though many ask what's wrong with typical parenting methods, proponents of women's liberation note that for women to be equal, they must not be burdened by being the perpetual caretaker of children, that they must be able to work without the distraction of changing diapers. Push for the adoption of more widespread childcare institutions, including after-school care, organized daycares, childcare facilities attached to factories, and more. Some are even proposing more exotic things such as creches for children. Cost: 3 Resources, -1 Resources per month, loss of Relations with Parliamentarians and Ultraleft Farmer-Labor, loss of support from the AFL-CIO, the Teamster's Union, the Regional Unions, the TUUL, and the IWW MM. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75/125. Result: Create and support a wide variety of childcare institutions.
Encourage Political Representation: American politics have generally kept out minorities and women wherever possible. There is the occasional rare exception, but the vast majority of American politicians are white men. Even having a scrap of nonwhite blood is enough to cause many to turn against a politician - Charles Curtis faced several obstacles over his indigenous blood during his nomination for the Vice Presidential position recently. And that's just not good enough. Women make up half the population, black people make up a significant minority. They deserve better representation. Cost: 2 Resources, loss of Relations with Parliamentarians and Ultraleft Farmer-Labor, loss of support from the AFL-CIO, the Teamster's Union, the Regional Unions, the TUUL, and the IWW MM. Time: 3 months. DC: 50/75/125. Result: Sponsor minority and female politicians, help support their rise to power.
Look for the Helpers: People like to be made to feel good, especially as their country falls apart around them and reactionary forces grow increasingly violent and unhinged. Stories of the simple good deeds people are capable of can warm even the coldest heart...and there's a propaganda benefit to spreading these tales if the right emphasis is given. The right emphasis being on who is doing these good deeds. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45. Result: Slight increase in morale and popular support.
Assurances of Moderation: A lot of people have gotten up in arms about the pace of the social and economic changes you are introducing. It's seeing a sharp increase in resistance to you and to the ideals of socialism, even among many who would benefit the most from the total transformation of society. Well, as much as it pains you to give any concession to the reactionaries, further unrest in the Steel Belt is the last thing you need right now. So you'll make some soothing noises and calm the stubborn fools and just keep on going as you were, and they will do the same, assured that you aren't going that fast. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 35/105/185. Result: Sharp increase in popular support.
Dancing and Distractions: Life is growing increasingly grim in the American Maelstrom. (People are coming up with all these lovely names for it!) And as the vanguard of the working class, it is your responsibility to succor their spirits as well as their bodies, without requiring such counterrevolutionary distractions as churches or synagogues. Instead, people will be given the opportunity to distract and entertain themselves with dances and other amusing social activities. Seize the means of fun along with the means of production! Cost: 1 Resource, -0.25 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/70. Result: Create a program of SPA-sponsored dances and other social events.
Domestic Equality: You will freely confess that you tend to expect your wife to do most of the cooking and the cleaning. She has pushed you to do more, and you have increased your share, but it is still less than half. And you are far from the only one. It's unequal, it's unfair, and it's frankly moronic. There is no good reason for men to be unable to do laundry or to cook, and if they can do such tasks, then they should do them. Equality demands nothing less. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/35/50. Result: Create propaganda encouraging men to take up their share of domestic chores.
The Democratic Standard: The nature of bourgeois democracy is that it is full of undemocratic systems. The Senate, the courts, the House districts, and the Electoral College are just a few of the many examples in America. And none of them belong. It is not just, it is not free, it is not right to have any such system. Fortunately, it is possible to see the Constitution changed. Begin insisting it should be, and advocating for that transformation, through methods either peaceful or violent. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60/100. Result: Create propaganda attacking undemocratic systems and demanding change.
Target the Populists: The worst excess of the capitalist system are the National Populists, sadistic and psychotic murderers who are determined to kill and slaughter until they have their mad oligarchy. They are unrepentant white supremacists. They are dedicated anti-syndicalists. There is not a single redeeming trait among any of them. They must be purged from our nation before we can have a successful revolution, and they must be reviled and hounded from sea to shining sea. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/35/50/75/100. Result: Anti-National Popular Front propaganda is produced and distributed.
Poach the Democrats: The lines in the Democratic party are hardening as they find themselves pulled in so many directions. Some find themselves attracted to Huey Long's populism, others the Dixiecrats' savage racism. Still, others are shifting to the Progressives, to the remnants of Farmer-Labor...but there aren't many left who are willing to join a revolutionary party. It will take quite a bit to find those who will. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 65/110/160. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Working With Republicans: The Republican party is uniquely pro-business, even more so than the Democrats. But they are also the party of Lincoln, and many of the more progressive Republicans have been applauding your efforts on desegregation, especially once they realize it had actual popularity. They might well be willing to join you to support your efforts, and join the party...as long as they don't fear revolution. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 65/110/160. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Peel Them Off: The broad anti-syndicalist coalition cannot easily be defeated, but any big tent will leave some out in the rain. Try and push smaller reform bills targeted at specific segments of that coalition and persuade them to join you in the hopes of stealing their momentum or getting a useful club to swing at them when they finally produce their big bill. Cost: Unknown. Time: 2 months. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Pass some minor reform bills, break up the reformist coalition somewhat.
Co-Opt the Machines: While the political machines in SPA-controlled areas have been dismantled thoroughly, some yet remain. Halt their gradual dismantlement and co-opt them into your service instead, helping you gain votes in some contested towns and cities. Of course, embracing them means embracing their shadier side as well. Cost: Increase in corruption, risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/25/30/45. Result: Increase in popular support, the Teamster's Union likes it.
Sewer Socialism: American infrastructure is doing...poorly. Neglect and violence has led to bridges beginning to crumble, railways needing repair, and roads vanishing from dust and rain. The repairs will be costly and take a long time, but they can begin relatively simply by passing some spending bills in SPA-controlled states. Adjustments can be made to the infrastructure for the benefit of the workers, as well. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Infrastructure development begins.
