The cities of America are filled with abandoned buildings, houses that hold no one and factories that produce nothing. You order these buildings seized from the few men who still guard them. You order them turned out to the people who need homes. The homeless are gathered and offered shelter, persuaded or cajoled or even threatened into it. You even hear a few reports of savage beatings being inflicted on those who refuse the shelter.
But people at least have a roof over their heads...if not anything else. Criticism of the results in various party newspapers and the publishing of ample complaints of the homeless has led to several Red Guards and SPA organizers taking initiative in some cities to add greater comfort to these new cooperatives by setting up privacy curtains, bringing in beds and blankets, and painting the spaces to make them more cheerful.
More difficult and less frequent are the efforts to make these newly-established cooperatives into proper communities, where the inhabitants democratically manage them. It generally does not go well.
The reaction to even these efforts have been decidedly mixed. You are being critiqued for poor planning, and the actions of the Red Guards who were overly aggressive are being used to tar the entire movement. Factions in the party are arguing fiercely about what is to be done, both with this failure and the way party newspapers published it.
The failure, and the shame of it burns in your guts. You want to silence the criticism, to yell that you were doing the best, and you didn't order anyone beaten or threatened. It's not your fault!
You decide to...
[] Praise the party papers for their willingness to criticize you. +++Stress, +1 Influence, ???
[] Offer a defensive explanation. +Stress, ???
[] Be silent and let them say what they will. -1 Influence
[] Crack down on the criticism and do your best to enforce the party line. ---Stress, +2 Influence, ???
Furthermore, the nature of the cooperatives established is...less than ideal. It might be best to stop throwing good money after bad, stop trying to house people (you won't have them thrown out, you aren't monsters), and come back with a better plan. Or you could start working to fix your mistakes, despite the cost.
[] Pull back and admit failure. +++Stress, -1 Influence, ???
[] Commit the money needed to improve these cooperatives into something barely livable. -10 Resources, +Stress, ???
Result: Poor-quality, poorly-managed housing cooperatives managed in formerly abandoned buildings. Mixed gains and losses of support.
Establish Tenant's Unions - 1 Influence, 20
The CSA takes your proposal for the establishment of tenant's unions, where people living together would strike to get better conditions from their landlords and democratically elect leadership responsible for addressing grievances and sponsoring programs very well. Unfortunately, the two factions of the CSA that take it best are the Tobkin faction and the AFL. And so they take responsibility for the implementation of this program.
Daniel Tobkin is a dedicated socialist and the leader of one of the largest, most organized, and most powerful unions. He is also rapaciously corrupt. The AFL is perhaps the most bourgeoisie faction of the Combined Syndicates, utterly determined to refuse any revolution except one by the ballot.
You can at least rest assured that the tenant's unions will be competently run.
Results: -1 Resources per month as they go to strike funds and paying for various repairs and activities, tenant's unions are established.
Welcoming Committees - 1 Authority
The prejudices of the unions work in your favor. Of course the former farmers newly arriving in cities will need help and support from the more advanced section of the working class, from the revolutionary unions and the vanguard party.
But the results speak for themselves.
Henry was hungry. He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, which had been nothing more than some cornmeal shared with his sister. His parents had said they weren't hungry, but something told him they might be lying...even though Momma and Poppa always said lying was a sin.
As the car they had taken ground to a halt, Henry stared up in awe at the city. It was enormous. Buildings stretched up taller than any tree, and below them swarmed...so many people, more than he could count. More than Mr. Jenkins could, and he was always bragging about his edu-ca-tion at a uni-vers-it-y.
Then he saw a red flag with the grain-and-gear on it, and below stood a woman yelling at the crowd. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but it was probably mean, since people were throwing money into her jar then running off.
Henry turned to point her out to Poppa, who had driven off one of her kind with a shotgun, but then he saw Poppa speaking nervously to another man with a red armband.
"Of course you don't have to come with me, I'm not the law. He-heck," the man glanced apologetically at Momma, "you can just go to the kitchen without me and they'll feed you too, you don't even need to come with me for that. It's just that you don't know the city, so it might take you longer to find it. I'm offering directions, nothing more."
His parents exchanged cautious looks, and Poppa's gaze swept across the street. He hunched over the wheel and nodded to the man.
"Where do we go?'
A few minutes later, they were sitting in the weirdest church ever. There was no steeple, and apparently, they didn't really have services in it, just church dinners...for anyone who came, even if they weren't members.
The stew wasn't anywhere near as good as his Momma's cooking, but he was so hungry it didn't matter, and it was the most he had in a single meal for a week!
As he ate, the man spoke with his parents.
"There's a fair few jobs, and as long as you join the union we'll take care of you even if you lose it. And if your boss is a right bast-sorry ma'am, if your boss doesn't treat you right the union has your back. We'll even make sure your landlord doesn't rip you off, keep an eye on your kids for you if your missus wants to work, the tenant's union side of things even does plays and shows if you join..."
Henry's eyes went wide. He had always wanted to be in a play...and he didn't even have to beg. His parents said yes to the man and he gave them an address.
Result: Welcoming committees established for recruiting migrants to the city.
Ally With Farmer-Labor - 2 Influence, 85+22 = 107
Norman warns you well in advance of your meetings that Farmer-Labor is heavily splintered. While you will be able to get their left fringe fairly easily, the larger center will likely demand concessions, and there is also a strongly anti-revolution faction as well as a Longist faction. Both of those will likely split off entirely if your alliance is too strong and will actively strengthen your enemies. It will be a careful balance of concessions made and concessions demanded if you wish to bring the entire party into even a soft alignment with you.
The careful dance of negotiations stretches out over days. You meet in their offices and at galas where you find yourself coldly ignored by most, but at last, you suspect everyone is ready and meet with Senator Shipstead, the sole Farmer-Labor senator and so the leader. Given that he has voted with you for the Payment and Relief Bill and walked out with you in protest of MacArthur's butchery, you expect you know what faction he is in. But you are surprised to find how cool he is to you.
Still, he relays what the leadership wants, and a bit more prodding finds out what the various factional demands are..
You propose your agreement.
Farmer-Labor will...
[] Run fusionist tickets in states you both have influence. 1 point.
[] Agree to common policy in the Senate and House of Representatives. 2 points
[] Provide expertise and assistance for reaching out to rural communities. 1 point.
[] Endorse you for the presidency. 5 points.
[] Form common voting blocs in state governments. 7 points.
[] Encourage and support the establishment of rural unions and similar organizations. 8 points.
And you will...
[] Promise not to initiate any revolution. -3 points.
[] Agree to work towards ending price ceilings. - 5 points.
[] End or reduce rural foreclosure. -2 points.
[] Cede contested areas to Farmer-Labor campaigns. -7 points.
[] Agree to work towards rural relief bills. -10 points.
(Given what you have gathered and what Norman has told you, the left-wing of Farmer-Labor will join you for any deal with less than 10 points, the center will join for somewhere between 8-3, and the anti-revolutionary and Longist wings will join for between 4- -2.)
Eviction Moratorium - 1 Influence,13+10 = 23
The most radical factions of the SPA question why you don't simply have the tenant's unions block all the evictions. They also generally question if electoralism is a valid tactic at all.
You hope this proves them wrong. The Congress bill, if it passed, would benefit many other workers. But it didn't pass. In fact, not even all the members of your own party voted for it, for one reason or another.
And so the bill dies, but you make sure it dies loud, and use the momentum from that to ensure smaller-scale bills pass in several states, despite the howling and outrage of landlords and conservatives.
Result: Small-scale anti-eviction bills passed in SPA-dominated states, lots of attention given to it.
Questions and Answers - 1 Influence, 29
This is probably something you should have done months ago, but between the various fires you have had to put out you haven't had time. You ask a few writers for the Red Banner to put together an article, listing common bugbears people have about socialism and then providing ample rebuttals, as well as adding definitions for commonly misunderstood terms like "private property."
Result: Recruitment and propagandizing dramatically easier.
Expand Soup Kitchens - 1 Authority
The final push to expand the soup kitchens finishes. The quality is often lacking, the quantity even more so, especially as prices continue to rise. But the food is hot and it fills your belly, and the kitchens have become a fairly safe place to sit and eat, to meet with friends, or get out of the rain. Even a few of the new cooperatives have had kitchens attached, with the people staying often encouraged to volunteer occasionally.
Result: -4 Resources per turn, significant boost to your popularity in urban areas.
Credit to the Unions -1 Influence, 35
With the initial proposal passed comes all the other details that making such an organization require. A committee is formed for the CSA, bankers are spoken to, members of existing credit unions are found and spoken to, and slowly a charter is drawn up, creating a fairly simple skeleton: unions and governments can create credit unions with the consent of their members, and each one can set their own policy but are required to maintain a certain reserve, while a greater CSA credit union will serve as a lender of last resort.
Report from Subordinates
The Coordination Committee has some unfortunate news. While their efforts at establishing new polling stations and doing mass registration in party-dominated areas have been successful, several lawsuits have been directed at these attempts in places where your political machine is less entrenched, such as Philadelphia and New Jersey. Even worse, they have found police departments entrenching everywhere they haven't been fully socialized, either as official departments, or if the reactionary officers have been purged as "self-defense groups" and "private security" for various neighborhoods. Clashes with the Red Guards have already begun to step up.
Senator Thomas has been hard at work. While most of his attention has been dedicated to laying the groundwork for anti-racism laws, meeting with governors and state senators and working with the Legislative Committee, he has also spent several days speaking with members of Farmer-Labor. He was the one to advise you of their splintering, in fact...
The Legislative Committee, despite their vicious arguing, has managed to actually get things done. Unfortunately, what they have gotten done is setting price ceilings. While this has kept the price of food from rising further, it has also further driven farmers into poverty and radicalized many against you. And worse, the laws are popular enough you will likely be unable to go against them for some time.
Personal Attention: Eviction Moratorium
You decide that spending time traveling the country to get bills passed would take too long, and take a less direct approach instead, going to Congress to get the SPA to make waves about eviction there. You demand a bill, the newspapers get headlines, and quite a few get passed.
Result: +10 to Eviction Moratorium
Choose A Focus: On the Farms
The rural focus you have begun is seen in a questionable light. "The farmer has no revolutionary potential!" some exclaim, but you insist. You cannot control a country with the cities alone, or even the cities and the railways in between. Conservative, stubborn, and benighted they may be, you know from history that peasants are quite willing to revolt. You just need to make sure the inevitable revolt goes in the right direction. Though the organizers and agitators you ask go with reluctance and sometimes never return, recruitment in some rural areas begins, and slowly the legacy of the Grange rises once again.
This will not be tolerated, you know. The ruling classes rely on a divided working class. Farmers and laborers together, white and black, they will not allow such a thing. They will try and fight you.
Sarah wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she knew it wasn't going to be good. Officer Wilson had come around to tell them about the meeting, and said he and other police were going to visit all the farms. The mayor had gotten some sort of important letter and he wanted everyone to hear it.
Hopefully, it was good news, but Sarah had seen the orange sky and the dead crops on the way into town. The same things she had seen every day for months. It broke all the hope she had left, and replaced it with bitter understanding. She and her husband would have to leave and go...somewhere. They had family in other places, but no one was any better off. The dust was everywhere in the country, it seemed like, and all the powerful people didn't care.
But the mayor had asked, and hearing what he had to say was a better way to waste time than cleaning what would be dirty in a minute anyway. Grit stinging her eyes and abrading her feet, she walked on past an abandoned tractor and a rotting cow being pecked at by crows and the sign that welcomed strangers to town, now stripped entirely of its careful paint job.
The neat road of the town was covered in piles of silt and dirt, getting blown here and there as the breeze eddied them around. All the signs on the stores were gone, the windows were boarded up or stood open, the shattered glass resembling jagged maws. The only place that had any life was the church. She and her husband staggered in.
The whole town was gathered here, and not just the people who lived in town but dozens of families from miles around. She saw the Janson clan, who owned a dozen farms scattered about, were all there wearing gray armbands. Both pastors and all four policemen had faded red somewhere on them. Everyone was thin and ragged, with worn and torn and grimy clothes. The air was thick and dusty and humming with tension.
Sarah swallowed. Looking around, not a single face seemed friendly. Everyone was pinched and suspicious and measuring the others. Her husband had brought a gun along, and he was far from the only one. Knives were in abundance too. What was the world coming too, that so many walked into a church with instruments of death?
And what was happening to her, that she found herself accepting it with nothing more than faint stirrings of disgust?
The mayor trudged up to the podium, a faint smile on his face. "My friends and fellow townsmen, it seems we have good news. Congressmen Lahler, formerly of Farmer-Labor and now of Left-Farmer-Labor, has assured us we will be receiving aid. I know many of you were planning on leaving, or have already left..."
He looked sorrowful briefly, but forced himself to go on, sucking in a deep breath, letting out a hacking cough, and then managing to continue.
"But he has sent letters with the bill he intends to see passed. Having read it...it's unprecedented. And he has assured me at least a full third of the state house stands with him, between the various Farmer-Labor affiliates and the SPA..."
Tom Janson stood up not two feet from her. "So you want us to trust some syndicalist thief to do right for us? The same ones who tried to say we can't sell our crops for anything like a fair price?"
Billy Carpenter leaned forward from behind the mayor, hand resting on the butt of his gun. "My cousins went to the city, the one the SPA took over. He says they are giving free food to any man or woman who comes to them. That's right Christian of them, more Christian than you are!"
Tom flushed. "You Red son of a gun! You've no right to speak to me like that!"
"Speak to you like what? Like you are a damn fool who couldn't find his nose with his hand?"
Tom growled something Sarah refused to hear.
"Pig!" Billy shot back, face turning redder than his handkerchief
"Bolshevik!"
"Madman!"
"Liar!"
"Bastard!" Billy spat, then he paled.
"Sorry Tom, you know I didn't mean it like that..."
Tom had been born three months after his mother's wedding, and rumors had dogged him all his life that his mother's husband wasn't the father.
For a moment, the world was still. Then Tom took a single step forwards, something flashed in his hand, Billy's head tore open and the loudest thunderclap she had ever heard ripped from the church.
She stared as Billy, Billy who had walked her home from church once upon a time and used his coat as an umbrella for her...Billy was dead. She blinked, trying to understand...
The Jansons fled as a group, guns out, and then the police chased after them. She heard more gunshots, but they seemed distant and far away. Her husband shook her, his mouth moving. She felt something warm trickle out of her ear.
Slowly, her hearing began to recover, enough to make out what was being said. "I am going to see that son of a bitch pay," her husband murmured.
She shook her head, violently. She didn't want to see more people die, she had heard stories of feuds and fights that killed hundreds...her arms wrapped around herself as she shivered, picturing their tiny town and pleasant farm covered in shell holes and raked with machine-gun fire like Belgium had been in the Weltkrieg. She pictured soldiers fighting back and forth over it, dying again and again as their blood soaked the ground until no crops could take root. She saw her husband and Tom and Billy wearing uniforms, fighting and dying and rotting until she couldn't tell who was who.
She closed her eyes and fell backward as vague sounds of chaos passed through her mind.
She saw nothing as arguments in the church erupted into violence. She saw nothing as her husband scooped her up and carried her away from the bleeding and the dying. She saw nothing as a stray bullet struck him in the back and tore through his spine. She saw nothing as her head smacked against the corner of an empty store. She saw nothing as the two of them lay together, dust storms ripping at their skin and thirst slowly killing them.
She opened her eyes just in time to see a hundred United States soldiers march in and restore order to a dead town.
Rumors and News
The news of your alliance with Farmer-Labor hits the CSA like a bomb thrown into a union meeting. You are shouted at for nearly five minutes, and then some begin shouting to defend you. You come far closer to having to break up a fistfight than you would have liked before you can explain yourself.
Bluntly, in a few brief words, you defend your decision, appealing to Marxism, humanity, politics, and simple common sense. It is accepted, begrudgingly, with your support significantly threatened should there be bad results from this decision, such as rural immigrants to the cities becoming scabs or forming reactionary militia. A process that is already beginning.