More Political Grandstanding: With Capitol Hill effectively dead due to the sheer dysfunction, now it is time to turn the Senate and House seats you control into bully pulpits. In committee and on the floor, you and yours will go on the attack through speeches and shouts. This is not a bid for passing a bill or an attempt to whip up some political support. This is an attempt to expose the social, economic, and political order of the United States as the blood-soaked horror it is from the very top. It has begun, now let's keep it going until the Capitol falls apart on its own. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 55/135/170. Result: Increase in popular support, the humiliation of all your political opposition.
Demand Non-Intervention: Rumors of another US Army intervention in South America are spreading as well, provoking discontent and anger from everyone. These rumors are almost certainly false, even MacArthur has said so with his typical arrogance and utter lack of tact. But you can force the US to officially commit to a policy of non-intervention. This will likely result in a pullback of US support for several South and Central American juntas and boost your popularity among isolationists with broad support. But even with as much hostility to the idea of intervention, it will take a great deal of effort to pass. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 70/120. Result: Anti-intervention bill passed with broad support from several parties.
Patronage Networks: Patronage is a reality of any political system, no matter how reformers rail against it. It has even begun popping up in the newly cleansed state bureaucracies, to say nothing of unions or the small-town governments on your side. So it must be dealt with and used to your advantage. Beginning to create and use these networks will also allow you to have at least a degree of control...which means you will be one making bargains with slimy bastards. Joy. Cost: Stress, increase to corruption. Time: 1 month. DC: 15. Result: Increase to support in the CSA, increase to support from the Teamster's Union, slight increase to popular support. Enhances effects of Assistants Adjustment
Anti-Corruption Agencies: Corruption is a double-edged sword, and one that could cut you deeply. It is time to start taking measures to protect yourself, first by beginning to work with state governments to establish organizations that will purge corruption within elected and unelected offices...and making sure these organizations are resistant to the lure of corruption themselves. Cost: Slight loss of support in the CSA, slight decrease to support from the Teamster's Union, angers the bureaucrats. Time: 3 months. DC: 30/60/90/120. Result: Slight increase in popular support, slight reduction in corruption, further actions for reducing it unlocked.
Local Autonomy Programs: The first implementation of the principles of local autonomy will begin. A relatively simple set of legislation will be passed, allowing school districts to choose to have optional "Cultural Enrichment" classes where students will learn the language, history, and traditions of their ancestors and granting municipalities permission to have local paperwork and signage in any language they desire, so long as English is also prominently available. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/25/50. Result: The first beginnings of local cultural autonomy.
Strengthen the Justifications: With flimsy laws providing flimsier protection, it's clear they need to be fixed. Though fierce opposition has begun rallying, with everything from filibusters to bribery to harassment being attempted to keep the seizures from having actual legal justification. There are even threats of the army being called in to restore order, threats that are not followed through on only because of the fear of a full-on civil war. Strengthen the justifications, encourage the seizures, and prepare for the class war. Cost: Minor losses in CSA support. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/70/105. Result: The legal basis for factory seizure is strengthened.
State Police Forces: With the National Guards hampered, there are other potential forces that could be used to suppress us...or used to crush reactionaries. To that end, the state police forces will be secured, their leadership replaced with trusted syndicalists, Red Guards will be hired, and they will be shifted to being under Congressional influence even as their arms are improved and their procedures revamped. Cost: Possible backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/120. Result: State police forces have their loyalty secured.
Strengthen Your Political Control: The halls of Congress are filled with your allies and fellow socialists alike, forming a strong and united bloc. Or so it seems. In truth, the arguing and infighting routinely takes up hours, even with Norman working to shield you from the worst of it. With controversial legislation on the horizon, you need to tamp down on it and make your bloc in Congress truly a united front that will never break. Cost: Likely backlash, -1 Gravitas, probable loss of support in the CSA, loss of Relations with the Anarchists, the Centrists, and the Parliamentarians. Time: 3 months. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Tighter control over SPA and allied politicians, Norman Thomas gains +1 Influence, 1 less Influence committed to Norman Thomas.
The Next Steps: To truly end white supremacy in America will require a sea change on every level of culture, something you are only toddling in the right direction for given the infrastructure it will require. However, you can work at repairing some of the damage. A second series of laws can be passed, giving educational benefits to colored people, offering them low-interest loans so they can purchase housing and improve their economic security, and push for their integration into government offices. Cost: Likely popular backlash, probable minor losses of support in the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/70/105. Result: Pass a series of state laws designed to eliminate the economic damage of Jim Crow and slavery.
Legal Offenses: The federal government and the so-called National Popular Front have been relying on increasingly threadbare legal covers for many heinous acts, including the recent deployment of armed and bloodthirsty troops upon American soil at the behest of their masters, the suppression of various publications, and harassment upon union organizers and Longist advocates. It's time for our day in court. Sue them for these violations, take active roles in the legal defense of those they falsely accuse and arrest, use the courts they rely on to shatter their legitimacy. Soon they'll only have their final argument left, and we'll beat that one too. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Arrange for legal experts to begin attacking the federal government and capitalist system in the courts, and to take action to legally defend the falsely accused.
The Women's Bill of Rights: Just as the laws of this nation favor white men over black, they favor men over women. While women legally have the right to vote and some other privileges, a great many they should have are denied to them, including important limitations in their property and divorce rights. Though some may rage and riot at this, their opinion does not matter. Man and woman are going to be equal before the law in every respect imaginable, you intend to make sure of it. Cost: Likely popular backlash, probable minor losses of support in the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/70/90/115. Result: Pass a series of state laws granting equal civil, political, and religious rights to women.
Immigration and Refugees: The state of West Virginia has recently passed a law designed to assist immigrants in earning citizenship and settling into their new life, along with declaring themselves to be wholly open to any refugee who can make it. In the law, they listed Africans, the Irish, Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Jews, and "other Asiatics." It's a splendid law, one which the legislators received much acclaim for, and some other state legislatures are murmuring about doing the same. Throw your weight behind it and encourage as many states as possible to adapt such transformative laws, no matter what objections some might have. Cost: Likely popular backlash, probable minor losses of support in the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/90. Result: Pass a series of state laws designed to protect immigrants and encourage refugees to come.
Policing Reform: As the months wear on, there has been a steady increase in crime and reactionary activity, such as protests against civil rights and attempts at electing anti-worker candidates. The current policing system of purely local, democratically managed patrols has begun encountering limitations. To that end, proposals have been made such as the establishment of requirements for some basic education for those who would be police and the creation of a more professional group to provide forensic and investigative support. Cost: Internally controversial, may cause an external backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/45/90/120. Result: Pass a series of laws designed to improve the effectiveness of police.
(2 Norman Thomas Influence Committed) Write the Bigger Bill: You now have the entire text of the as-written bill Olson and Roosevelt and others are planning on introducing. You could attack it and tear it down, but instead you are going to take the high road (the popular path) and outflank it. Every reform it offers, you will make it better. Every trap and snare they have in their wording, you will dismantle. It will take time, and you will have to decide just how extreme you can afford to go with this law, but it will be worth the effort you need to put in to steal the greatest weapon of the reformists and use it against them. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75. Result: Begin writing your own major federal reform bill.
The New Education Bill: Segments of the SPA have grown increasingly strident in their demands for education reform. They are no longer satisfied with changes external to the official public school. They are demanding comprehensive and complete educational reform...and they are absolutely right to do so. It's just that there's quite a bit going on already, and no one can agree on what the new curriculum will be like...but perhaps one of your subordinates will take things on themselves. There's only so much you can do. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Create comprehensive education reform bill in SPA-controlled states, may not be uniform. General increase in CSA support, especially the IWW MM and the AFL-CIO.
Single-House Reforms: The machinery of state is autocratic and oppressive, but with great struggle and sacrifice it can be turned to the benefit of the worker. While economic and social reforms are ongoing endlessly, one area of change that has been neglected is the political sphere. Making recall elections for the lower houses easier and completely eliminating the upper house will go a long way to correcting that. Since that will require changing constitutions, it will not be as easy to accomplish as one would hope, but it is a start. Cost: Politically controversial. Time: 2 months. DC: 65/160. Result: Constitutional reforms in several states to eliminate their upper houses and make recall elections easier.
Judicial Replacement: The ever-reactionary judicial branch relies on its total lack of democratic accountability and insulation from the impact of its decisions to enable judges to break strikes, steal land, shatter lives, and overturn popular laws. The SPA has mostly relied on intimidation, persuasion, and the occasional execution to keep them in check, but many courtrooms are sporting increased guards of federal thugs and their black-robed thieves are growing bold once more. The mechanisms of many state governments have been almost entirely captured by the SPA however, and so the structure of the court can be transformed. Cost: Politically controversial. Time: 2 months. DC: 75/180. Result: Constitutional reforms in several states to make judge an elected position, limit their terms, and other modifications designed to purge the branch of reactionaries and make them more democratically accountable.
Abstentionist Politics: The federal government must be denied legitimacy in the eyes of our supporters to ensure they will not hesitate when the time comes. Already, MacArthur and the other instruments of capital have shaken American's faith in the government, particularly with the dubious legality of the occupation of Kansas and the presence of Marines and other military forces in a dozen states and cities. Withdraw from government until those occupations end and the military ceases interfering with the function of state. American distrust of the military is strong, perhaps it is stronger than the fear of syndicalism, but among those who support you this will be lauded. And it will be devastating to the efforts of any coalition who will try to pass bills without you. Cost: Politically controversial, will anger the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90/150. Result: Withdraw from participation within the federal government and further attack its legitimacy.
Executive Power: The current structure of the state governments means that anything the Planning Commission needs done by a government must go through the complete legislative process, one where hostile senators can delay or water down the resulting motion, as happened in New York and Montana. There's no good reason for it, a simple bill would shift that power from the legislative branch to somewhere reactionaries have less influence. Cost: Politically controversial. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/75/115. Result: Make the process of the Planning Commission working with the state governments more efficient.
Domestic Subsidies: Broad-based investments in state-owned and worker-controlled enterprises will help them grow. Similar investments in the people will help them grow, assuaging fears of hunger or homelessness, raising the quality of life, and bluntly it's the right thing to do. Cost: Expensive. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Expand welfare and subsidies in states controlled by the SPA.
Health and Healing: Even as food grows more affordable and housing more reliable, as crime is reduced and safety ensured, there is still disease and injuries, and good healthcare is hard to come by. Working with existing organizations for doctors and nurses where possible and overruling them elsewhere, perhaps some organized, democratically run system of cheaper healthcare can be created. Cost: Expensive. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Create state healthcare organizations in states controlled by the SPA.
Housing Under the State: The Planning Commission has concerns about the amount of housing they will need to construct, but are gamely working on a plan to address such issues, and the Cadres, working together with unionized construction companies, have done plenty as well. But there are always more who need roofs over their heads and walls to keep out the cold. Cost: Expensive. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Expand state-managed housing construction in states controlled by the SPA.
The Legacy of John Brown: John Brown was a revolutionary martyr who fought for freedom. Abraham Lincoln sought to bring freedom to the enslaved. They would support you in your struggle to bring liberation to all. You will insist on it. You will quote them to say so. You might have to be a bit selective in doing so, but it won't matter. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 5. Result: Increased efficacy of The American Revolution actions.
A Socialist Structure, Pt. 1: How will the economy work? Will currency be abolished? How will you ensure racial equality? Though there are examples to look forward to from Britain and France, you will need to begin creating your own answers to these questions. Plans must be made, although they will be by necessity vague. But creating the most basic framework for what form American socialism will take will help ease your path forward. Cost: Probable loss of relations, chance of reduced support in the CSA based on the decisions. Time: 4 months. DC: 0. Result: Begin coming up with a more detailed roadmap for socialist America, begin unlocking actions to create small-scale imitations/programs related to this.