Farmer-Labor has handled things even worse. The party has fully split into five factions: Farmer-Labor, the American Farmers Party, True Farmer-Labor, and Left-Farmer-Labor, to say nothing of the party members who have switched to you outright. Farmer-Labor and Left-Farmer-Labor maintain the alliance with you. The American Farmers Party has chosen to work with the AFP. And True Farmer-Labor has done their best to maintain legislative independence. The result has turned the states they so briefly turned into a literal and metaphorical battleground. The images you see in newspapers remind you of ones from your history books, showing Bleedin' Kansas. And the violence and the continuing dust storms only accelerate the flight from rural areas, the destitute farmers bringing their increasingly radicalized or reactionary politics with them.
The Democratic, Republican, and True Farmer-Labor, along with a few increasingly irrelevant fifth parties, have begun making efforts to handle the crises, seemingly becoming aware of the situation in the country for the first time. Many of these destitute farmers are recruited into the army, along with a bare minimum of screening, and then they are given simple public works tasks. Discussions of some form of alliance have begun in the top ranks of the party, and for the first time a relief bill is introduced into Congress with seemingly serious consideration, although it is trapped in committee where it is being virulently debated. You have read the bill and find it pathetically mild. But it seems to have assuaged some criticism from the progressive wings of the party.
Even better for them, some Japanese and Australasian companies have begun to invest in some Pacific Coast cities, although they appear to have demanded significant security measures in the process.
Meanwhile, Long continues struggling to get a handle on his party. Federalist militias and police forces have begun attacking the Minutemen in parts of the South, while True Farmer-Labor has effectively driven his allies out of Oklahoma and Kansas. A rumored deal with several German companies in some southern cities has fallen through completely.
You have heard nothing but ominous silence from your allies and friends north of the Canadian border.
In other news, Ford has pulled out of his factory project, apparently being forced to by his stockholders. An investigation by Red Guards revealed that Ford was apparently trying to diversify into rifles and bullets.
[Slight gain of support in rural areas, intense violence in rural areas, increase in support in urban areas even as other political groups gain support as well.]
Plans from Subordinates
The crisis has led to a dramatic shift in priorities for the Coordination Committee. The rise of reactionary militias threaten to undo their efforts, and they are pouring immense amounts of time and effort into stopping it.
The farming relief bills have become even more important, even as available Farmer-Labor expertise makes the subject matter much simpler. The new plans include state programs to provide seeds, farming equipment, and teachers for new methods...and new ideologies.
Although Thomas initially planned on continuing his previous efforts, the violence in the Midwest has caused him to change his course as well. He intends to...do something. "I don't know how I can help, Jack, but I know I have to," he told you, face the color of ash.
You have 8 Influence and 2 Authority total. 0 Authority and 1 Influence are committed to ongoing actions. You are currently taking On the Farms.
Mandates: Successfully propagandize towards farmers in 3 months (from The Syndicalists).
Party Actions
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 and hostile interruption. 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. The possibilities of the written word are limitless. Cost: 2 Resources 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 topic. 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 Social 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.
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, county governments. You even effectively control some 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 of 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. Cost: Significant and dangerous backlash from within and without the Party, possible legal challenges. Time: 3 months. DC: 70/140/200/250. Results: Various states and lower-level governments integrated into a coordinated body, many new possibilities available, although the body could be unwieldy.
Condemn Reactionary Judges: The situation in many streets resembles a powder keg. There are gathering crowds, ready to strike. They are growing hungrier. They are growing angrier. Even your soup kitchens can stave that off for so long...and judges are preventing relief. Speaking on this matter will ensure the people's ire is properly directed and may inspire some changes of heart. The violence it may cause will be almost unnoticed against the bloody backdrop of the Midwest. Cost: Small risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/15/20/25/30. Results: Legal challenges for relief laws cleared away.
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 Influence or Authority. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Results: Increase Relations and Strength of selected faction, chance of gaining Influence.
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 change to 1 subordinate. Can be taken multiple times.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/180. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
Open Investigation: If a subordinate is unpopular or incompetent, you can begin publically looking into their performance. This can wash off some of the reflected stink, particularly if you find something, but if there is no evidence of wrongdoing or fraud that can only make the situation worse or lead to questions of your judgement. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Some chance of finding problems with chosen subordinate, options to deal with problems, chance of +1 Influence.
Support Subordinate: Expressing confidence in a subordinate, either by offering direct aid or by giving material support, can boost their performance, especially if there isn't a structural reason for their failures. Cost: Write-in. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Positive modifier to chosen subordinate, chance of them gaining positive trait.
Acquire Expertise: You are only one man, you cannot know or do everything. Having trusted subordinates who can do part of the work helps, but so too does having trusted advisors, people who can offer you advice for dealing with things you don't quite understand. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Find assistant for chosen subject who can give bonuses and penalties to rolls and other situations.
Push for Rural Assistance: The priority for most of the SPA are the urban areas and the mining strongholds. Between the fact that most farmers are petty producers and their famed social conservatism, there is relatively little concern for their fates beyond vague acknowledgements. Even the rural relief bills many are advocating for are primarily focused on keeping a large supply of food for the cities available. Despite the revolutionary potential of many rural groups, they are being effectively abandoned to be turned into the footsoldiers of reaction. Though it will strain the limits of your position, insisting on more effort will hopefully encourage the party to give more thought to farmers and farmworkers. Cost: -1 Influence, -1 Authority. Time: 3 months. DC: 45/90. Result: Unlock new actions focusing on supporting and recruiting among farmers,
Integrate Farmer-Labor: The new recruits from Farmer-Labor and Left-Farmer-Labor are truly eager to support you in any way they can, even if some are reluctant at the prospect of violent revolution, just as you once were. The political structure of the CSA and SPA are not entirely welcome to them however, especially since they do not formally represent any unions. Making some slight changes to the party will allow them to help you with rural outreach. Cost: Loss of Relations with all factions except the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Increased efficacy for various rural-related actions.
Anarchist Organizations: Anarchists are no longer as prominent a scare-word as they once were. Socialism and syndicalism are the new words to make the bourgeoisie and their running dogs wet themselves in fear. The reduced propaganda against them makes them potentially quite useful...and you remember hearing that the Black Army was highly popular among Ukranian peasants. Perhaps approaching them to form an Anarchist Grange may help you gain support in the Bleeding Midwest. And if they fail, most of the party will be unconcerned. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: You and the CSA select a rural-focused organizer from The Anarchist faction, gain in Strength for the Anarchists.
Union Actions
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.
Appoint Union Representative: There are dozens of unions, many with hundreds or thousands of chapters. A rare few even have branches in Canada, with a rarer few having branches in Mexico. The Combined Syndicates serves as a forum to allow them to coordinate and cooperate, but the vagaries of time and travel mean that the larger meetings are often sparsely attended. Electing (although your influence will help make it an effective appointment) a representative to help manage the syndicates, smooth over disputes, and ensure all voices are heard would reduce the growing pains the CSA is suffering from. However, the notion is not entirely popular...Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Subvote to determine who you will support for Union Representative and how much to invest in them.
Prepare Rural Unions: Rural areas are utterly lacking in the sort of density mines or cities have that labor organizers and workers used to create their powerful unions. A new approach will need to be devised, or more likely multiple to approach the different situations you will doubtless encounter. Perhaps some of the newer unions or the Montant and Colorado miners have some insight? Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Improved chance of success for actions in rural areas.
Establish Community Gardens: The cities of America are filled with vacant lots and crumbling buildings. Reclaiming the buildings will have to be part of a larger effort, but the lots can be used to the benefit of the people by establishing gardens. Though they will take many months, the fresh vegetables will improve the quality of the food served by the soup kitchens...and hopefully reduce expenses. Cost: 5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/60. Result: +2 Resources per turn after 3 months.
Mutual Aid Foundations: While directly expanding the soup kitchens would benefit many, a less costly alternative would be the establishment of mutual aid organizations to ensure that people are fed. Since they are less directly dependent on the SPA buying food for them, they will be cheaper for you to maintain, but still serve to provide relief to the struggling masses and help expose them to socialist ideals. The examples of such institutions being created in Chicago have helped show the way. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Improve quality of food kitchens.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/150. 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.
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? Cost: Small chance of -1 Influence, loss of relations with the Syndicalists. 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/35/70/100. Result: Increase in income, establishment of market cooperatives in locations with a strong SPA presence. Small chance of gaining +1 Influence, increase to relations with the Right.
(1 Influence Committed) Credit to the Unions: The major banking services are dominated by capitalists and often hostile to socialists, while the poor are forced into debt to dangerous loansharks. Credit unions are a low-cost and democratically structured alternative to both. While there have been credit unions in the country since the turn of the century, they have become significantly more prominent thanks to the general strike. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Establishment of credit unions, reduced cost and increased efficacy for other Union actions, gain ability to take loans.
Push for Reduced Hours: With an enormous influx of unemployed workers, the capitalists of the cities are able to find fresh sources of scabs, or else they suffer and languish without any work. Reviving a measure used before would help fix both these. The union workers would reduce their hours, working less time and therefore requiring more workers. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/120. Result: Amount of unemployed workers is reduced.
Support Housing Cooperatives: The existing housing cooperatives are...poorly designed. Often ill-equipped, uncomfortable, utterly lacking in privacy, and frequently without many or any basic amenities, you have been rightfully pilloried for their quality. Even with the recent and substantial influx of support, they have not improved as much as you would expect. Further investments, for them and the Tenant's Unions, will hopefully allow the situation to get better. Cost: 5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Improvement in living conditions, increase in support.
Create Mobile Aid Teams: A proposal recently made was to form small groups equipped with money and food and send them out to approach the hordes of wandering farmers and give them support. While it will not fully counter the barrage of reactionary news they hear from Long's sound trucks, it will potentially strengthen your arguments by backing them with visible charity. Cost: -2 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Increase popularity among rural populations.
Unionized Only!: As the number of potential scabs in the cities increase, measures need to be taken to prevent them from diluting the power of the unions and stealing their hard-won benefits. Begin establishing "union-shops" in the factories, forcing the owners to promise that they will not hire anyone if they are not willing to join the unions. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/45/90/135. Result: Increase the amount of people in unions.
Militant Actions
Additional Weapons: The armaments of your "regular" Red Guards are highly irregular, and the "irregulars" who sometimes join in during protests or strikes are even worse off. Beginning to create armories of weapons will help equip both. The first step will be to acquire things like billy clubs and batons, both to avoid attracting unfortunate attention and because stockpiling guns in the current climate is needlessly risky...Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Create stockpiles of "non-lethal" weapons for the use of the Red Guards.
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: 10 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/20/60/100. Result: Increased armaments for Red Guards, ease of training Red Guards increased, further actions to arm and equip Red Guards unlocked.
Instilling Discipline, Pt.1: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) Every branch of the Red Guards contains at least a few who do it more or less full-time. These are some of your most dedicated and radical supporters, and when the time comes they are the ones who will form the hard core of the Red Army. So they are the ones who need training and discipline the most. Based on what you saw of the Bolsheviks in Russia, the first thing that men who wish to be soldiers must be taught is discipline. And so that is what the training shall begin with. Regrettably, the fury in them at the moment will make it harder to convince them not every rich man is their mortal enemy. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 4 months. DC: 20/60. Result: Improve discipline of Red Guards.
Encourage Veteran Recruitment: The recent veterans from the Legation Cities have not all signed up to join your ranks. And there are a fair few older veterans of other wars and "police actions" who could be perhaps convinced to join you. They have heard of the Payment Army and they are angry. Their experience and familiarity with combat will help stiffen and strengthen the Red Guards, although some could be traitors...Cost: Small loss of Relations with the Right and Left. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/50/100. Results: Recruit veteran soldiers, bonuses to other actions.
Integrate the VFW: With Butler on your side, the VFW is yours for the taking. Formally integrating them into the Red Guards will give you a significant increase in the number of experienced soldiers in your ranks. The organizational merging involved is going to be somewhat complicated given the number of differences in structure, but increasing the strength of your paramilitaries will be vital for your success. Cost: Loss of relations with the Parliamentarians, Gain in Relations for all other factions. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
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: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Veteran Cadres: With veteran soldiers having joined your rank in large numbers and more looking to rally to the red banner, it is time to truly take advantage of their expertise and begin forming cadres so that they can better develop the skills and discipline of your Red Guard. You are well aware that they will not be the equal of U.S. Army soldiers for some time, but closing the gap even slightly will be a major advantage. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30. Result: Lower DC and improve Results for training actions.
Go Hunting: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) In every city and town of America you face enemies. Hostile police forces, reactionary militias, mercenaries and Pinkertons hired by capitalists, and more. They all seek to oppress and suppress the workers. This cannot be borne. While the Red Guards continually battle in the streets, protecting protests, defending meetings, guarding agitators and organizers, they only rarely go on the offensive, and keep it strictly to retaliatory strikes on those most responsible for attacks. Asking for a more general attack would help weaken opposition, and perhaps see some justice done. Cost: Reduces support, reduces relations with the Parliamentarians, chance of it going badly. Time: 1 month. DC: 30. Results: Red Guards begin attacking class enemies, chance of gaining Resources, Support, Influence...
Street Medics: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) 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: 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 40. Results: Red Guards gain street medics, help reduce casualties.
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 to corruption. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Increase to income.
Scab Intimidation: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) 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.
Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) The Midwest bleeds, and with it your allies. While Farmer-Labor desires to maintain significant independence and has refused any notion of you protecting them with the Red Guards, Left-Farmer-Labor has promised to accept any aid you can spare. Assassinations and small-scale attacks are mostly the way of things...your Blair Brigade will show them a new way of fighting, while Red Guards will defend the people and help create new militias. Cost: Risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/?/??/???. Results: Left-Farmer-Labor and Farmer-Labor do better in the Midwest, reactionaries impacted negatively.
Strongly Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) The Midwest bleeds, and with it your allies. While Farmer-Labor desires to maintain significant independence and has refused any notion of you protecting them with the Red Guards, Left-Farmer-Labor has promised to accept any aid you can spare. Assassinations and small-scale attacks are mostly the way of things...your Blair Brigade will show them a new way of fighting, while Red Guards will defend the people and help create new militias. And any and every man and woman who volunteers will be armed and sent to protect the just and the righteous, just as slaving filibusters were defeated by volunteers from Union states so many years ago.Cost: Severe risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/?/??/???. Results: Left-Farmer-Labor and Farmer-Labor do significantly better in the Midwest, reactionaries massively impacted negatively.
An Investigation Arm: With the increasing size and activity of the Red Guard, malcontents and informers are likely slipping in, taking advantage of your activities to line their pockets or using their positions to gather information. Neither can be allowed. To counter them, some have proposed the creation of an anonymous reporting system and selecting some trustworthy individuals to investigate these reports. Though generally unpopular, you can see the potential benefits. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 3 months. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Reduction in corruption, increased chance of catching spies.
Take the Docks: In many cities, the powerful Dockworker's Unions could stop the transfer of goods at will, or smuggle goods in past customs inspectors. While this is mostly used for their own benefit, it could be a potent measure to increase the party's resources and power. Unfortunately, given the suspicion being directed at the docks currently, such an action could provoke severe crackdowns that would have significant support. Cost: Severe risk of backlash, will likely increase corruption. DC: 0/50/100/140. Results: Gain income, easier smuggling, new options unlocked.
Recruit Butler: Butler is on your side. While currently he is still the head of the VFW, he may be willing to take up a position under you as the commander of the Red Guards. He is widely respected, famously popular, and a skilled and disciplined leader. His influence will be invaluable for strengthening your paramilitaries and preparing for the bloody conflict to come. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Commit 1 Influence to Butler, get him as a subordinate.
Striking Soldiers: The news that several hundred soldiers have gone on strike has been greatly celebrated in the SPA. Even if it is not truly solidarity, it is a seed that can be watered. Careful efforts on approaching the soldiers who have gone on strike can be begun, hopefully before they are broken up or thrown in prison by untrusting army officers who are desperate to protect their class privilege. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/60/100/140. Result: increase to the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Cultural Actions
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 a staunchly secular ideology, 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 Left, loss of support from Jews and other religions. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from 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 -1 Influence, chance of increased stress. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70/120. 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: 6 months. DC: 0/25/50/100. Result: Create a system of cheap socialist private schools.