Judicial Reform: One of the matters most clamored for is judicial reform. The American justice system is incredibly corrupt, designed to allow the wealthy to skate away from criminal cases and lawsuits with equal ease, and the courts have long been a tool to prevent workers from liberating themselves. Lawyers, judges, juries...all will need replacement, reform, or renovation come the Revolution. Begin working out alternatives. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Begin coming up with a multitude of options for judicial reform.
Against the Socialism of Fools: Anti-Semitism is a virulent problem in this country. Father Coughlin spews anti-Semitic bile, many claim Jews are behind every problem and especially the syndicalists, even some of your party members and unionized workers mislike them. Countering these narratives may cost, but it is a worthy effort. Cost: Unpopular with social conservatives. Loss in Relations with Ultraleft Farmer-Labor and the Parliamentarians. Chance of further losses Time: 1 month. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Counter anti-Semitic narratives, increase in support from Jews, small chance of increase in support.
Relations with Reservations: There are scattered Native American reservations across the country, full of people who haven't been citizens until recently, who have been forced off their homes and into desolate places, who have had their history and culture defaced and desecrated. In many ways, the imperialism and colonialism inflicted upon them is America's first sin. You don't know what they want, you don't know what they need. You will have to begin asking those questions. Cost: Unpopular with social conservatives. Loss in Relations with Ultraleft Farmer-Labor and the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Increase in support from IWW MA and Regional Unions, increase in Relations with Syndicalists and Orthodox factions, begin developing a roadmap for justice for Native Americans.
Help for Hispanics: As the SPA grows in influence in the American Southwest, awareness of the historical mistreatment the Hispanic population of the United States has endured. Just as with the Native Americans and the colored populations, you need to open a dialogue with these groups. Cost: Unpopular with social conservatives. Loss in Relations with Ultraleft Farmer-Labor and the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Increase in support from IWW MA and Regional Unions, increase in Relations with Syndicalists and Orthodox factions, begin developing a roadmap for justice for Hispanic Americans.
(1 Influence Committed) Develop a Radicalization Pipeline: The newest unions are staunchly conservative on social and economic issues. Advocating for better wages and shorter hours seems to be a step too far for many, let alone more unusual proposals like requiring factories to have childcare facilities and compensation for injuries or outright revolution. While the Great Depression has affected them, and they have heard of the various horrors inflicted upon workers by the government, both matters are distant to them. The cruelties of capitalism need to be brought home to them. They need to be persuaded that there must be a revolution. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Begin developing strategies for en masse radicalization.
Create a Curriculum: For a socialist school system to exist, there must be a socialist curriculum, Having students elect their teachers seems faintly ridiculous, but there can be other ways for them to be exposed to the SPA's ideals from a young age, and there should certainly be a different emphasis on what is taught. No gender divide for one. There's also the subject matter that must be transformed, including the complete revamping of any history or civics-related classes, potential integration into the Young Worker's League...so much to do, so little time. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Creation of curriculum, improved results and lowered difficulty for other education reform actions.
Create an Educational Program: It's not just the subject matter that needs to be changed. The entire American school system is set up to train and educate cogs in a machine. It's gender-segregated, teachers are encouraged to harshly punish students, and there is rampant abuse of power. All of that will need to be changed. Somehow. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Begin designing an education program, improved results and lowered difficulty for other education reform actions.
Justice and Violence: Violence is one of the eternal topics people argue about. When is it acceptable, why is it acceptable, what limits should there be? Some proclaim it all equally abhorrent, others insist it is always necessary. The SPA has an ample variety of attitudes, some of which are counterproductive. The cowardice of the SPU and the bloodthirst of the Fosterites both threaten the revolution. The correct course is obviously somewhere in between the extremes: self-defense is obviously acceptable, and so is violence in the pursuit of justice, but you must decide where the lines are...and when they should be crossed. Cost: Varies. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Decide what sorts of violence are acceptable and when, develop a more defined thesis on it.
Appoint a Committee of Ideology: This will be a contentious group whose arguments will echo throughout the party, but those arguments will be necessary for the building of a true socialist state. Economy, law, social organization, the role of religion and race, the question of minorities, internationalism, centralism, federalism, and councilism...all these things need to be discussed. And you don't have the time to do it, so you will have to get other people to do it for you. Cost: Likely to decrease the Strength of the Center, will occasionally make decisions you don't like. Will have to commit Influence and Gravitas. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Create subordinate to handle various Intellectual actions, vote on how much to commit.
Linguistic Reform: While colored people seem to consider colored an acceptable term to describe them, it has been brought to your attention that a couple common forms of language used regarding them are considered demeaning. Similarly, several women have argued that language should be modified to remove many unreasonable gendered components. The most prominent example is "man" referring exclusively to the male sex and humanity as a whole, but there are others. Apparently. Cost: May seriously upset social conservatives and moderates. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/65/100. Result: Begin propagating language reforms, votes on which to choose.
The Nature of an Economy: An economy is a vast, interconnected thing. Raw goods feed factories, factories make products. Value is traded and bought and sold and stolen in ten thousand different forms. Debt is passed around, intangible pieces of tangible things are speculated on and traded. The American one has been utterly stagnant. Goods are produced but not sold, factories stand empty, skyscrapers rust. Food is too cheap to grow and too expensive to sell. Marx and other leftist theories have written voluminous texts on the topic of capitalism's economy and the changes socialism will make, syndicalism has demonstrated the power of a worker-owned economy in action, but it is time to consider the American approach to left-wing economics. Cost: You are going to upset people. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/45/90/135/170. Result: Create a unified SPA proposal for a future economy, which you are most definitely not planning to install after you overthrow the existing US government, honest.
The Important Intersection: The concept of intersectionality has been bandied out a time or two, but no one has really tried to codify it and push it out to the broader party. The idea is a break from conventional Marxist politics, but you are no longer a truly conventional Marxist party. It has been more or less universally acknowledged that race and gender can be sources of oppression above and beyond the ordinary dynamics of class and economics, and that these can intersect in painful ways. It's time to write that up, and make it a formal part of the SPA's goals and platform. Cost: Will upset social conservatives. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/40/60. Result: Define intersectional politics, make it an official part of the SPA's ideology.
A Black Budget: Given the likelihood of the Commission for Revolutionary Defense being involved in some less-than-savory affairs, it may be worth siphoning some money into hidden accounts so that it can be put to use but remain harder to use. Paying spies from sources that aren't clearly your coffers, purchasing equipment or information from organized crime, serving as a place to deposit money made from bank robberies...there are many possible uses. Cost: -2 to -2.5 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Resources available that can be put to use for covert operations and remain obscure.
Taking a Peek: With the sudden revelation of Schenk's dual loyalties, you find yourself wondering who else has friends or interests you should be worried about. You wonder if you can trust Schenk to do the investigation...you wonder who else you could trust to do it. You hate how shaken you feel about this...but he's not likely to try and hide any corruption or betrayal he uncovers from you. You are fairly confident of that. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: ??. Result: Find information about chosen subordinate.
Someone Else to Spy: With Schenk's loyalties suddenly in doubt, you find yourself...concerned about what he's been doing, especially regarding the more inward-facing side of things. The Revolutionary Defense Committee having his attitudes would be potentially very unfortunate. You aren't going to fire him, but you are going to be looking to curtail his influence, and one way would be to focus him more externally and find someone else to take care of the more day-to-day duties for the Committee and leave the Commission to him. Cost: -1 or 2 Influence, may annoy Schenk and the RAF. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Create an internally-focused Intrigue subordinate, vote on who they are.
The Revolutionary Guard's Loyalties: You need to make sure the Revolutionary Guard is at least not entirely influenced by Schenk and the RAF. They were created before him, and you have never seen any sign of such attitudes from them, but he does have at least nominal influence over them, since the Commission appoints the Committee, who selects the Guard, who elect the Commission...although Schenk has just been appointing the people elected. Does that mean he thinks they already share his views? Was he trying to avoid suspicion? Was it a commitment to internal democracy? Or was he simply too focused on other matters? You will have to go around Schenk, or try to anyway, but you have to find out. Cost: Risk of annoying Schenk or the RAF. Time: 1 month. DC: ??. Result: Find out the Revolutionary Guard's loyalties. The more Influence or Gravitas invested, the higher the likelihood Schenk realizes what's up.
Find the Red Army Faction: You can't leave this alone. You need to know who else is aligned with the RAF, and where they have their headquarters and where they draw their funding from...just in case the worst happens. What exactly the worst is changes from day to day, but you know being able to find the RAF will be helpful no matter what nightmare scenario you are picturing. And it might just help you sleep a little better. Cost: Risk of seriously upsetting Schenk or the RAF. Time: ??. DC: High. Result: Find who else supports the RAF, find out where they are. The more Influence or Gravitas invested, the higher the likelihood Schenk realizes what's up.
Siphon State Funds: With nearly unfettered access to many state governments and party loyalists being installed in treasury departments across the nation, you have an opportunity to enhance the party's financial position by arranging for subtle fund transfers from the government funds. There will likely need to be some sort of...shell to hide the directness of the money transfer. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/25/50/70. Result: Increase to income.
Sending Spies: Particularly given your purging of the police and the increasing difficulties the capitalists are having with oppressing the workers in areas dominated by syndicalists, there is something of a low-level exodus going on from the north, which means there is an opportunity to get eyes and ears in the lower level of the National Guards, U.S. Army, and hostile militias, to name a few possibilities. There's also potential to infiltrate your political enemies or rivals. Cost: Risk of discovery, risk to the spies. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Write-in where you send the spy.
Newspaper Analysts: With the increasing influx of information, often heavily conflicting, getting an idea of what is going on in the country grows more difficult every day. Arranging for a few party members to subscribe to dozens of newspapers and compare them so they can brief you will be child's play compared to some of the things you have organized. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Improvement to Rumors and News section.
Send Covert Organizers: Unions cannot operate openly everywhere. Particularly in the South and Midwest, efforts to organize are met with bombs, knives, and bullets. Or worse. You have vivid memories of the results of your trip to Wilmington...But people still organize, they still fight. Sending covert assistance can lead to an increase to your strength in an area, and help increase the chances of more overt intervention. Cost: Risk to the lives and health of the agitators/organizers depending on where they are sent to. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/Variable/Variable. Results: Write in an area (such as New York state, the Midwest, New Orleans, etc. The bigger it is, the more diffuse the impact) and reduce Federalist and AFP support while increasing your own support there. Unlock actions for following up on the organization/agitation.
Ears in the Party: To better keep abreast of movements in the Party and the doings of your subordinate, cultivating a small network of...trusted friends to let you know what they hear could be managed. Flora will probably have to be the one managing them, but you feel she is trustworthy. Knowledge is power, and knowledge of the going-ons in the SPA and the politicking of the bureaucracy will be especially powerful. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/25/??. Result: Lower difficulty of actions involving intelligence within the SPA.
Create Shell Corporations: To help with some of your more...unpleasant deeds, you can avoid scrutiny by purchasing a few false companies and helping you to conceal any unfortunate money trails. Although given the incredible chaos going on throughout the country, you aren't sure how necessary such deceptions are, unless you decide to start severely investing in foreign support. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/??/??. Result: Increase chances of avoiding discovery for embezzlement actions.
Infiltrate the Army:The army is crash-expanding, with sergeants turning into captains and captains turning into colonels as every man they can recruit is gathered into the regular ranks or the Special Engineering Corps. Selecting volunteers from the Red Guards and having them sign up will enable you to gain some low-level infiltration, and the fact that some of them will have military experience will get them into relatively high ranks. MacArthur is certainly planning to use the army against you, you must find out how. The steady sidelining of officers with syndicalist sympathies has left you with fewer avenues, although the recruiting spree does offer fresh opportunities for entering the lower ranks. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 2 months. DC: 25/60/?/??. Result: Make contacts within the army.