Organize Childcare, Pt. 2: You have designed your improvements to the ad hoc system of childcare, now it is time for the implementation to begin. All this will really involve is producing guides and perhaps some propaganda, but it will help. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75. Result: Encourage the creation of more equal and better-designed childcare institutions.
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. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/70/100. Result: Improve the variety of services offered by libraries.
Songs of the Revolution: The Internationale. The Preacher and the Slave. This Land is Your Land. Solidarity Forever. Many are the songs of the socialist movement. Let everyone hear them. Establish choirs and wandering musicians and every other way to spread your message through song there is. Cost: 3 Resources, -0.5 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/50/70/90/ Results: Easier recruiting, increase to morale among the party.
Unity In The Melting Pot: The Socialist Party and the IWW have long used multilingual speakers to reach out to immigrants. With the end of the Weltkrieg and the defeat of the Bolsheviks, thousands from Eastern Europe have flocked to America's shores to find conditions no better, while others have come north with Central and South America. Reaching out to those groups will be essential. The multilingual program will be expanded, to begin. Cost: None.
Time: 3 months. DC: 5/45/90. Results: Easier recruiting, increased support among immigrants.
Socialist Radio Networks: Huey Long has used the radio to spread his reactionary babble to thousands of Americans. We can do the same. Through speeches and interviews, your message can be broadcast. While some may turn off the radio rather than hear the truth, the more you reach the more you can convince. The first step will be to purchase...whatever it is that produces radio waves for broadcasts. That was never something you needed to learn in school. With migrant hordes crossing the land east and west, a way to reach them grows increasingly important. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 5/25/50/75. Results: Significantly easier recruiting, increased support.
Posters and Pamphlets: The speeches you give reach only those who hear you. Your speeches written down reach all who can read...but they are a bit too long for a poster discreetly put up or a pamphlet smuggled behind a boss's back. Beginning to create and produce snappy slogans and logos for posters and pamphlets will help you in the propaganda war, especially given the number of virulently anti-socialist publications that will smear you and your movement in any way possible. The lack of any organized system for spreading your message has led to several individuals starting up their own newspapers and similar operations to express support for socialism and syndicalism, albeit with a somewhat critical attitude to you. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 10/50/80. Results: The creation of posters and pamphlets to help spread your message, ease of recruiting.
Propagandize The Rural Areas: Farmers are intensely reactionary. The Southern smallholder made the greatest contribution to the Confederate armies during the War of the Slave Power, the yeomen resisted the creation of a bourgeois democracy during the War of American Independence. But with multiple crises of capital ravaging them economically, perhaps some can be persuaded to support you and join the most advanced segments of the working class. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Begin propagandizing farmers.
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. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/110. Result: Begin propagandizing destitute professionals.
Political Actions
Impeachment: If President Hoover has been unable to leave the White House grounds for two months, he is clearly no longer fit for office. The two-thirds majority impeachment requires is veritably impossible to achieve, but even making noises about it could help gain you support and allies, especially if you are high-profile enough. Some in your party consider it nothing but a waste of time, others feel it is a tactical error. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/40/90/200. Results: The Socialist Party initiates an impeachment motion for Hoover, chance of gaining legislative allies or support.
Poach the Democrats: The Democrats have traditionally been a party pulled in many directions - Bourbon conservatives, progressives, Southern populists, and union members, political machines - and while a significant portion of all these factions have left, there are always remnants, such as the Roosevelt family. The party as a whole rejects you wholeheartedly, but individual members can be convinced to change their allegiance. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 55/90/130. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Press the Progressives: The Progressive Party is now the second-weakest in America. Even the newly formed America First Party has surpassed them. They hold a few scattered seats in the west and Midwest and little more. This weakness is also what makes them vulnerable. They will collapse as a national party without intervention, you suspect. And you can offer this intervention. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/40/70. Results: You convince some members of the Progressive Party to switch allegiance to you.
Pro-Worker Legislation: It would ordinarily be unlikely to pass, at least on a federal level, but demanding it will make a statement in and of itself. And you will not just push this legislation on a federal level. These laws will focus on the things workers have fought for. Better wages, workplace safety, price caps for company stores...with the stroke of a pen, they can be spread across the country, and it will be the SPA that will take the lion's share of the credit. Unfortunately, the current mood in Congress is intensely hostile to you. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/90/100/120. Results: You pass worker-protection laws on the state and possibly federal level and can gain varying amounts of support.
State-Level Agriculture Bills: With the increasingly large dust storms and the damage to the soil in the Great Plains, measures need to be taken to ensure the cities remain fed and that the farmers do not suffer unduly. The experience and expertise of Farmer-Labor has already greatly assisted in preparing bills to serve both urban and rural workers. Cost: May lose support in rural areas. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80. Results: Pass laws in various states to ensure that food remains affordable and provide limited relief for farmers.
Party Lawyers: Many potentially vital laws are being held up in the courts. And frankly, you have a shortage of good lawyers. There are some willing to work for free from dedication to the cause, but most lack the wealth for that or are entirely uninterested in working for you. But enough filthy lucre can solve that problem. Cost: 1 Resource, -1 Resource per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 40. Results: Hire some lawyers to help defend the laws you get passed.
Local Elections: Mayors, sheriffs, county judges. All positions of undeniable importance to the people who elect them. Beginning a campaign to get favorable individuals elected into those positions in the areas you don't completely dominate will help set favorable ground for future elections or revolutionary actions. With the chaotic situations in many Midwestern states, the potential leverage is immense. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/40/80. Results: Increase support on the local level.
Staff State Offices: The state bureaucracies are often intensely hostile to the efforts of the SPA, but while they are an obstacle they are one who can be defeated, or at least gone around. Beginning to hire loyal socialists and syndicalists will allow you to gradually begin purging these hostile organizations. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/45/90. Results: Begin gradually purging and replacing hostile burueacrats, slow enough that there should be minimal loss of institutional knowledge.
Expand the Eviction Moratorium: The current anti-eviction laws are rather weak, although if they are any stronger they will almost certainly be struck down by the courts. But passing more will help nonetheless. You may not approve of all of Andrew Jackson's decisions, especially not the one you are thinking of, but you may well end up paraphrasing him. Let the states expand their protections until none may be removed from their home by force, and let the courts try and stop you. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/25/50/75. Result: Pass stronger and broader state-level eviction moratoriums.
Farmer Relief Funds: Broader rural relief laws that will address the causes of the Dust Bowl are all well and good, but right now more direct aid is needed. Simply throwing money at the problem is sloppy, inefficient, vulnerable to all forms of conviction...and the simplest policy that can be passed. It's also recommended by some members of Farmer-Labor in the worst affected areas. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40. Result: Pass subsidies for farmers.
Anti-Reactionary Laws: To give a backing of legitimacy to your efforts to act against the reactionary militias, laws can be passed to make them into threats to peace and order. Partisan wording will ensure they do not apply to your Red Guards, who can then go and conduct a citizen's arrest. Cost: Chance of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/20/40/60. Result: Reduce size of reactionary militias, reduce backlash for acting against them.
Wealth Taxes: The federal relief bill you passed has dramatically eased the financial costs of the states working to protect their people, but they will run out eventually. The grants were large, but the state's income streams have not changed. Correct that, by passing savage wealth and inheritance taxes that will ensure the upper-class pay their fair share. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50. Result: Begin passing state-level wealth taxes.
Intellectual Actions
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.
Create an Educational Program: Designing a socialist education program will be just one of the many questions you have to answer after the revolution. There are important differences in content and teaching style and likely other things as well. Begin looking into who is an expert in such things and start drawing up the broad strokes of what a curriculum will cover. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Begin designing an education program.
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 -1 Influence. Time: 6 months. DC: No roll. Result: Begin coming up with a more detailed roadmap for socialist America, begin unlocking actions to create small-scale imitations/programs related to this.
Who Supports Who?: If you looked out the window to see New York City, you would think nine in ten supported you. You are not fool enough to think that, of course. The Payment Army alone disproves that, let alone the bullying your daughter has experienced, the endless attempts at suppression, the thousands of letters denouncing you. Beginning to get an accurate count will be vital for effectively directing your efforts. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Get a general idea of where your support is strong and weak and what people are concerned about.
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: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Counter anti-Semitic narratives, increase in support from Jews, small chance of +1 Influence.
Proletarian Unity: The workers of the world must be united. There are false divisions embedded deep into the American psyche. Racism is the greatest but by no means the only one. Target these divides, weld them together as best you can. Make promises of restitution and justice, publicize what you stand for. It will be difficult and potentially dangerous, but you have to start somewhere. Cost: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence, chance of losing support. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/75/125. Result: Counter racist narratives, increase support from minorities, small chance of +1 Influence.
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. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Creation of curriculum, improved results and lowered difficulty for Organize Education.
The Legacy of the Grange: The Grange was a vaguely socialist, mixed-race organization for farmers to help them progress and grant assistance through a variety of methods, from community support to political activism. The sudden rise of Farmer-Labor and the current devastation has caused it to decline greatly. But it can rise again, better and stronger. With Farmer-Labor on your side, a remnant of the Grange is as well. Begin a program of revitalization and create a new ideology for it. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: New, more socialist/syndicalist/anarchist/some form of leftist ideology for the Grange, new options for dealing with it unlocked.
Intrigue Actions
Siphon Party Funds: The first step in performing covert actions is to acquire funds to do so. Simply taking money directly from the party treasury strikes you as a bad idea, as the resulting vanishing will be wide open for anyone who looks. So instead you will arrange for a few dribbles of cash to vanish into an account you can use for off-the-books problem-solving. Cost: -0.1 Resources per month. Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70. Result: +0.1 Resources per turn goes into a dark fund you can draw upon for covert ops.
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: 25/50/75/100. Result: Increase to income.
Hire an Assistant Secretary: You need someone who is good at this sort of thing. Someone trustworthy, loyal and competent. That's going to be really hard to find...but at the same time it is undeniably necessary. How would you even begin to find that? Cost: Risky...and you will have to commit an Authority to them. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/??/????. Result: Find some potential spymasters, can delegate Influence or Authority to them.
Foreign Assistance: The success of the French and the British (and the Italians and Mexicans) gives you hope, both because they prove it is possible for socialism to triumph (you almost despaired of that after Russia) and because it means that you can call on them for assistance. Funds, trainers, spies...you don't know what you can get till you ask. Cost: Risk of discovery, possible favors. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. Result: Gain some form of foreign support.
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. 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: No roll. Result: Improvement to Rumors and News section.
Revolutionary Guards: People have been threatening to kill you and your family and other leaders for a long time. You have developed protection against overt attacks, but perhaps it is time to begin developing a more covert sort of protection as well. Cost: - 2 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Create an organization of plainclothes bodyguards for you, your family, and other important figures. Unlock additional counterintelligence actions.
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 in your strength in an area, and help increase the chances of more overt intervention. Cost: Risk to the lives and health of the agitators 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.
Covert Investigation: Quietly looking into the behavior of a subordinate might allow you to remove them before they can become an embarrassment, or simply confirm their innocence without risking giving the impression they have lost your confidence. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. Result: Find any wrongdoing for chosen subordinate.
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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. 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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Increase chances of avoiding discovery for embezzlement actions.
Infiltrate the Army: With the contacts Butler has given you, you now have a simple way of infiltrating the army. Selecting volunteers from the Red Guards and having them sign up will enable you to gain some low-level infiltration, while going through the men he introduced you to will enable you to hear rumors and gossip from higher levels. MacArthur is certainly planning to use the army against you, you must find out how. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/125/??/???. Result: Make contacts within the military.
Contact with the French and British: With the ports opened to French and British ships, the possibility of contact with your fellow syndicalists has just grown dramatically easier. The providing of support for you during the Revolution is a guarantee, what is less likely is them assisting you during this lead-up due to the difficulty of it, but the Syndintern will surely be able to provide something. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Contact the Syndintern
Personal Actions
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 punch Huey Long in his fat face or 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 once per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: May make 1 change to 1 subordinate's priorities (change order, add one, remove one).
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. Cost: Variable amount of Relations, changes in Strength of factions. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Relations and Strength allows.
Choose A Focus: You are currently taking On the Farms. There is 1 month Left
The Union Forever! - Through the most difficult and darkest days, it was the unions that kept the revolutionary spirit alive. Let the unions stand forever. No reactionary or capitalist can defeat the people, united. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain national spirit The Union Forever (Effect: +1 Strength to the Left faction per month).
In the Cities - The cities are already where you are strongest, but there are still bourgeoise who can be convinced to turn against their class and proletariat who can be given consciousness, to say nothing of the lumpen. Time: 1 month. Effect: Modify The Struggle Carries On! (+1 Appeal in Urban Areas per month)
On the Farms - The rural areas are often strongly conservative, but there are masses of people who can nevertheless be convinced to join the struggle for liberation. The key is to approach them properly. Time: 2 months. Effect: Modify The Struggle Carries On! (+0.5 Appeal in Rural Areas per month)
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).
The courts in Chicago have seen better days. The once proud and stately buildings have had their facades desecrated with graffiti, their proud statues hacked down and crushed into rubble, their occupants turned into furtive, scampering creatures who came in in groups and kept their heads low to avoid the anger of the Red Guards. They no longer had the power and majesty they once did, not when the police refused to serve the warrants issued and the juries listened to socialist agitators before the instructions of the judges.
Judge Smith peered out one of the upper-level windows with a bitter smile on his face. Despite his relative youth, he moved with the careful gingerness of an ancient, decrepit man. One arm was in a sling.
There, in the streets below, a mob of young men gathered. He could hear their angry shouts, at each other and at the courthouse, and he let out a sigh.
Some months ago he struck down a law requiring all businesses to give their workers free meals. He had feared the precedent such a law would make, he had feared that many of Chicago's fragile businesses would collapse and leave people worse off than before, even as he had recognized the reason the law had been passed, even as the amount of money he spent on his meals also went to running the soup kitchens that fed them.
After a moment, he let out a sigh. The shouting was only getting louder, and fiercer, and more vicious. They would break in soon enough, but maybe...
He trudged down like a condemned man to his hanging, making his way outside.
"YOUNG MEN! YOUNG MEN!!" he bellowed, straining to be heard over the sounds of their fury.
They halted and turned to him, and whatever words he had in mind fled.
"I-If you have grievances, surely there's a better way to air..."
He found himself cut off, a vicious tide of insult and invective flowing over him. And then he felt something hard smash into his chest, and a stone fell to earth. And then he felt nothing at all.
You decried the court system, calling it undemocratic and reactionary, pointing out unjust sentences and judicial corruption. You list dozens of injunctions against laws to see the hungry fed and the naked clothed while laws to steal the bread from their mouths and the shirts from their backs passed through their courtrooms with nary a whisper. You stop just short of advocating for their tarring and feathering, instead noting "if the courts continue to defy the will of the American people, the American people will turn to other ways to make their will known."
Some judges find their opinions on controversial rules changing. Some choose to retire, and more pliable replacements are selected. Some stand and defiant, and fall defiantly. But sometimes the reactionaries have victories.
Los Angeles was not a city where unions ruled. Here the police were dominant, the police and the Concerned Citizens Groups who worked with them. "But," Shi thought, "the working class is still mighty."
Twenty thousand men and women had joined the march, of all peoples. He saw Koreans and Chinese and even a few Japanese marching alongside the white workers, united and defiant. The police and their running dogs were struggling to respond, having not heard a word of the march before it began. Such was the benefit of ignoring the rules of the capitalist state when needed.
The twenty thousand marched on, while those who had not joined fled, sheltering in buildings or cowering on the sidewalks. A few police tried to form a line but were swept aside and clubbed down.