Steal Weaponry: The nation is in chaos, and this extends to the supply chains of the military. Some arms factories have been seized, while others are filled with sympathetic workers. Soldiers are increasingly inclined to turn a blind eye in exchange for sufficient funds. All of this means there are plenty of opportunities for heavier weaponry than small arms to make its way into the hands of the Red Guards...although on the other hand, security is being tightened and some soldiers are growing increasingly dedicated to their cause of maintaining law and order. Any such operation will be...risky. Cost: Risk of discovery, 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/??/???/???. Result: Begin creating stockpiles of weapons and equipment such as grenades, machine guns, mortars, etc.
Into the Navy: The steel titans of the navy are directed and maintained by a horde of sailors, many of whom come from the working class and labor in horrible conditions, making them ripe for recruitment. Meanwhile, the dockyards in Philadelphia, Norfolk, and several other cities still churn as ships are made and sent to patrol off every coast. There is ample opportunity to begin slipping syndicalists into their ranks. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/??/??. Result: Make contacts within the navy.
Hunt Infiltrators: The Longists and Federalists have doubtless begun infiltrating us, trying to sow division and sabotage our efforts. Perhaps this has already begun bearing fruit, or perhaps it will become a problem in days to come. Either way, the spies must be found and removed. With limited sources of information, it may prove difficult, but it is a task that must be accomplished as soon as possible. Schenk has raised the alarm about this in particular, uncertain who in the intelligence apparatus of the CSA can be trusted given the corruption and politicking you are both aware of...although he could just be looking to fill it with RAF loyalists. Cost: ??? Time: 1 month. DC: Special. Result: Begin hunting for spies within your ranks.
Propaganda of the Deed: There are many tools for spreading syndicalism and disrupting reactionaries. Bombs and guns are excellent at doing both. By demonstrating the spirit of revolution, weakening the forces the oppressors can bring to bear, and striking fear into the hearts of those who stand against us, we shall strengthen the cause! The class war shall come and end the conflicts of history, and no price is too great to pay it! Cost: -3 Resources, risk of discovery, possible backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/35/50/65/90. Result: Begin a campaign of political bombings and assassinations.
Protective Measures: With violence rising by the day, measures must be taken to protect the leaders of the revolution. The Guard must be expanded, with the new members set to provide protection wherever needed. And maybe you can be confident that these fresh recruits are a tad more trustworthy than any Schenk has gotten his hooks into...or maybe you are just being paranoid. You don't even know for sure if the existing men and women of the Guard are disloyal. But you are trusting them with your family's lives, and you can't be too careful. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/??/??/140. Result: Recruit more bodyguards.
Robin Hood Revolutions: The Bolsheviks funded themselves through bank robberies before they were able to seize power. While the size and strength of the SPA mean such tactics are no longer needed, they could still be useful. A campaign of public, armed theft will do much to demoralize our class enemies and tie up their investigation and intelligence resources. Cost: -1 Resources, risk of discovery, possible backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/60. Result: Begin a campaign of bank robberies, increase to income.
Union Entryism: Not every factory has been seized, not every union is a revolutionary one. In particular, there are several states with growing industrial bases that have minimal SPA support. Infiltrating these areas and their factories will be important, especially since many of these factories are responsible for producing the equipment needed by the slowly reforming Federal Army. It will be a difficult task for those agents assigned, one which will need a great deal of skill, but it will be an invaluable one for us and for the Syndintern. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/???/???. Result: Pink unions and non-unionized factories infiltrated, especially in states where support is lacking and military-oriented factories.
Spies in the House: The rich have servants. Maids, nannies, handymen, butlers, gardeners... all are trusted to go into people's homes, to stay there with minimal supervision, and sometimes even to assist in more discrete functions. And while they are typically members of the labor aristocracy, they are just as often subjected to cruel abuses of all kinds. And so many of them may well be willing to aid you, giving you access to an invisible but dense information network...although it is also possible that the BOI and Longists will have anticipated this and established counters. Cost: 0.1 Resources per Influence/Gravitas invested. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/??. Result: Find and recruit spies and informants among servants.
Rooting Out Domestic Enemies: Of course, a similar approach could be done to members of the SPA who hire unionized domestic workers, to say nothing of the countless secretaries, aids, and functionaries who are vital for keeping the vast infrastructure of the party running. Anyone of them could be turned into a spy. So it may well be worth gently vetting those individuals for potentially troublesome sympathies and ties.If any evidence of spying is found...They cannot be allowed to subvert our revolution. Cost: Will piss a lot of people off. Time: 1 month. DC: ???/???/???. Result: Find spies and informants among your own servants.
Preparing for a Kornilov Affair: When the tides of revolution rose in Russia, the force of counterrevolution attempted everything they could to stop it, including a military coup. The Kornilov Affair was a defeat for the reactionaries thanks to the preparations of the Soviet, preparations we have barely begun. We need to expand our military, infiltrate Longist and Federal forces, seize the rails..but for the coup itself, we need to secure methods of evacuation for SPA members in Washington lest we suffer the fate of the Last Bolsheviks. The decreasing stability of the capitol makes this increasingly urgent, as the No-Go Zone where protesting is forbidden expands and contracts on a daily basis and bloody clashes fill the city. Cost: Mildly annoy some people in Washington. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??. Result: Begin preparing to evacuate leaders of the SPA and allies such as Reed and Thomas in event of a coup or purge.
In the Dead of Night, Reactionary Edition: Those who stand against the might of the working class will be cast down and broken. By the ballot or the bullet, they will be defeated. But that will take time, and they could do untold amounts of damage first. So they need to be removed. Quickly, quietly, and in the dead of night. The leaders of the reactionary groups who still infest SPA-controlled territory. will be seized, tried, and punished. And justice will be done, and a stern lesson taught. Cost: Public backlash, will cost support with the AFL-CIO and the Right AFL-CIO, may cost additional support, will cost Relations with the Parliamentarians and the Anarchists. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/?? Result: Seize and arrest the leaders of various reactionary groups.
In the Dead of Night, Bureaucrat Edition: Those who stand against the might of the working class will be cast down and broken. By the ballot or the bullet, they will be defeated. But that will take time, and they could do untold amounts of damage first. So they need to be removed. Quickly, quietly, and in the dead of night. The most vilely corrupt bureaucrats will be seized, tried, and punished. And justice will be done, and a stern lesson taught. Cost: Public backlash, will cost support with the Teamster's Union, the AFL-CIO, and the Right AFL-CIO, likely to cost additional support, will cost Relations with the Centrists, the Parliamentarians, and the Anarchists. Will anger the CSA bureaucrats. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??? Result: Seize and arrest the worst of the corrupt bureaucrats.
Find Tools: Reactionary Edition: There are always individuals willing to betray their class interests, to serve as dupes out of principle or greed. That has been one of the greatest weaknesses of the worker's movement, but it also applies to the other classes. Look among the various reactionary movements to see if there will be people who can assist with the discrediting, defeat, or destruction of their political organizations. Cost: Cooperation has a price. Time: 2 months. DC: ??/??. Result: Catspaws and infiltrators established among the reactionaries.
Find Tools: Bureaucrat Edition: There are always individuals willing to betray their class interests, to serve as dupes out of principle or greed. That has been one of the greatest weaknesses of the worker's movement, but it also applies to the other classes. Look among the corrupt CSA bureaucrats to see if there will be people who can assist with the discrediting, defeat, or destruction of their cliques. Cost: Cooperation has a price. Time: 2 months. DC: ??/???. Result: Catspaws and infiltrators established among the corrupt CSA bureaucrats.
Safety for the RAF: While Schenk does understand your desire to not get too close to the RAF, you can tell it chafes at him. They have also demonstrated that they are very effective, if few in number and that they are willing to cooperate with your greater goals and aims. So it may be worth supporting them, just enough to make them more effective. They have their own sources of weaponry and funding, but they could use places to hide out, rest, and get medical care. And it would be easy enough to set aside a few backrooms for them to use. Cost: ??. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??. Result: Safehouses for the RAF established in out-of-the-way urban SPA facilities, increase in RAF cooperation.
Blueprint Theft: The SyndIntern wants blueprints of some of the more interesting American technology, such as the designs for the Christie tank, and other industrial and military information. What was already available was packaged up and sent off, but getting looks at the designs they really want will be difficult, as many of those factories have restrictions on unionizing and tight security. But Schenk thinks it can be done, although there are several steps he would like to take first. Cost: Very risky, could lead to scandal. Time: 1 month. DC: ???. Result: Steal military blueprints for the Third International, increase in SyndIntern Relations.
Primary Affairs: No one has really paid attention to who has won various primaries and how all those races have shaken out. Capitalists are capitalists, that's all there is to it. But being able to better evaluate what sort of opposition you will face can help improve your chances. Individual candidates have handled it on their own, so this is largely a matter of collating existing information and analyzing it to see if there are any patterns. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Information on trends and notable opponents for the upcoming election.
California Preparation: You can expect plenty of mischief being done in November. Voters will be intimidated, ballots will be destroyed or miscounted, and that's before getting into the inherent structural limits of capitalist democracy. You will admit freely that you intend to do the same, but it's different. In any case, you need to be prepared for election fraud, especially in California and the Midwest. You need to figure out how to spot it, how to prove it, how to fight it, and how to fix it...and how to do some of your own. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/60/90/120. Result: Come up with methods of countering voter fraud and inflicting your own.
Work Overtime: Although your heart and mind ache at the thought, the cause needs you. It will be stressful, it will be upsetting to your wife and daughter, you can feel your very soul revolting at the thought of spending even more hours working...but you must. The workers of the world demand it! No matter what it costs you. Cost: Severely stressful, unhealthy, bad for your family. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: +1 temporary Influence.
Personal Attention: If you spend a few hours working on a particular task, it will likely go smoother. It will cut into the time you would normally spend with your family or your books, but it is a sacrifice you will have to make. Cost: Stressful, not great for your family. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Small dice and narrative bonus to chosen action.
Exercise: You have gotten slightly out of shape thanks to the stress of the election. Getting back in shape would be good for your health and your image...and if you ever get the chance to strangle MacArthur, it will help then too. Cost: Not great for your family. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Decrease in stress, improvement to health.
Spend Time With Your Family: Your daughter Hannah misses you, as does your wife Louise. Spending some extra time with them this month will make up for all the times you missed doing it during the campaign season. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Major decrease in stress, good for your family.
Write: You have been working on another book about your own thoughts and beliefs about socialism and syndicalism, as well as on a few poems, memoirs, and some other odds and ends. Spending some time working on that will help order your thoughts and ease your burdens. Cost: Not great for your family. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Results: Decrease in stress, possibility of new traits.
Free Actions
Tweak a Subordinate's Priorities: While those who are working with you are scattered across the country, between the train and the telegram they are within reach. Requesting a minor change to their priorities is a simple matter. Cost: May pick only twice per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: May make 1 change to 1 subordinate's priorities (change order, add one, remove one). This will have a political cost if used on the SPA Cadres.
Ask For a Favor: Party members already sacrifice their time and money and sometimes their health and their life, but you must ask for more. Though it will cost some precious goodwill, continued success will bring it back, and so you can confidently ask for favors. You can also speak with the SyndIntern and ask for favors. Cost: Variable amount of Relations, changes in Strength of factions. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Relations and Strength allows.
Call on the RAF: Talk to Schenk, let him know what you need, he goes somewhere to talk to the RAF leadership, and whatever you asked for gets accomplished. You try not to think anything more of it. Cost: Cooperation from the RAF. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Cooperation allows.