They were getting closer and closer to their destination, and still there was no organized resistance. Shi let out a whoop of excitement. "Faster, comrades, faster! Nothing can stop us, nothing can slow us!" he cried, barely audible over the slogans of his marching companions, but the tramp of their feet began to move swifter.
And then it all went wrong. He would piece it together later, but in the moment all he knew was a cry of "Company, halt!" and then there were a hundred cracks of thunder and they were running, their fierce unity shattered in an instant. Some charged forth, others ran away, but all were cut down.
And Shi stood there, paralyzed, blessed and cursed with seeming invincibility until a pair of Concerned Citizens grabbed him and dragged him off to jail.
But such failures were few and far between.
Result: Many recalcitrant judges are either no longer recalcitrant or no longer judges, passing laws will be easier, minimal backlash.
Integrate Farmer-Labor: 1 influence
The Dust Bowl has radicalized many members of Farmer-Labor, but not in any truly ideological sense. They do not reject capitalism or the toxins it creates, but they know they want change and they want it now, and they aren't too particular about the form it will take. You suspect that is why such a large portion of the people you hoped to poach joined the American Farmers Party instead.
But many have chosen the cause of socialism instead, and you do not wish to neglect them. Making room for them in the party is a delicate process, and the CSA refuses to grant seats to any of them unless they have a union backing them, but they do vote to offer assistance to those who wish to organize, and Farmer-Labor uses what weight they have to try and prevent those organizers from being abused.
The cooperation this requires seems to have built some degree of bridges between the various factions and their new comrades, and already more plans are being made.
Result: Cost and DCs reduced, effects increased, new actions unlocked.
Create Mobile Aid Teams: 1 Influence, 72+10 = 82
The mobile aid teams are one of the first beneficiaries of Farmer-Labor experience. The teams, since they are recruited from SPA strongholds, are largely unfamiliar with both Midwestern manners and the sheer terror of the dust storms. Advice on how to handle both is indispensable, and the groups are sent out in trucks piled high with food, dust masks, and clothing. They drive off into the Dust Bowl, offering their assistance, meeting the caravans of refugees and sharing out their supplies and hearing people's opinions.
While the charity is doubtless appreciated, the political impact it has is questionable. Even with the preparation and refinement done to suit your propaganda to American sensibilities, the hostility the aid teams report is immense, and some of them don't report back at all.
This news has radicalized some members of your own party and of Farmer-Labor, pushing them closer to the center.
And the teams that concentrate on states with friendly governments do report success. The people in states controlled by the SPA are much less inclined to attack SPA representatives, and are more inclined to listen. They are still frequently hostile, but the recruiting in the rural areas of New York and Indiana, among other states, has increased.
Result: Anemic popularity gains in the Midwest, more significant gains in the rural areas of states with existing SPA presences.
Credit to the Unions: 1 Influence, 22+10 = 32
The National Worker's Credit Union is at last formally established. Headquartered in New York City, but with several regional branches already appearing in major cities, it will doubtless serve as a vital resource for many. Many new accounts are being opened, including one for you - most of your finances have been transferred from your old bank to this union. You solemnly cast the first vote for the Bank Manager to thunderous applause.
And as you cast it, schemes for how to use this bank to finance vital operations and formally take over enterprises for the benefit of the workers. race through your mind.
Result: Credit union established, new options unlocked.
Integrate the VFW: 1 influence, 96+10 = 106
Not every soldier in the VFW is an out-and-out socialist, and even fewer want to take up arms against their country. Butler was willing, but you expected him to be an outlier, to have to argue and persuade and convince, and then even then you thought at least half the VFW would walk out.
Instead, your recruiters find chapter after chapter busily arguing politics and morality, having grown increasingly incensed with the government and disillusioned with the way the world works. And when they are offered an alternative, a viable one that has triumphed in Britain and France and Mexico, a possibility to truly fulfill the American dream...they grab it like a drowning man snatching at a lifeline.
Hundreds are formally inducted into the Red Guards the first night, and even as their comrades introduce them to Marxist theory, teaching them of exploitation and alienation and the means of production, they teach lessons learned in hard and bloody fights over many years of battle.
Of course, not all of it goes so smoothly. Some refuse, some hesitate, and there are inevitable conflicts. You and your assistants and agitators will have to spend some time "greasing the wheel" you expect.
Result: Significant increase in size and skill of the Red Guards, action will continue for one more month.
That will have to wait till later though. There are battles to be fought and won, not just in the city strongholds or the scattered towns so many of these veterans left at the behest of your aid teams, but in the chaotic, grit-choked, bloodsoaked fields of the Great Plains. Lurid tales of atrocity and counter-atrocity, of feuds being settled under the guise of patriotism, of entire refugee columns being gunned down, have poured out, leaving every American incensed and horrified.
Of course, the worst stories, the ones of marauding cannibal hordes and warlords taking over entire towns, are never quite confirmed, but that doesn't decrease the tension people are feeling. You are not the only one who remembers the events in Kansas just a few years before the Civil War.
The initial movements are careful and cautious. Sections of the Red Guards, led by the Blair Brigade, take train rides as far into the Dust Bowl as they can before traveling on foot to picked towns, ones controlled by Left-Farmer-Labor or your new recruits.
You barely hear of what happens, but you can imagine it.
A bullet slammed down into the doorframe of the home he had dived into, as the town's militia rallied to drive them off. He snapped a shot off in the general direction of the church as the woman in the house broke free from her stunned shock. "Out, you damned Red!" she shrieked, brandishing a knife.
"Shut up, bitch!" he spat back, turning and bringing his rifle to bear on the new target..."
"Comrade Kirkgard, I regret to inform you that we arrived too late. Reactionary militias had already attacked your family. Your wife is still alive, although she is badly hurt, and we were able to recover your son's body before it was desecrated."
The refugee column hadn't been their initial target, but they were honest workers and the area was thick with bandits and other predators. A sympathetic farmer had tipped them off that Longist gangs were roving the area, shooting anyone who refused to make a "contribution" with whatever they had. So he had picked half the Red Guard and led them with the column, but so far their presence seemed to be a sufficient deterrent.
He patrolled along the edge of the place they had chosen to camp for the night, where he placed guards. Frowning, he noticed one wasn't visible. Advancing, he stepped in something wet. He looked down, his eyes widened, and -
You do hear of many successes though, as towns east of Des Moine and north of St. Louis are secured by the efforts of your Red Guards. Reactionaries are purged, workers are protected, and the potential for labor organizations is established.
And then the U. S. Army moves in to "restore order." Hundreds of soldiers march into dozens of towns and cities in the Midwest, accompanied by newspapermen and photographers eager to confirm the horrors of the Dust Bowl for their readers safe in New York and San Francisco.
[] Tell the Red Guards to pull back. They can't trust the army to be impartial, and any towns with a syndicalist presence risk being massacred. They will avoid the risks of adventurism, but also lose any progress they have made towards gaining support.
[] With the army come reporters. Massacres of the scale necessary to break your Red Guards would be worse for the government than the Battle of Blair Mountain, the Columbine Mine Massacre, or the Payment Army Suppression. Have your men stay in place. Have them offer to help the army, in fact.
State-Level Agriculture Bills: 1 Authority
A whole suite of bills is passed in a dozen states, as the alliance of Farmer-Labor and the Socialist Party brings forth its first fruit. With hostile judges muzzled or replaced, there is not a whisper of protest or opposition.
The first law, and undeniably the most important, is the one ensuring that farmers can stay farming and that the cities will remain fed. Strict price limits are established for staple goods, both ceilings and floors, funds for creating irrigation systems are set aside, and a system for educating farmers in new and better farming methods is created...a system designed to encourage them into setting up communal farms that can use machinery, irrigation, and sustainable techniques with greater efficiency.
Meanwhile, a set of new fertilizer plants begin construction in Chicago, Des Moines, and Madison.
Result: Food prices are beginning to stabilize slightly, slight increase in rural support.
Farmer Relief Funds: 1 Influence, 6+10=16
The second is a more stopgap measure. $60 checks are sent out to the impoverished farmers, with a letter insisting that they do not spend it on their mortgages. Instead, the money should go to "seeds, modernizing their farms, or community support."
The state treasuries groan under the weight of this burden, even with the federal subsidy, but that doesn't matter. The nation is in crisis. Let the government go into debt. What matters is that the hungry are fed.
Result: -1 Influence, increase in rural support, state coffers beginning to run low.
Expand the Eviction Moratorium: 1 Influence, 91+10 =101
The third law is what begins to alarm the conservative media. Vice President Curtis decries the abuse of government authority and suggests a syndicalist conspiracy working to deprive honest, righteous Americans of their hard-earned farms and homes. Homes and farms they bought with the sweat of others.
You don't even bother replying, letting others point out that different members of a political party passing the same laws is hardly unusual.
When the Vice President threatens to send in the army to enforce his instructions and calls upon judges to overturn the laws, you prepare a reply, but Huey Long comes to your defense first, attacking government overreach and federal tyranny, calling Curtis just as bad as the syndicalists.
And while the two reactionary politicians tear chunks out of each other, state police and Red Guards begin halting evictions. Landlords will have to do more than just sit there and count their dollars if they want the rent to keep coming in now.
Result: Eviction is now illegal in all SPA states. While officially temporary, many expect this state of affairs to be permanent.
Anti-Reactionary Laws: 1 Influence, 55+10 = 65
The final law on the agenda is somewhat more unpleasant for many. Even members of your own party are reluctant to vote for it, but simple necessity is a compelling argument. Reactionary militias are growing in strength, backing scabs and protecting agents of capitalism. They must have their legal protection stripped away.
The first part bans scabbing, calling it unlawful interference in labor disputes without outside or mutual agreement. The second bans militias made to intimidate workers and racial and religious terror. The final part is what enables Red Guards to conduct citizen's arrests. It is this law that provides you a legal fig leaf, it is this law that might protect your Red Guards in the Dust Bowl.
Result: Laws banning certain militia groups passed, Totalists strengthened.
Report from the Coordination Committee: 47
What do you do when the people are resisting the government with violence? Meet them with violence of course. The newly socialized police forces are strengthened, given the ability to temporarily deputize and empower citizens, and funds are earmarked for giving them heavier weaponry and specialized, more professional teams to deal with bank robberies and similar actions.
Someone proposes establishing a small airforce of light propeller planes for the Chicago police after some former police and mobsters steal a truck and successfully escape a city. It is vetoed on budget grounds.
Report from the State Legislative Committee: 82
The state governments focus on setting up seed banks and experimental farming communes on public land with what little time they can spare from passing other laws. The rest of their spare time is spent arguing with each other and with state officials to see that the various laws are passed properly - there is significant resistance to what one bureaucrat describes as "a waste of money and time taking red-blooded American farmers and turning them into Soviet peasants through cockanamie lessons on things they already know."
Report from Norman Thomas: 77+10 = 87
Norman has found unexpected success in passing a resolution condemning "the bloodthirsty and vile practice of lynching, most particularly as it is used to suppress and abuse the Negro communities despite their lawful rights to protection under the law."
While significant portions of the Democrats voted against it, the America First Party largely abstained and you and your allies all eagerly supported the measure. The resolution is entirely symbolic, but it's a symbol that can only help you gain the support of the downtrodden sharecroppers of the South.
Ask a Favor
You spend nearly an hour on the phone on the 2nd of July, looking at your agenda as you speak to a dozen leading figures, convincing them to leave aside their own efforts temporarily to help you pass a suite of laws and provide the velvet glove and the iron fist to those hostile to your agenda. It works, although you know you have burnt a great deal of favor. The evident success of your political campaigns has mitigated the impact, but now even more people are arguing about electoralism.
Spend Time With Your Family
Despite your busy schedule, you make sure to find time for your family. You will not neglect them anymore, not if you can help it. Your attention is returned eagerly by Hannah. She might not quite think you are immortal and invincible and unquestionable anymore, but she still greatly admires you.
Every single day you take her home from the party offices, asking questions about what she did and telling her about what you did. She shows you copies of the letters she wrote to Red Guards and the sketches she drew. Lately, she has been trying her hand at buildings instead of people. Fantastical structures that seem like they would never hold up under their own weight decorate the pages she brings home and hangs up in her room.
You don't quite get her fascination with them, but you make sure to never let her know that. She would be crushed if she thought you uninterested, and you would hate yourself if you did that.
Result: Stress lowered, Health slightly improved.
Focus: On the Farms
The alliance with Farmer-Labor and the efforts of the SPA as a whole has revitalized you in rural areas. Outside of your stronghold states, many farmers are still mystified slaves of capital or eager footsoldiers of reaction, but those who proclaim their admiration for Long or their support for MacArthur have grown fewer and further between. You will have to race to persuade others, more distant from the evident benefits of socialism, but that can wait. The gains you have made are undeniable.
Nathan had wanted to be a poet, not a soldier. But only one of those options kept his belly full, and so the other was relegated to half-imagined lines and scribbles on the back of the letters he sent home.
But sometimes there were moments that could not help but force words from his mouth.
This was one such moment, as he jumped out the train to view a scene from the depths of hell. A burned church towered high over a shattered town, a place of shattered windows and blood-stained walls. Dust piled up like snowdrifts in hundreds of places, and from some of these drifts thrust out bits of flesh. The smell was indescribable, rusty and rotten and dry as bone. And staring down with a pitiless gaze at all was a sun rendered red and hazy and distant.
"Behold, Armageddon has come to the Midwest. Behold, man is rendered into ash and dust." he whispered.
The lieutenant barked commands, and they split up into sections, marching down the ravaged streets. They had seen many towns and villages scarred by the fighting and the dust, but this one was by far the most ravaged. He wondered if they would find anyone alive. He wondered what had driven everyone insane. There were signs of what happened everywhere, but nothing that told him. Perhaps it was buried.
He shivered slightly, despite the heat of the summer sun.
"Blood, skull, and bone bleached under the hateful sun. Humanity now has fled, life has turned and run."
They tramped down the streets, choking, blinding clouds rising that they struggled to see through. The only sounds were the ones they made, and they seemed distant and faded. Gradually, they made their way out from the train station until they reached the edge of town.
On the train, they had laughed and joked about yokels scared of a little dust, about Reds and Longists who would scatter as soon as they fixed their bayonets. None of it seemed funny now. No one joked. The town had died, and it had not been a clean death.
The piercing shriek of the lieutenant's whistle cut through his thoughts, slicing another morbid line of poetry and sending them scurrying back to the train station.
The company soon formed up there, and whispers spread through the ranks. The whole town was empty except for the dead...but some people had left, walking away, abandoning their cars when they failed to work.
Somehow, Nathaniel found that idea more terrifying than the thought of them all dying as they were set to work digging mass graves and hurling the bodies into them, the chaplain saying a brief prayer as corpse after corpse was thrown into the pit.
Fresh fluids began to stain the ground as fresh soldiers staggered out of line to vomit and heave. As the painful duty ended, the company cooks came around with beer for everyone. Not a single person said no.
Rumors and News
The violence in the Midwest has trickled to a halt. The dust storms get worse and worse, burying men alive and leaving towns blanketed in darkness for days at a time, which certainly helps, but the main contributor is the Federal Army, at least if you believe their official reports. Various reporters are far more likely to credit either the Minutemen or the Red Guards, depending on location and attitude.
You are more popular in Iowa and Missouri, while Long...Long has recovered significantly from previous missteps, with the help of one of the commanding generals of the intervention, who eagerly accepted the humanitarian aid sent by the AFP in a variety of forms, ranging from preachers carrying messages of hope and salvation to stockpiled grain. Long himself even went to visit, bringing a message of hope and solidarity. Significantly, small portions of the aid were diverted specifically for minority groups, securing Long applause from many groups even as other bands of his supporters continue their policy of rapine and terror.
The rest of the federal intervention is broadly competent, with failures and successes in equal measure, seemingly dependent on the skill of the officers under MacArthur. Angry reports of refugee mismanagement causing children to suffocate on a train clash with paeans of praise for the brave soldiers who dug into buried farmhouses out to rescue families.
Your impression of the army seems correct - they have been given strict orders about starting fights, and there's nothing more than a half dozen skirmishes between Red Guards and federal troops. Unfortunately, the Red Guards did not use their time all that effectively. They are not skilled organizers, and many of them were not pleased with their accommodations, the food, or the attitude of the people they had protected from bandits or militia. There have been some cases of poor behavior reported to you that have been dealt with through internal discipline or by the town sheriffs.
Some units have even decided to leave after voting on the matter, choosing instead to return to their homes and families and continue the struggle from there. Similarly, members of the CSA and the SPA have begun to question your intense focus on the rural areas. While you are undeniably gaining support in those places, the number of unemployed workers continues to rise, and many of them are being radicalized against you.
From Canada, a single letter is smuggled across the border. It reads "They are hunting us."
And around the world, tensions begin to rise. Border tensions in western India lead to a series of brief skirmishes between National India and The Free Nation of Baluchistan, with Japan supporting the warlord master of the separatist state. Iran begins to make overtures to Egypt as the Ottoman Empire manages to attract significant German investment, including the establishment of two new arms factories.
German and Japanese support continues to spread, presumably in an effort to counter syndicalism. South Carolina, Florida, Hawaii, and California all see generous deals made with desperate businessmen.
[Slight gain of support in rural areas, slight decrease in urban support.]
Plans from Subordinates
The Coordination Committee has turned their attention to expanding municipal governments, using the expansion of employment to weaken the recruiting efforts of the slowly suffocating reactionary militias.
The State Legislative Committee is working on relief programs, desperately trying to stem the endless bleeding the shattered capital system is inflicting upon millions of workers. They are struggling to overcome resistance in bureaucracies and on the local level.
Norman Thomas, meanwhile, intends to continue his efforts in minority protection. Getting serious legislation through is going to be impossible, but he intends to make as much noise as he possibly can.
You have 7 Influence and 2 Authority total. 0 Authority and 1 Influence are committed to ongoing actions. You are not currently taking any foci.
Mandates: Successfully propagandize towards farmers in 2 months (from The Syndicalists).
Party Actions
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 and hostile interruption. 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. The possibilities of the written word are limitless. Cost: 2 Resources 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 topic. 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 Social 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.
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, county governments. You even effectively control some 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 of 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. Cost: Significant and dangerous backlash from within and without the Party, possible legal challenges. Time: 3 months. DC: 70/140/180/220. 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 Influence or Authority. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Results: Increase Relations and Strength of selected faction, chance of gaining Influence.
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 change to 1 subordinate. Can be taken multiple times.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/180. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
Open Investigation: If a subordinate is unpopular or incompetent, you can begin publically looking into their performance. This can wash off some of the reflected stink, particularly if you find something, but if there is no evidence of wrongdoing or fraud that can only make the situation worse or lead to questions of your judgement. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Some chance of finding problems with chosen subordinate, options to deal with problems, chance of +1 Influence.
Support Subordinate: Expressing confidence in a subordinate, either by offering direct aid or by giving material support, can boost their performance, especially if there isn't a structural reason for their failures. Cost: Write-in. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Positive modifier to chosen subordinate, chance of them gaining positive trait.
Acquire Expertise: You are only one man, you cannot know or do everything. Having trusted subordinates who can do part of the work helps, but so too does having trusted advisors, people who can offer you advice for dealing with things you don't quite understand. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Find assistant for chosen subject who can give bonuses and penalties to rolls and other situations.
Push for Rural Assistance: The priority for most of the SPA are the urban areas and the mining strongholds. Between the fact that most farmers are petty producers and their famed social conservatism, there is relatively little concern for their fates beyond vague acknowledgements. Even the rural relief bills many are advocating for are primarily focused on keeping a large supply of food for the cities available. Despite the revolutionary potential of many rural groups, they are being effectively abandoned to be turned into the footsoldiers of reaction. Though it will strain the limits of your position, insisting on more effort will hopefully encourage the party to give more thought to farmers and farmworkers. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 2 months. DC: 40/80. Result: Unlock new actions focusing on supporting and recruiting among farmers,
Anarchist Organizations: Anarchists are no longer as prominent a scare-word as they once were. Socialism and syndicalism are the new words to make the bourgeoisie and their running dogs wet themselves in fear. The reduced propaganda against them makes them potentially quite useful...and you remember hearing that the Black Army was highly popular among Ukranian peasants. Perhaps approaching them to form an Anarchist Grange may help you gain support in the Bleeding Midwest. And if they fail, most of the party will be unconcerned. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: You and the CSA select a rural-focused organizer from The Anarchist faction, gain in Strength for the Anarchists.
Union Actions
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.
Appoint Union Representative: There are dozens of unions, many with hundreds or thousands of chapters. A rare few even have branches in Canada, with a rarer few having branches in Mexico. The Combined Syndicates serves as a forum to allow them to coordinate and cooperate, but the vagaries of time and travel mean that the larger meetings are often sparsely attended. Electing (although your influence will help make it an effective appointment) a representative to help manage the syndicates, smooth over disputes, and ensure all voices are heard would reduce the growing pains the CSA is suffering from. However, the notion is not entirely popular...Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Subvote to determine who you will support for Union Representative and how much to invest in them.
Prepare Rural Unions: Rural areas are utterly lacking in the sort of density mines or cities have that labor organizers and workers used to create their powerful unions. A new approach will need to be devised, or more likely multiple to approach the different situations you will doubtless encounter. Perhaps some of the newer unions or the Montant and Colorado miners have some insight? Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Improved chance of success for actions in rural areas.
Establish Community Gardens: The cities of America are filled with vacant lots and crumbling buildings. Reclaiming the buildings will have to be part of a larger effort, but the lots can be used to the benefit of the people by establishing gardens. Though they will take many months, the fresh vegetables will improve the quality of the food served by the soup kitchens...and hopefully reduce expenses. Cost: 5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/60. Result: +2 Resources per turn after 3 months.
Mutual Aid Foundations: While directly expanding the soup kitchens would benefit many, a less costly alternative would be the establishment of mutual aid organizations to ensure that people are fed. Since they are less directly dependent on the SPA buying food for them, they will be cheaper for you to maintain, but still serve to provide relief to the struggling masses and help expose them to socialist ideals. The examples of such institutions being created in Chicago have helped show the way. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Improve quality of food kitchens.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/150. 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.
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? Cost: Small chance of -1 Influence, loss of relations with the Syndicalists. 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/35/70/100. Result: Increase in income, establishment of market cooperatives in locations with a strong SPA presence. Small chance of gaining +1 Influence, increase to relations with the Right.
Push for Reduced Hours: With an enormous influx of unemployed workers, the capitalists of the cities are able to find fresh sources of scabs, or else they suffer and languish without any work. The reactionary militias, despite the increasing suppression they are enduring, also gain the majority of their recruits from these unemployed masses. Reviving a measure used before would help fix both these. The union workers would reduce their hours, working less time and therefore requiring more workers. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/120. Result: Amount of unemployed workers is reduced.
Support Housing Cooperatives: The existing housing cooperatives are...poorly designed. Often ill-equipped, uncomfortable, utterly lacking in privacy, and frequently without many or any basic amenities, you have been rightfully pilloried for their quality. Even with the recent and substantial influx of support, they have not improved as much as you would expect. Further investments, for them and the Tenant's Unions, will hopefully allow the situation to get better. Cost: 5 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Improvement in living conditions, increase in support.
Unionized Only!: As the number of potential scabs in the cities increase, measures need to be taken to prevent them from diluting the power of the unions and stealing their hard-won benefits. Begin establishing "union-shops" in the factories, forcing the owners to promise that they will not hire anyone if they are not willing to join the unions. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/45/90/135. Result: Increase the amount of people in unions.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/75/100/125/150. Result: Large, one-time boost to income.
Street Brigades: Another proposal to deal with the immense number of potential scabs, reactionaries-in-waiting, and unemployed workers that are flocking to the city is to hire them for various jobs neglected by the municipal government such as fire services for poorer neighborhoods, street-cleaners, and other such tasks. While potentially costly, the work and the pay will fill their bellies and salve their pride, while giving them opportunities to be exposed to socialist rhetoric. Cost: -3 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Begin recruiting unemployed workers into labor brigades and exposing them to socialist rhetoric.
Militant Actions
Additional Weapons: The armaments of your "regular" Red Guards are highly irregular, and the "irregulars" who sometimes join in during protests or strikes are even worse off. Beginning to create armories of weapons will help equip both. The first step will be to acquire things like billy clubs and batons, both to avoid attracting unfortunate attention and because stockpiling guns in the current climate is needlessly risky...Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Create stockpiles of "non-lethal" weapons for the use of the Red Guards.
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: 10 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/20/60/100. Result: Increased armaments for Red Guards, ease of training Red Guards increased, further actions to arm and equip Red Guards unlocked.
Instilling Discipline, Pt.1: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) Every branch of the Red Guards contains at least a few who do it more or less full-time. These are some of your most dedicated and radical supporters, and when the time comes they are the ones who will form the hard core of the Red Army. So they are the ones who need training and discipline the most. Based on what you saw of the Bolsheviks in Russia, the first thing that men who wish to be soldiers must be taught is discipline. And so that is what the training shall begin with. Regrettably, the fury in them at the moment will make it harder to convince them not every rich man is their mortal enemy. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 4 months. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Improve discipline of Red Guards.
(1 Influence Committed) Integrate the VFW: With Butler on your side, the VFW is yours for the taking. Formally integrating them into the Red Guards will give you a significant increase in the number of experienced soldiers in your ranks. The organizational merging involved is going to be somewhat complicated given the number of differences in structure, but increasing the strength of your paramilitaries will be vital for your success. Cost: Loss of relations with the Parliamentarians, Gain in Relations for all other factions. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
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: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Veteran Cadres: With veteran soldiers having joined your rank in large numbers and more looking to rally to the red banner, it is time to truly take advantage of their expertise and begin forming cadres so that they can better develop the skills and discipline of your Red Guard. You are well aware that they will not be the equal of U.S. Army soldiers for some time, but closing the gap even slightly will be a major advantage. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30. Result: Lower DC and improve Results for training actions.
Go Hunting: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) In every city and town of America you face enemies. Hostile police forces, reactionary militias, mercenaries and Pinkertons hired by capitalists, and more. They all seek to oppress and suppress the workers. This cannot be borne. While the Red Guards continually battle in the streets, protecting protests, defending meetings, guarding agitators and organizers, they only rarely go on the offensive, and keep it strictly to retaliatory strikes on those most responsible for attacks. Asking for a more general attack would help weaken opposition, and perhaps see some justice done. Cost: Reduces support, reduces relations with the Parliamentarians, chance of it going badly. Time: 1 month. DC: 30. Results: Red Guards begin attacking class enemies, chance of gaining Resources, Support, Influence...
Street Medics: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) 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: 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 40. Results: Red Guards gain street medics, help reduce casualties.
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 to corruption. Time: 1 month. DC: 45/90/135. Result: Increase to income.
Scab Intimidation: (Benefits from Veterans in the Red Guards) 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.
Keep Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: Though it may displease them, their work in the Midwest is not yet complete. Left-Farmer-Labor is not yet secure, the area is not stable, there are still lurking reactionaries and dangers. Have the Red Guards stay in the areas they protect for a time longer, and discourage the trickle of desertions that has already begun. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Red Guards encouraged to stay in the Midwest.
Stop Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: The Red Guards are not happy with the reception they have received in the Midwest, and the worst of the danger has passed for the rural workers. Already, some are returning to their home cities to continue the struggle there. They have done all they have been asked to do, now it is time to encourage them to leave and carry on their struggle. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Red Guards withdraw from the Midwest, letting any established organizations take over independently.
An Investigation Arm: With the increasing size and activity of the Red Guard, malcontents and informers are likely slipping in, taking advantage of your activities to line their pockets or using their positions to gather information. Neither can be allowed. To counter them, some have proposed the creation of an anonymous reporting system and selecting some trustworthy individuals to investigate these reports. Though generally unpopular, you can see the potential benefits. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 3 months. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Reduction in corruption, increased chance of catching spies.
Take the Docks: In many cities, the powerful Dockworker's Unions could stop the transfer of goods at will, or smuggle goods past customs inspectors. While this is mostly used for their own benefit, it could be a potent measure to increase the party's resources and power. Unfortunately, given the suspicion being directed at the docks currently, such an action could provoke severe crackdowns that would have significant support. Cost: Severe risk of backlash, will likely increase corruption. DC: 0/40/80/120. Results: Gain income, easier smuggling, new options unlocked.
Recruit Butler: Butler is on your side. While currently he is still the head of the VFW, he may be willing to take up a position under you as the commander of the Red Guards. He is widely respected, famously popular, and a skilled and disciplined leader. His influence will be invaluable for strengthening your paramilitaries and preparing for the bloody conflict to come. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Commit 1 Influence to Butler, get him as a subordinate.
Striking Soldiers: The news that several hundred soldiers have gone on strike has been greatly celebrated in the SPA. Even if it is not truly solidarity, it is a seed that can be watered. Careful efforts on approaching the soldiers who have gone on strike can be begun, hopefully before they are broken up or thrown in prison by untrusting army officers who are desperate to protect their class privilege. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/80/120/160. Result: increase to the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Cultural Actions
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 a staunchly secular ideology, 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 Left, loss of support from Jews and other religions. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from 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 -1 Influence, chance of increased stress. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70/120. 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: 6 months. DC: 0/25/50/100. Result: Create a system of cheap socialist private schools.
Organize Childcare, Pt. 2: You have designed your improvements to the ad hoc system of childcare, now it is time for the implementation to begin. All this will really involve is producing guides and perhaps some propaganda, but it will help. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75. Result: Encourage the creation of more equal and better-designed childcare institutions.
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. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/70/100. Result: Improve the variety of services offered by libraries.
Songs of the Revolution: The Internationale. The Preacher and the Slave. This Land is Your Land. Solidarity Forever. Many are the songs of the socialist movement. Let everyone hear them. Establish choirs and wandering musicians and every other way to spread your message through song there is. Cost: 3 Resources, -0.5 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/50/70/90/ Results: Easier recruiting, increase to morale among the party.
Unity In The Melting Pot: The Socialist Party and the IWW have long used multilingual speakers to reach out to immigrants. With the end of the Weltkrieg and the defeat of the Bolsheviks, thousands from Eastern Europe have flocked to America's shores to find conditions no better, while others have come north with Central and South America. Reaching out to those groups will be essential. The multilingual program will be expanded, to begin. Cost: None.
Time: 3 months. DC: 5/45/90. Results: Easier recruiting, increased support among immigrants.
Socialist Radio Networks: Huey Long has used the radio to spread his reactionary babble to thousands of Americans. We can do the same. Through speeches and interviews, your message can be broadcast. While some may turn off the radio rather than hear the truth, the more you reach the more you can convince. The first step will be to purchase...whatever it is that produces radio waves for broadcasts. That was never something you needed to learn in school. With migrant hordes crossing the land east and west, a way to reach them grows increasingly important. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 5/25/50/75. Results: Significantly easier recruiting, increased support.
Posters and Pamphlets: The speeches you give reach only those who hear you. Your speeches written down reach all who can read...but they are a bit too long for a poster discreetly put up or a pamphlet smuggled behind a boss's back. Beginning to create and produce snappy slogans and logos for posters and pamphlets will help you in the propaganda war, especially given the number of virulently anti-socialist publications that will smear you and your movement in any way possible. The lack of any organized system for spreading your message has led to several individuals starting up their own newspapers and similar operations to express support for socialism and syndicalism, albeit with a somewhat critical attitude to you. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 10/50/80. Results: The creation of posters and pamphlets to help spread your message, ease of recruiting.
Propagandize The Rural Areas: Farmers are intensely reactionary. The Southern smallholder made the greatest contribution to the Confederate armies during the War of the Slave Power, the yeomen resisted the creation of a bourgeois democracy during the War of American Independence. But with multiple crises of capital ravaging them economically, perhaps some can be persuaded to support you and join the most advanced segments of the working class. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Begin propagandizing farmers.