Throw Your Weight Around: You are the leader of the SPA, the man who helped lead the Seattle and Chicago General Strikes to success, the man the Syndintern has trusted with bringing about the Revolution. Though you are democratically elected, you have undeniable authority. Authority you truly prefer not to use...unless you absolutely have to. Cost: -9 Relations with all factions of the SPA, narrative effects. The cost will change as you use it for better or worse. DC: 0. Time: 1 month. Result: Temporarily convert 1 Gravitas to 1 Authority.
Adjust Your Priorities: Long-term commitments are risky in the chaotic situation the American nation is in. Temporarily stepping back from them would allow you to handle crises as they come back. Cost: Minor penalties to targeted action. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: De-commit Influence from selected action, narrative penalties.
Budget Adjustments: Your subordinates run many expensive programs that do a great deal for the cause...but on the other hand, you need that money too. Make some adjustments to the budget. Cost: May upset factions in the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: May modify the amount of income available for subordinates. Increasing their budget will decrease your income and vice versa.
Long's Bargain: Do you accept it? Reject it? You will need to decide, although silence serves as its own response. Cost: ??? Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Make decisions about Long's offer.
Choose A Focus: You are currently taking The Union Forever! 2 months remain.
Spread the Word - The inevitability of the revolution and the glory that will come after must be spread from sea to shining sea. The Newspapers and pamphlets and posters will make everyone see your message, even if they deny it. Time: 1 month. Effect: 1 Temporary Influence for propaganda involving the written word.
Apply Red Paint - Art is one of the greatest gifts of human civilization, and it is one that must be made accessible for the people. There are many disparate movements organized around making syndicalist and socialist art in America, but many of these movements are nothing more than a single young man painting in an apartment. An investment in resources will see these movements flourish once the artists are no longer starving. Time: 1 month. Effect: 1 Temporary Influence for propaganda involving visual art.
Sing Proud Songs - Music can fire up emotions and raise spirits, grant hope or terror. It can spread messages, true or false. And it is time for the music of the people to spread the word of liberation. Time: 1 month. Effect: 1 Temporary Influence for actions involving music.
Spread the Word - The inevitability of the revolution and the glory that will come after must be spread from sea to shining sea. The Newspapers and pamphlets and posters will make everyone see your message, even if they deny it. Time: 1 month. Effect: 1 Temporary Influence for propaganda involving the written word.
Cross the Color Line- America has segments of its past that are shameful and regrettable. That cannot be changed, but we can step forward and try to make things better. Integrated Red Guards, integrated unions, integrated party affairs...let the color lines in America disintegrate. Let racism and white supremacy be destroyed Time: 2 months. Effect: +10 to all anti-prejudice actions for the next 2 months.
The Failing Middle Class - The wealthy proletariat and the petit bourgeoisie are major backbones for MacArthur and the Democrat-Republicans. But as the economy grows worse, many fall into poverty and so become easier to radicalize. Time: 1 month. Effect: +10 to the next roll involving recruiting the wealthy.
Union Recruiting - Not every worker has chosen to join a union. Some are scabs, some are scared, some are reactionaries. Regardless, with tensions rising every day, the threat they pose to the Revolution grows. Pressure can be applied through the carrot and the stick to see them join unions and develop class consciousness. Time: 1 month. Effect: The next 3 union recruiting actions gain +5 to their roll.
Blitz the Soldiers - The current US Army and Air Force are powerful despite their small size. Well-trained and led by a skilled corp of officers who have cut their teeth in dozens of imperialist actions, they could deal significant damage to the Revolutionary cause...unless their soldiers could be convinced to join us. Time: 1 month. Effect: The next 3 actions for recruiting or co-opting soldiers gain +5 to their roll.
Political Alliances - Victories must be won not just on the battlefield, but in the halls of the rich and powerful. They must be convinced to side with you against Long's insanity and MacArthur's tyranny. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain the national spirit of Political Alliances (Effect: +1 Strength for the Right faction per month).
Establish Community Organizations - The social life of these small rural towns often revolve around reactionary churches. Co-opting these existing institutions or creating new ones will be essential to solidifying your control. Time: 2 months. Effect: Gain +5 to the next 3 Cultural actions that affect rural areas.
[] Plan: Election Protection
-[] Begin Campaigning: Cost: Reduced positive impact of Personal actions, temporary -2 Gravitas, increased vulnerability to assasination, annoys those who don't like electoralism. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. (1 Gravitas)
-[] Socialist Markets: Cost: Decrease in support and relations with the syndicalist wings of the SPA and CSA, 5 Resources. Time: 1 months. DC: 45/90/135. [3 influence locked]
-[] Rationalize Production Schemes: Cost: 4 Resources, -4 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75. (1 influence)
-[] Voucher Printing: Cost: 4 Resources, -2 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/80/120. (1 influence)
-[] Security Procedures: Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 10/30/50. (1 influence)
-[] Sending Weapons West: Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/65/100. (1 influence)
-[] International Volunteers: Cost: 1 Resource, reduced effectiveness of Red Guards. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. (1 influence)
-[] Develop a Radicalization Pipeline: Cost: None. Time: 1 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. [1 influence locked]
-[] Protective Measures: Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/??/??/140. (2 influence)
-[] Preparing for a Kornilov Affair: Cost: Mildly annoy some people in Washington. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??. (1 Authority if possible)
-[] Spend Time With Your Family: Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll.
-[] Anarchists: Request Donations
-[] Tweak a Subordinate's Priorities: Cost: May pick only twice per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. (Propaganda Committee, drop Childcare, take Local Autonomy)
-[] Call on the RAF: Cost: Cooperation from the RAF. DC: No roll. (At Schenk's Command: Spying/intelligence gathering on Washington DC)
-[] Throw Your Weight Around: Cost: -9 Relations with all factions of the SPA, narrative effects. The cost will change as you use it for better or worse. DC: 0. Time: 1 month. (Preparing for a Kornilov Affair)
-[] Long's Bargain: Cost: ??? Time: 1 month. DC: 0.
Here's the plan as it currently stands. Will edit with the reasoning, just wanted to get it on here in case anyone has any major issues with it.