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. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/120. Result: Begin propagandizing destitute professionals.
Political Actions
Impeachment: If President Hoover has been unable to leave the White House grounds for two months, he is clearly no longer fit for office. The two-thirds majority impeachment requires is veritably impossible to achieve, but even making noises about it could help gain you support and allies, especially if you are high-profile enough. Some in your party consider it nothing but a waste of time, others feel it is a tactical error. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/40/90/200. Results: The Socialist Party initiates an impeachment motion for Hoover, chance of gaining legislative allies or support.
Poach the Democrats: The Democrats have traditionally been a party pulled in many directions - Bourbon conservatives, progressives, Southern populists, and union members, political machines - and while a significant portion of all these factions have left, there are always remnants, such as the Roosevelt family. The party as a whole rejects you wholeheartedly, but individual members can be convinced to change their allegiance. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 60/120/180. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Press the Progressives: The Progressive Party is now the second-weakest in America. Even the newly formed America First Party has surpassed them. They hold a few scattered seats in the west and Midwest and little more. This weakness is also what makes them vulnerable. They will collapse as a national party without intervention, you suspect. And you can offer this intervention. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45. Results: You convince some members of the Progressive Party to switch allegiance to you.
Pro-Worker Legislation: It would ordinarily be unlikely to pass, at least on a federal level, but demanding it will make a statement in and of itself. And you will not just push this legislation on a federal level. These laws will focus on the things workers have fought for. Better wages, workplace safety, price caps for company stores...with the stroke of a pen, they can be spread across the country, and it will be the SPA that will take the lion's share of the credit. Unfortunately, the current mood in Congress is intensely hostile to you. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/90/100/120. Results: You pass worker-protection laws on the state and possibly federal level and can gain varying amounts of support.
Party Lawyers: Many potentially vital laws are being held up in the courts. And frankly, you have a shortage of good lawyers. There are some willing to work for free from dedication to the cause, but most lack the wealth for that or are entirely uninterested in working for you. But enough filthy lucre can solve that problem. Cost: 1 Resource, -1 Resource per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 40. Results: Hire some lawyers to help defend the laws you get passed.
Local Elections: Mayors, sheriffs, county judges. All positions of undeniable importance to the people who elect them. Beginning a campaign to get favorable individuals elected into those positions in the areas you don't completely dominate will help set favorable ground for future elections or revolutionary actions. With the chaotic situations in many Midwestern states, the potential leverage is immense. It is highly likely there will be attempts by corrupt sheriffs and mayors to disrupt any rural organizations unless that danger is countered through the creation of favorable local governments. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/30/75. Results: Increase support on the local level.
Staff State Offices: The state bureaucracies are often intensely hostile to the efforts of the SPA, but while they are an obstacle they are one who can be defeated, or at least gone around. Beginning to hire loyal socialists and syndicalists will allow you to gradually begin purging these hostile organizations. The expertise and loyalty of these offices is a vital resource, one often denied to your supporters. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/45/90. Results: Begin gradually purging and replacing hostile bureaucrats, slow enough that there should be minimal loss of institutional knowledge.
Wealth Taxes: The federal relief bill you passed has dramatically eased the financial costs of the states working to protect their people, but they will run out eventually. The grants were large, but the state's income streams have not changed. Correct that, by passing savage wealth and inheritance taxes that will ensure the upper-class pay their fair share. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50. Result: Begin passing state-level wealth taxes.
Intellectual Actions
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.
Create an Educational Program: Designing a socialist education program will be just one of the many questions you have to answer after the revolution. There are important differences in content and teaching style and likely other things as well. Begin looking into who is an expert in such things and start drawing up the broad strokes of what a curriculum will cover. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Begin designing an education program.
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 -1 Influence. Time: 6 months. DC: No roll. Result: Begin coming up with a more detailed roadmap for socialist America, begin unlocking actions to create small-scale imitations/programs related to this.
Who Supports Who?: If you looked out the window to see New York City, you would think nine in ten supported you. You are not fool enough to think that, of course. The Payment Army alone disproves that, let alone the bullying your daughter has experienced, the endless attempts at suppression, the thousands of letters denouncing you. Beginning to get an accurate count will be vital for effectively directing your efforts. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Get a general idea of where your support is strong and weak and what people are concerned about.
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: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Counter anti-Semitic narratives, increase in support from Jews, small chance of +1 Influence.
Proletarian Unity: The workers of the world must be united. There are false divisions embedded deep into the American psyche. Racism is the greatest but by no means the only one. Target these divides, weld them together as best you can. Make promises of restitution and justice, publicize what you stand for. It will be difficult and potentially dangerous, but you have to start somewhere. Cost: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence, chance of losing support. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/75/125. Result: Counter racist narratives, increase support from minorities, small chance of +1 Influence.
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. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Creation of curriculum, improved results and lowered difficulty for Organize Education.
The Legacy of the Grange: The Grange was a vaguely socialist, mixed-race organization for farmers to help them progress and grant assistance through a variety of methods, from community support to political activism. The sudden rise of Farmer-Labor and the current devastation has caused it to decline greatly. But it can rise again, better and stronger. With Farmer-Labor on your side, a remnant of the Grange is as well. Begin a program of revitalization and create a new ideology for it. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: New, more socialist/syndicalist/anarchist/some form of leftist ideology for the Grange, new options for dealing with it unlocked.
Intrigue Actions
Siphon Party Funds: The first step in performing covert actions is to acquire funds to do so. Simply taking money directly from the party treasury strikes you as a bad idea, as the resulting vanishing will be wide open for anyone who looks. So instead you will arrange for a few dribbles of cash to vanish into an account you can use for off-the-books problem-solving. Cost: -0.1 Resources per month. Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70. Result: +0.1 Resources per turn goes into a dark fund you can draw upon for covert ops.
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: 25/50/75/100. Result: Increase to income.
Hire an Assistant Secretary: You need someone who is good at this sort of thing. Someone trustworthy, loyal and competent. That's going to be really hard to find...but at the same time it is undeniably necessary. How would you even begin to find that? Cost: Risky...and you will have to commit an Authority to them. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/??/????. Result: Find some potential spymasters, can delegate Influence or Authority to them.
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. 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: No roll. Result: Improvement to Rumors and News section.
Revolutionary Guards: People have been threatening to kill you and your family and other leaders for a long time. You have developed protection against overt attacks, but perhaps it is time to begin developing a more covert sort of protection as well. Cost: - 2 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Create organization of plainclothes bodyguards for you, your family, and other important figures. Unlock additional counterintelligence actions.
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 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.
Covert Investigation: Quietly looking into the behavior of a subordinate might allow you to remove them before they can become an embarrassment, or simply confirm their innocence without risking giving the impression they have lost your confidence. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. Result: Find any wrongdoing for chosen subordinate.
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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. 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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Increase chances of avoiding discovery for embezzlement actions.
Infiltrate the Army: With the contacts Butler has given you, you now have a simple way of infiltrating the army. Selecting volunteers from the Red Guards and having them sign up will enable you to gain some low-level infiltration, while going through the men he introduced you to will enable you to hear rumors and gossip from higher-levels. MacArthur is certainly planning to use the army against you, you must find out how. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/45/?/??. Result: Make contacts within the military.
Contact with the French and British: With the ports opened to French and British ships, the possibility of contact with your fellow syndicalists has just grown dramatically easier. The providing of support for you during the Revolution is a guarantee, what is less likely is them assisting you during this lead-up due to the difficulty of it, but the Syndintern will surely be able to provide something. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Contact the Syndintern
Personal Actions
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 punch Huey Long in his fat face or 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 once per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: May make 1 change to 1 subordinate's priorities (change order, add one, remove one).
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. Cost: Variable amount of Relations, changes in Strength of factions. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Relations and Strength allows.
Choose A Focus: You are currently taking no focus.
The Union Forever! - Through the most difficult and darkest days, it was the unions that kept the revolutionary spirit alive. Let the unions stand forever. No reactionary or capitalist can defeat the people, united. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain national spirit The Union Forever (Effect: +1 Strength to the Left faction per month).
In the Cities - The cities are already where you are strongest, but there are still bourgeoise who can be convinced to turn against their class and proletariat who can be given consciousness, to say nothing of the lumpen. Time: 1 month. Effect: Modify The Struggle Carries On! (+1 Appeal in Urban Areas per month)
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).
Seek Out the Sharecropper - In the heart of the south, millions of black men and women labor in a state little better than slavery, terrorized by the KKK and other reactionary organizations and denied fundamental rights. Not only does allowing this to go on violate your principles, but they could serve as a significant thorn in the side of your foes. Time: 1 month. Effect: Increased efficacy of actions for gaining support among sharecroppers.
Propagandize the Yeomen - The yeomen farmers who remain will likely be the most resistant to your ideals, but enough effort can see even the most ardent reactionary persuaded to join you, one way or another. Time: 1 month. Effect: +10 to the next 4 actions involving rural propaganda.
Organize the Farmworkers - The migrating farmworkers are perhaps the easiest target for radicalization. Their formerly prosperous lives ripped away from them, pushed into desperate poverty, the food they work so hard to grow frequently burned in front of them as they starve...Time: 3 months. Effect: Significant increase to support among rural populations, +10 to the next 3 actions involving organizing or agitating in rural areas.
You bring your proposal up to the CSA after spending many hours sounding people out on it. It's not a popular measure, but it is just barely palatable. You are faced with questions though. Money and time and blood has been spent on the rural farmers who will make up the armies of scabs you are trying to evade. Laws have been passed to support them, efforts have been made to integrate their leadership into the party, Red Guards have been sent to protect them and their homes.
The mood of the unions and the party is that these people are ungrateful and unreliable, but the threat they possess is recognizable nonetheless. And so union after union agrees to the measures, cutting down the number of shifts each member takes.
You have to insist and push it through ample resistance, to bear down upon those who defy you, and you threaten to expel a few of them from the Combined Syndicates - an empty threat, but one that shows how seriously you are taking this.
It has cost you some of your status, but as you walk through New York and see the streets emptier of the lost and listless, you count it a fair trade.
Result: -1 Influence, number of unemployed drastically reduced.
Your next demand is met with far more enthusiasm. Even the AFL is convinced to join in the measure. A resolution to strike and walkout in any factory that hires ununionized workers passes with acclaim, and the day after city after city finds its factories grinding to a halt as the men and women who labored in them march out. Scabs are hired in vast swarms, protected by militias and strikebreakers...until police and Red Guards arrive and arrest them, marching the reactionaries off to rot in jail.
Their feeble attacks upon the rights of workers defeated, the owners are forced to capitulate. As a gesture of mercy, dozens of those arrested are released after agreeing to join a union and encouraged to partake in educational activities.
The Bethlehem Steel Foundry stood empty, it's fires banked, looming over the town like a giant's skull. A small band of nervous men approached, most in filthy shirtsleeves, their leader in a worn suit. "They can't make getting a job illegal, and all you gentlemen are willing to work, not like these lazy union..."
He trails off as the houses lining the street spill out large, ruddy men with heavy steel bars and tools and even a few guns. "Lazy? Who you calling lazy Martin? We forged the steel, we smelted and shaped it. All you did was stand there!" a figure in the crowd cries out.
Martin can't tell who, he's surrounded by angry faces and there's no one to protect him. The workers he recruited are backing away nervously, just as terrified as he is.
Suddenly, he sees salvation! A policeman approaches.
"What's going on here?" the officer demands.
"These ruffians attacked me, attacked me! Arrest them!" Martin shouted, leaping up and waving, frantic to get the man's attention.
He felt his guts freeze as he was ignored completely, the policeman instead walking over to the union men. There was a quick whispered conference, and then he saw a gun rise.
"You are under arrest, all of you!" he was told.
Martin started to protest. He never got to finish.
As the world faded to black, he heard someone say "He was clearly resisting arrest."
Result: Significant increase to the size of unions in many cities, union-only agreements signed with many factories.
Support Housing Cooperatives: 1 Influence, 43+15 = 58
The housing cooperatives need blankets and beds, they need coal and cleaning, they need better education and organization. It's a massive project, one you devote many hours to, and you are not alone. Dozens of people with experience in a variety of fields, from construction foremen to landlords who have joined your ranks to politicians help with this complex effort to improve the shelters so many live in.
Some are responsible for the ordering and delivery of supplies: coal stoves, privacy curtains, blankets, medical supplies, clothing, all the mind-boggling variety of things homes need.
Some are responsible for construction, as dozens of crews work to repair cracked walls and patch damaged roofs and establish functional sanitation.
And some work on re-establishing the social contracts of these cooperatives, reaffirming your commitments to democratic management and human dignity.
All these tasks are long and difficult. It will be many months until they are complete, but hopefully the inhabitants of the cooperatives can begin to take more of a leading role in the process as time goes on.
Result: Improvements to housing cooperatives have begun.
Veteran Cadres: 1 Influence, 97+10 = 107
There are hundreds of veteran soldiers, dissatisfied with their lot, who have joined the Red Guards in dribs and drabs. Dozens more have rallied to the red banner after seeing the failures of capitalism, or the bloody lengths it must go to in order to maintain itself. They have given their advice and support to other Guards in skirmishes and battles from Seattle to Washington, D. C., but they have not been truly taken advantage of by the organization as a whole.
It is time for that to change. Local party offices and union organizations put out a call, asking for those with military experience to join special Guards units who will be given the responsibility for training and assisting their comrades.
There are limits on what can be done, limits on weapons, limits on ammunition, limits on space, limits on time...the extensive and intricate pipeline the United States has for training soldiers and officers is practically non-existent.
But they begin doing their best nonetheless.
Result: Veterans in the Red Guards spirit removed, all training or combat actions have their DCs reduced by 10 or more, results improved.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars have formally dissolved themselves. They are no more, for a new organization has come to replace and supplant it. Those unwilling to serve the cause of socialism have drifted into other groups, formed pitiful remnants or allied with the forces of reaction, but the majority have become Red Guards, typically joining the veteran cadres to show their youngest comrades how to fight and how to win...although some of the younger ones have decided to take a different role instead.
A cousin of the Pullman family was supposed to be traveling to Toledo on a private, armored train to fire a dozen managers for giving in to the unionization demands. He was never going to make it, that had been agreed.
Anthony had voted against it, uncomfortable with the notion of attacking a man like that, but then he remembered the blood money he had made and how it had ended up in the pockets of robber barons like this fellow.
He found himself much more comfortable now. This was familiar work. Not in the details, but he had launched ambushes against hostile forces before.
Billy, a former army engineer and VFW like him, crawled back into the hiding place.
"Tracks are blocked," he whispered.
And indeed, logs and branches had been hauled across it.
Anthony lifted his head just an inch and shouted "Alright you bastards, get low and stay low. If the Pinkertons don't get you, I'll blow your fucking heads off myself!"
These are good lads, they just need a bit of discipline, he thought as he did his best impression of his old sergeant, laying into them with blistering insults until finally the last of them was hidden from the rail.
The train's whistle echoed around the bend, and then it slowed to a stop.
A dozen armed guards leaped out.
Hold, hold...don't fire till I do!
He adjusted his aim, shifting so that the gun was pointed right at the chest of the oldest guard, gambling that he was the-
The crack of gunfire exploded through the air. "Fire!" he roared.
A hail of bullets cut down the guards and bounced off the train.
"Rush 'em!" Billy shouted.
Firing from the hip, yelling, the two of them led the charge. Gunfire came back as the remaining guards, the ones who had stayed on the train, shot at them, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.
The cousin died, alongside his mistress. His disappearance was first noticed three days later.
Result: Increase in size and capability of the Red Guards, large numbers of veterans formally integrated into the organization.
Recruit Butler: 1 Influence
Actually Recruiting General Smedley Butler is...simple. You know he is open to supporting you, but you expected he would have something he wanted. Even Norman demanded that you tolerate his iron and sometimes inconvenient principles as part of gaining his assistance.
As soon as you knock on Butler's door, he comes down, packed and ready. He is practically vibrating with impatience as the two of you walk to your car, and the drive to SPA headquarters is filled with him discussing how he could support the cause.
He has three ideas. He could take a leadership role in the Red Guards and help "whip them into shape," working with the organization as a whole. He could focus on a smaller scale unit like the Blair Brigade and focus on making them as capable as possible. "Not elite troops, but elite organizers," he explains.
Or he could do what he has been doing and work on recruiting soldiers and officers to your side.
Of course, if you need him to shift his focus, all you need to do is ask.
[] The General: Recruit Butler as a commander in the Red Guard. -1 Authority. His initial priorities will be developing discipline and structure for the Guard as a whole. He will have 3 Influence.
[] The Organizer: Recruit Butler as an organizer for the Red Guard. -1 Authority. His initial priorities will be forming a professional cadre of trainers and logistics. He will have 3 Influence.
[] The Recruiter: Recruit Butler as a recruiter for the Red Guard. -1 Authority. His initial priorities will be identifying sympathetic officers and turning lower-ranked soldiers. He will have 3 Influence.
Wealth Taxes: 1 Influence, 16
The passing of these laws are frustratingly fraught, as remaining conservative groups pull out every stop they can. The courts are no longer willing or able to defend them in many places but by no means all. Private militias and militaries form, often supported by deserters from the National Guards. Protests and marches are staged in front of state capitols and other major buildings, and on several occasions shots are fired. Several magnates, including the Hearst and Vanderbilt empires, have formed companies for the sole purpose of helping people hide as much wealth as possible.
Worse, a series of low-level revolts have fired off in the bureaucratic strata. Records are lost or misprocessed, staff walkout in mass protests, and the machinery of government threatens to stall.
All this over a 20% tax on all income derived from investments and a 50% inheritance tax on estates larger than 1 million dollars.
Result: Moderate wealth and inheritance tax passed in several states, severe backlash ensues.
Report from the Coordination Committee, 92+5 = 97
Even as state governments find themselves struggling with sudden shortages of experienced personnel, literate individuals find themselves recruited into local governments, serving as understudies for various administrative duties and being given more manual jobs such as repairing roads.
The programs begin to expand as rapidly as it can be managed, despite the various towns and cities beginning to go into debt, as their administrations begin assisting the overstrained remnants of the state bureaucracies.
Report from Norman Thomas, 37+10 = 47
With more substantive matters on race relations tabled by the ferocious infighting within Congress, Norman decides to take a different approach, and begin making a tour of minority-dominated areas, starting with Harlem.
There were some unfortunate gaffes in the advertising for his speech that left it rather poorly attended.
Report from the State Legislation Committee, 65+5 = 70
While the wealth taxes have increased the influx of income to the states and enabled them to push through several expanded relief bills for urban and rural workers both, actually implementing these bills has proven difficult. The Committee descended into squabbling about who was responsible for what.
Personal Attention: Support Housing Cooperatives
One of the worst parts about the cooperative fiasco was how it damaged the image you try to present and the ideals you want to champion. Images of homeless men being clubbed by Red Guards stand in stark contrast to your promises of democracy for all and economic justice.
The social contract you are trying to write has been pissed on, and so you must work to write a new one. You spend long hours crafting official promises, and then longer hours still traveling across the country to make them in person.
Choose a Focus: Propagandize the Yeomen
The middle-class American smallholder is vanishing day by day. They are driven off their lands by violence or dust or poverty, the crisis of capitalism destroying their farms by the hundred. And they do not know who to blame.
MacArthur tells them to blame themselves. Long tells them to blame you. But you must teach them the truth: it is nothing but the pitiless turning of the gears of history, the artificial workings of a cruel system grinding up those who supported it and spitting them out. You must tell them it will happen again and again, until and unless the system is broken through revolution and reformation. You must convince them to join your cause.
Result: Focus completed, +10 to the next 4 rural propaganda actions.
Samuel had been a dockworker for many years, spending long hours every day hauling crates into ships and out of ships. His back ached in the evening every day as he trudged back to the apartment he rented, his hands were torn and callused, and all for barely enough pay to cover rent and food. His roof leaked, his room stank of sewage, his boots were perpetually falling apart. Such was his lot in life. He had no choice but to accept it, and to try and do the right thing and hope he got lucky.
He stayed away from whiskey and wine. When the gangs came around, he kept his head down and stayed away from them too. He was polite to police, gave the occasional spare penny to beggars, and went to church every Sunday. He knew as long as he kept it up, he had a chance. He kept a notebook, filling it with plans for the business he would make when he saved up enough. He stayed at work late and came early. He did everything he should do.
When the Great Crash came, it didn't matter. He and a hundred other men were fired that very first day, and he found himself joining an immense crowd of listless men waiting by the docks or in the park, hoping for work. Some days he found it, sweeping streets or hauling trash or working the docks for less than ever. Some days he found nothing, and became just another beggar.
He moved into a smaller, dirtier apartment, and rented half of it out to another man. He skipped meals some days. He sold his notebook, and admitted to himself he would never be rich.
The indignity of it gnawed at him. But compared to the might of Rockefeller and Morgan and all the other titans of industry who had built their way up from nothing, he was a gnat. He voted for men who promised to fix things, and they never kept their promise. He saw friends join the gangs, shooting each other over who got to rob the corner stores, their blood staining the boots he had to wear again the next day because he had nothing else.
He saw the wrath and rage grow day by day, as the hammer-and-sickle and the grain-and-gear began to decorate walls, as red flags began to wave, as strident letters were published in newspapers and nailed to the doors of businesses. He stayed away from that nonsense.
He saw the retaliation, as police and Pinkertons came by the dozen to break up rallies and arrest "foreign subversives." He saw them falter and flail. He saw a pastor beaten for trying to protect his homeless flock, he saw nursing mothers hauled into the back of police wagons.
They weren't protectors of order and defenders of the American way anymore. He didn't know what they were.
Work kept drying up. Days went by where he did nothing but wander the streets in a hopeless daze. He stopped going to church, he started drinking when he had the money to buy booze.
People still fought, but Samuel didn't bother. More red flags went up, and he ignored them. The police kept hunting syndicalists, and he didn't care.
Soup kitchens were established, and then they were destroyed by gangs when they couldn't pay protection or found themselves overwhelmed by the swarms of the hungry. Homeless shelters formed and then the homeless were turned back onto the street. Samuel ignored it all.
People raved about what was the cause, about why things got so bad, about the politicians and the ideologies and the religions which would save them, and new gangs began to form around it. People wrapped red or blue or white around their arms and battled in the streets. Samuel didn't listen.
In 1930, he didn't bother voting. He didn't even realize there had been an election. But someone new had won, and suddenly the city was revitalizing itself. The soup kitchens and food banks started getting funding, the rare job he managed to find paid better, the gangs began to weaken as men with red armbands and billy clubs began patrolling the streets.
The syndicalists were here, and it seemed they had something worth saying.
Ben lived on the outskirts of town. "Trash" and "scum" they had called him, from the day he was born. He wore scraps of cloth his mother had sewn together, and missed school half the days every week so he could help his Pa work on the farm.
His Pa was always drunk, always in debt, and always mad about those two things. The only days he wasn't being mean to Ben were the days he went out at night and came back smelling of soot and blood. At first, Ben didn't know what his Pa was doing. Then he didn't care, so long as it kept the belt away from his back and the fist from his mother's cheek.
He was almost a man when he first heard about Huey Long. Everyone had laughed at the idea, and called him a filthy red and worse things. It was impossible, he would never amount to anything. He was a man when he heard about the Great Crash.
It didn't make sense to him. Some syndicalists had taken over another country and now it seemed like half the town's money had vanished.
His father kept going out, but now he was even meaner when he came back. The other sharecroppers began to vanish, and men and dogs were sent to bring them back.
Then people stopped being able to afford the dogs, and the farms began to die. The cotton and tobacco withered, and other people began to leave. The wind started stripping the loose soil, splattering it across the houses and streets.
Men in sound trucks started showing up, offering to help them find work, offering to help them get things back under control. The sheriff formed a posse and chased them off, but they kept coming back, and there were more of them every time.
His Pa got recruited into the posse late in '32, and then things got worse. Again, some syndies had killed people in another country and they suffered for it, and no one would do anything to help.
His Pa got meaner and meaner, and Ben stopped being able to hear out of one ear.
Then one day it was the posse that got driven off, and some trucks arrived with a doctor and some pigs to butcher and tough-looking men everyone called "sir" who said they were looking for people who wanted to be Minutemen.
The Longists were here, and it seemed they had something worth saying.
The syndicalists told Samuel that the wealth of the world was unjustly stolen from him, that he deserved a fair share of the value he created, that he should have a home and food, that his vote should matter, that his voice was important. He listened, and he wrapped a red band around his arm and joined their strikes and burned the police station to ash when the pigs tried to stop them.
The Longists told Ben that he was as good as any other man, that he deserved a fair share of the wealth, that he was important. He listened, and he put on a grey hat and went to battle against and alongside sheriffs and Klansmen both.
The syndicalists told Samuel that the world was full of reactionaries, that they would try to destroy the glorious world they were making, that they would need to fight lest they be slaughtered and enslaved. He listened, and he vowed to be ready when the day of reckoning came.
The Longists told Ben that the syndicalists would be coming to destroy the social order and the Unionists were coming to make them kneel, that both were trying to destroy the American dream, that they would need to fight lest they be slaughtered or enslaved or cast adrift in a world gone mad. He listened, and he vowed to be ready when the day of reckoning came.
Sparks are falling across America, finding dry tinder aplenty as men and women of every race and class and faith and origin find themselves growing radicalized, furious at the failures of their governments. They cry out for bread and roses, for shared wealth, for the protection of the American way, for steering a steady course. They rally to each other, seeking unity, seeking solutions, seeking shelter. They meet and march and rage and riot, attacking enemies real and perceived.
Newspapers from around the world describe the faltering titan as it stumbles ever onwards, bereft of direction and bloodied by scandal and slaughter. Nations around the world have begun seeking opportunities in the seeming impending collapse of the vast nation, searching for potential puppets and allies.
Rumors and News
The SPA and the Red Guards have had an undeniably successful month. The housing cooperatives are gradually turning into functional, albeit rough communities, with their own Red Guards and governing councils. The shelters are still substandard, but they have been greatly improved by widespread efforts. Perhaps more importantly from a political perspective, the efforts of the Red Guards to organize the areas they are protecting and develop class consciousness have had greater success, with small farmer's associations forming to discuss ways to advance their class interests. For the time being, the remaining Red Guards are enthusiastic about their duty, especially after several publicized incidents of attempted reactionary violence by sheriffs and paramilitaries against these new organizations.
Meanwhile, Huey Long is solidifying his hold across the South. Careful political maneuvering by him and his supporters has led to the sidelining of several opponents, while several others were forced to flee for their lives. Clashes and economic warfare continue, but the momentum is turning in the favor of Longist groups as wealthy backers begin to supply the Minutemen and Silver Legion. Even as his grip tightens, his movement becomes more fractious, as competing strains within it begin to crystallize.
He has even begun gaining support in New England, as a group in upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire calling themselves the Green Mountain Boys has formed to advocate for Long.
Ground has broken on several more German factories in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida, employing many formerly destitute workers. Many of these workers are Minutemen, it seems.
The federal government has not moved to condemn these events, or the similar ones in California as several Japanese companies purchase empty land and ruined factories and begin working to revitalize them for a variety of purposes. Instead, aside from some more vicious political infighting, they have concentrated on further stabilizing the Midwest, constructing vast refugee camps. Only those willing to swear loyalty oaths are allowed to stay in them, and access is highly restricted, leading to more lurid rumors damaging the federal government's credibility, even as MacArthur receives praise from the bourgeoisie for his handling of the crisis.
Another letter has come from Canada. "We have a friend on the inside," it reads. News of further unrest and more strikes comes as well, as the liberal bloc in Parliament attempts to negotiate. Quebecois nationalists have begun agitating as well, demanding greater autonomy or even independence.
Plans from Subordinates
The Coordination Committee is looking to begin removing centers of reaction such as the leadership of reactionary militias, hostile town governments, and other such groups and figures. It will be a long and complicated process, involving many approaches and likely taking several months.
Norman Thomas is planning to continue his campaign of speeches and advocacy for black Americans and other minority groups, especially those who live in areas that lean towards the Longists.
The Legislative Committee is planning to expand the wealth tax laws and use the funds to directly subsidize farmers, as well as mines and factories run "in accordance with democratic principles."
Butler, meanwhile, is looking immediately to take charge on the matter of instilling discipline in the disorganized Red Guards and establish a more organized system of reporting, discovering, and punishing misbehavior.
You have 6 Influence and 1 Authority total. 0 Authority and 0 Influence are committed to ongoing actions. You are not currently taking any foci.
Mandates: Successfully propagandize towards farmers in 1 month (from The Syndicalists). Make contact with the Syndintern in 3 months (from the Center). Begin expanding the unions in 3 months (from the Orthodox). Expand your propaganda apparatus in 3 months (from the Parliamentarians).
Party Actions
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 and hostile interruption. 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. The possibilities of the written word are limitless. Cost: 2 Resources 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 topic. 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 Social 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, county governments. You even effectively control some 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 of 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. Cost: Significant and dangerous backlash from within and without the Party, possible legal challenges. Time: 3 months. DC: 70/140/180/240. 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 Influence or Authority. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Results: Increase Relations and Strength of selected faction, chance of gaining Influence.
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 change to 1 subordinate. Can be taken multiple times.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/180. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
Open Investigation: If a subordinate is unpopular or incompetent, you can begin publically looking into their performance. This can wash off some of the reflected stink, particularly if you find something, but if there is no evidence of wrongdoing or fraud that can only make the situation worse or lead to questions of your judgement. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Some chance of finding problems with chosen subordinate, options to deal with problems, chance of +1 Influence.
Support Subordinate: Expressing confidence in a subordinate, either by offering direct aid or by giving material support, can boost their performance, especially if there isn't a structural reason for their failures. Cost: Write-in. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Positive modifier to chosen subordinate, chance of them gaining positive trait.
Acquire Expertise: You are only one man, you cannot know or do everything. Having trusted subordinates who can do part of the work helps, but so too does having trusted advisors, people who can offer you advice for dealing with things you don't quite understand. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Find assistant for chosen subject who can give significant bonuses and penalties to rolls and other situations.
Push for Rural Assistance: The priority for most of the SPA are the urban areas and the mining strongholds. Between the fact that most farmers are petty producers and their famed social conservatism, there is relatively little concern for their fates beyond vague acknowledgements. Even the rural relief bills many are advocating for are primarily focused on keeping a large supply of food for the cities available. Despite the revolutionary potential of many rural groups, they are being effectively abandoned to be turned into the footsoldiers of reaction. Though it will strain the limits of your position, insisting on more effort will hopefully encourage the party to give more thought to farmers and farmworkers. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 2 months. DC: 40/80. Result: Unlock new actions focusing on supporting and recruiting among farmers,
Anarchist Organizations: Anarchists are no longer as prominent a scare-word as they once were. Socialism and syndicalism are the new words to make the bourgeoisie and their running dogs wet themselves in fear. The reduced propaganda against them makes them potentially quite useful...and you remember hearing that the Black Army was highly popular among Ukranian peasants. Perhaps approaching them to form an Anarchist Grange may help you gain support in the Bleeding Midwest. And if they fail, most of the party will be unconcerned. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: You and the CSA select a rural-focused organizer from The Anarchist faction, gain in Strength for the Anarchists.
Union Actions
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.
Appoint Union Representative: There are dozens of unions, many with hundreds or thousands of chapters. A rare few even have branches in Canada, with a rarer few having branches in Mexico. The Combined Syndicates serves as a forum to allow them to coordinate and cooperate, but the vagaries of time and travel mean that the larger meetings are often sparsely attended. Electing (although your influence will help make it an effective appointment) a representative to help manage the syndicates, smooth over disputes, and ensure all voices are heard would reduce the growing pains the CSA is suffering from. However, the notion is not entirely popular...Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Subvote to determine who you will support for Union Representative and how much to invest in them.
Prepare Rural Unions: Rural areas are utterly lacking in the sort of density mines or cities have that labor organizers and workers used to create their powerful unions. A new approach will need to be devised, or more likely multiple to approach the different situations you will doubtless encounter. Perhaps some of the newer unions or the Montant and Colorado miners have some insight? Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Improved chance of success for actions in rural areas.
Establish Community Gardens: The cities of America are filled with vacant lots and crumbling buildings. Reclaiming the buildings will have to be part of a larger effort, but the lots can be used to the benefit of the people by establishing gardens. Though they will take many months, the fresh vegetables will improve the quality of the food served by the soup kitchens...and hopefully reduce expenses. Former farmers are already beginning improvised efforts at creating these gardens, and earning a great deal of praise for doing so. Cost: 4 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/20/40/60. Result: +4 Resources per turn after 3 months.
Mutual Aid Foundations: While directly expanding the soup kitchens would benefit many, a less costly alternative would be the establishment of mutual aid organizations to ensure that people are fed. Since they are less directly dependent on the SPA buying food for them, they will be cheaper for you to maintain, but still serve to provide relief to the struggling masses and help expose them to socialist ideals. The examples of such institutions being created in Chicago have helped show the way. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Improve quality of food kitchens. +0.5 Resources per month
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/150. 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.
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? Cost: Small chance of -1 Influence, loss of relations with the Orthodox. 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/35/70/100. Result: Increase in income, establishment of market cooperatives in locations with a strong SPA presence. Small chance of gaining +1 Influence, increase to relations with the Syndicalists.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/75/100/125/150. Result: Large, one-time boost to income.
Street Brigades: Another proposal to deal with the immense number of potential scabs, reactionaries-in-waiting, and unemployed workers that are flocking to the city is to hire them for various jobs neglected by the municipal government such as fire services for poorer neighborhoods, street-cleaners, and other such tasks. While potentially costly, the work and the pay will fill their bellies and salve their pride, while giving them opportunities to be exposed to socialist rhetoric. Cost: -2 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Begin recruiting unemployed workers into labor brigades and exposing them to socialist rhetoric.
Militant Actions
Additional Weapons: The armaments of your "regular" Red Guards are highly irregular, and the "irregulars" who sometimes join in during protests or strikes are even worse off. Beginning to create armories of weapons will help equip both. The first step will be to acquire things like billy clubs and batons, both to avoid attracting unfortunate attention and because stockpiling guns in the current climate is needlessly risky...Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Create stockpiles of "non-lethal" weapons for the use of the Red Guards.
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: 10 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/20/60/100. Result: Increased armaments for Red Guards, ease of training Red Guards increased, further actions to arm and equip Red Guards unlocked.
Instilling Discipline, Pt.1: Every branch of the Red Guards contains at least a few who do it more or less full-time. These are some of your most dedicated and radical supporters, and when the time comes they are the ones who will form the hard core of the Red Army. So they are the ones who need training and discipline the most. Based on what you saw of the Bolsheviks in Russia, the first thing that men who wish to be soldiers must be taught is discipline. And so that is what the training shall begin with. Regrettably, the fury in them at the moment will make it harder to convince them not every rich man is their mortal enemy. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 4 months. DC: 0/40/90. Result: Improve discipline of Red Guards.
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: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Go Hunting: In every city and town of America you face enemies. Hostile police forces, reactionary militias, mercenaries and Pinkertons hired by capitalists, and more. They all seek to oppress and suppress the workers. This cannot be borne. While the Red Guards continually battle in the streets, protecting protests, defending meetings, guarding agitators and organizers, they only rarely go on the offensive, and keep it strictly to retaliatory strikes on those most responsible for attacks. Asking for a more general attack would help weaken opposition, and perhaps see some justice done. Cost: Reduces support, reduces relations with the Parliamentarians, chance of it going badly. Time: 1 month. DC: 20. Results: Red Guards begin attacking class enemies, chance of gaining Resources, Support, Influence...
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: 4 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 30. Results: Red Guards gain street medics, help reduce casualties.
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: 45/90/135. 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.
Keep Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: Though it may displease them, their work in the Midwest is not yet complete. Left-Farmer-Labor is not yet secure, the area is not stable, there are still lurking reactionaries and dangers. Have the Red Guards stay in the areas they protect for a time longer, and discourage the trickle of desertions that has already begun. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Red Guards encouraged to stay in the Midwest.
Stop Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: The Red Guards are not happy with the reception they have received in the Midwest, and the worst of the danger has passed for the rural workers. Already, some are returning to their home cities to continue the struggle there. They have done all they have been asked to do, now it is time to encourage them to leave and carry on their struggle. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Red Guards withdraw from the Midwest, letting any established organizations take over independently.
An Investigation Arm: With the increasing size and activity of the Red Guard, malcontents and informers are likely slipping in, taking advantage of your activities to line their pockets or using their positions to gather information. Neither can be allowed. To counter them, some have proposed the creation of an anonymous reporting system and selecting some trustworthy individuals to investigate these reports. Though generally unpopular, you can see the potential benefits. Cost: -1 Influence. Time: 3 months. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Reduction in corruption, increased chance of catching spies.
Take the Docks: In many cities, the powerful Dockworker's Unions could stop the transfer of goods at will, or smuggle goods past customs inspectors. While this is mostly used for their own benefit, it could be a potent measure to increase the party's resources and power. Unfortunately, given the suspicion being directed at the docks currently, such an action could provoke severe crackdowns that would have significant support. Cost: Severe risk of backlash, will likely increase corruption. DC: 0/40/80/120. Results: Gain income, easier smuggling, new options unlocked.
Striking Soldiers: The news that several hundred soldiers have gone on strike has been greatly celebrated in the SPA. Even if it is not truly solidarity, it is a seed that can be watered. Careful efforts on approaching the soldiers who have gone on strike can be begun, hopefully before they are broken up or thrown in prison by untrusting army officers who are desperate to protect their class privilege. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/80/120/160. Result: increase to the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Cultural Actions
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 a staunchly secular ideology, 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 Left, loss of support from Jews and other religions. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from 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 -1 Influence, chance of increased stress. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70/120. 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: 6 months. DC: 0/25/50/100. Result: Create a system of cheap socialist private schools.
Organize Childcare, Pt. 2: You have designed your improvements to the ad hoc system of childcare, now it is time for the implementation to begin. All this will really involve is producing guides and perhaps some propaganda, but it will help. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75. Result: Encourage the creation of more equal and better-designed childcare institutions.
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. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/70/100. Result: Improve the variety of services offered by libraries.
Songs of the Revolution: The Internationale. The Preacher and the Slave. This Land is Your Land. Solidarity Forever. Many are the songs of the socialist movement. Let everyone hear them. Establish choirs and wandering musicians and every other way to spread your message through song there is. Cost: 3 Resources, -0.5 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/50/70/90/ Results: Easier recruiting, increase to morale among the party.
Unity In The Melting Pot: The Socialist Party and the IWW have long used multilingual speakers to reach out to immigrants. With the end of the Weltkrieg and the defeat of the Bolsheviks, thousands from Eastern Europe have flocked to America's shores to find conditions no better, while others have come north with Central and South America. Reaching out to those groups will be essential. The multilingual program will be expanded, to begin. Cost: None.
Time: 3 months. DC: 5/45/90. Results: Easier recruiting, increased support among immigrants.
Socialist Radio Networks: Huey Long has used the radio to spread his reactionary babble to thousands of Americans. We can do the same. Through speeches and interviews, your message can be broadcast. While some may turn off the radio rather than hear the truth, the more you reach the more you can convince. The first step will be to purchase...whatever it is that produces radio waves for broadcasts. That was never something you needed to learn in school. With migrant hordes crossing the land east and west, a way to reach them grows increasingly important. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 5/25/50/75. Results: Significantly easier recruiting, increased support.
Posters and Pamphlets: The speeches you give reach only those who hear you. Your speeches written down reach all who can read...but they are a bit too long for a poster discreetly put up or a pamphlet smuggled behind a boss's back. Beginning to create and produce snappy slogans and logos for posters and pamphlets will help you in the propaganda war, especially given the number of virulently anti-socialist publications that will smear you and your movement in any way possible. The lack of any organized system for spreading your message has led to several individuals starting up their own newspapers and similar operations to express support for socialism and syndicalism, albeit with a somewhat critical attitude to you. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 10/50/80. Result: The creation of posters and pamphlets to help spread your message, increased ease of recruiting.
Newspaper Distribution: Various socialist and syndicalist newspapers are produced by SPA members, affiliates, and allies, ranging in quality from the professional The Red Banner made using the equipment formerly belonging to The Chicago Tribune to smeared sheets being printed in basements. Not only do they allow for the expounding of your political program and views, but they perform a variety of community functions. Setting up new printing presses and newsstands can only help you spread your message. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/15/30/45/60/100. Result: Expanded newspaper distribution, easier recruiting and organizing
Propagandize The Rural Areas: Farmers are intensely reactionary. The Southern smallholder made the greatest contribution to the Confederate armies during the War of the Slave Power, the yeomen resisted the creation of a bourgeois democracy during the War of American Independence. But with multiple crises of capital ravaging them economically, perhaps some can be persuaded to support you and join the most advanced segments of the working class. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90. Result: Begin propagandizing farmers.
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. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: Begin propagandizing destitute professionals.
Political Actions
Minority Rights: Norman has begun championing the rights of various minorities who are abused and mistreated throughout America. In the current system, actually doing so is an impossible task. If nothing else, the AFP and Democratic Senators would filibuster any such bill to death, and many of the Republicans are little better. But making noise about it can help push the state legislatures into doing something, as well as draw attention to your cause from the oppressed. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/30/55/80/105. Result: Gain increased support from minorities, begin passing state-level anti-discrimination laws.
Impeachment: If President Hoover has been unable to leave the White House grounds for two months, he is clearly no longer fit for office. The two-thirds majority impeachment requires is veritably impossible to achieve, but even making noises about it could help gain you support and allies, especially if you are high-profile enough. Some in your party consider it nothing but a waste of time, others feel it is a tactical error. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/40/90/200. Results: The Socialist Party initiates an impeachment motion for Hoover, chance of gaining legislative allies or support.
Poach the Democrats: The Democrats have traditionally been a party pulled in many directions - Bourbon conservatives, progressives, Southern populists, and union members, political machines - and while a significant portion of all these factions have left, there are always remnants, such as the Roosevelt family. The party as a whole rejects you wholeheartedly, but individual members can be convinced to change their allegiance. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 60/120/180. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Press the Progressives: The Progressive Party is now the second-weakest in America. Even the newly formed America First Party has surpassed them. They hold a few scattered seats in the west and Midwest and little more. This weakness is also what makes them vulnerable. They will collapse as a national party without intervention, you suspect. And you can offer this intervention. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45. Results: You convince some members of the Progressive Party to switch allegiance to you.
Pro-Worker Legislation: It would ordinarily be unlikely to pass, at least on a federal level, but demanding it will make a statement in and of itself. And you will not just push this legislation on a federal level. These laws will focus on the things workers have fought for. Better wages, workplace safety, price caps for company stores...with the stroke of a pen, they can be spread across the country, and it will be the SPA that will take the lion's share of the credit. Unfortunately, the current mood in Congress is intensely hostile to you. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/90/100/120. Results: You pass worker-protection laws on the state and possibly federal level and can gain varying amounts of support.
Party Lawyers: Many potentially vital laws are being held up in the courts. And frankly, you have a shortage of good lawyers. There are some willing to work for free from dedication to the cause, but most lack the wealth for that or are entirely uninterested in working for you. But enough filthy lucre can solve that problem. Cost: 1 Resource, -1 Resource per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 40. Results: Hire some lawyers to help defend the laws you get passed.
Local Elections: Mayors, sheriffs, county judges. All positions of undeniable importance to the people who elect them. Beginning a campaign to get favorable individuals elected into those positions in the areas you don't completely dominate will help set favorable ground for future elections or revolutionary actions. With the chaotic situations in many Midwestern states, the potential leverage is immense. It is highly likely there will be attempts by corrupt sheriffs and mayors to disrupt any rural organizations unless that danger is countered through the creation of favorable local governments. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/30/75. Results: Increase support on the local level.
Staff State Offices: The state bureaucracies are often intensely hostile to the efforts of the SPA, but while they are an obstacle they are one who can be defeated, or at least gone around. Beginning to hire loyal socialists and syndicalists will allow you to gradually begin purging these hostile organizations. The expertise and loyalty of these offices is a vital resource, one often denied to your supporters. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/45/90. Results: Begin gradually purging and replacing hostile burueacrats, slow enough that there should be minimal loss of institutional knowledge.
Intellectual Actions
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.
Create an Educational Program: Designing a socialist education program will be just one of the many questions you have to answer after the revolution. There are important differences in content and teaching style and likely other things as well. Begin looking into who is an expert in such things and start drawing up the broad strokes of what a curriculum will cover. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Begin designing an education program.
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 -1 Influence. Time: 6 months. DC: No roll. Result: Begin coming up with a more detailed roadmap for socialist America, begin unlocking actions to create small-scale imitations/programs related to this.
Who Supports Who?: If you looked out the window to see New York City, you would think nine in ten supported you. You are not fool enough to think that, of course. The Payment Army alone disproves that, let alone the bullying your daughter has experienced, the endless attempts at suppression, the thousands of letters denouncing you. Beginning to get an accurate count will be vital for effectively directing your efforts. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Get a general idea of where your support is strong and weak and what people are concerned about.
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: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Counter anti-Semitic narratives, increase in support from Jews, small chance of +1 Influence.
Proletarian Unity: The workers of the world must be united. There are false divisions embedded deep into the American psyche. Racism is the greatest but by no means the only one. Target these divides, weld them together as best you can. Make promises of restitution and justice, publicize what you stand for. It will be difficult and potentially dangerous, but you have to start somewhere. Cost: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence, chance of losing support. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/75/125. Result: Counter racist narratives, increase support from minorities, small chance of +1 Influence.
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. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Creation of curriculum, improved results and lowered difficulty for Organize Education.
The Legacy of the Grange: The Grange was a vaguely socialist, mixed-race organization for farmers to help them progress and grant assistance through a variety of methods, from community support to political activism. The sudden rise of Farmer-Labor and the current devastation has caused it to decline greatly. But it can rise again, better and stronger. With Farmer-Labor on your side, a remnant of the Grange is as well. Begin a program of revitalization and create a new ideology for it. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: New, more socialist/syndicalist/anarchist/some form of leftist ideology for the Grange, new options for dealing with it unlocked.
Intrigue Actions
Siphon Party Funds: The first step in performing covert actions is to acquire funds to do so. Simply taking money directly from the party treasury strikes you as a bad idea, as the resulting vanishing will be wide open for anyone who looks. So instead you will arrange for a few dribbles of cash to vanish into an account you can use for off-the-books problem-solving. Cost: -0.1 Resources per month. Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70. Result: +0.1 Resources per turn goes into a dark fund you can draw upon for covert ops.
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: 25/50/75/100. Result: Increase to income.
Hire an Assistant Secretary: You need someone who is good at this sort of thing. Someone trustworthy, loyal and competent. That's going to be really hard to find...but at the same time it is undeniably necessary. How would you even begin to find that? Cost: Risky...and you will have to commit an Authority to them. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/??/????. Result: Find some potential spymasters, can delegate Influence or Authority to them.
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. 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.
Revolutionary Guards: People have been threatening to kill you and your family and other leaders for a long time. You have developed protection against overt attacks, but perhaps it is time to begin developing a more covert sort of protection as well. Cost: - 2 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Create organization of plainclothes bodyguards for you, your family, and other important figures. Unlock additional counterintelligence actions.
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.
Covert Investigation: Quietly looking into the behavior of a subordinate might allow you to remove them before they can become an embarrassment, or simply confirm their innocence without risking giving the impression they have lost your confidence. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. Result: Find any wrongdoing for chosen subordinate.
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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. 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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Increase chances of avoiding discovery for embezzlement actions.
Infiltrate the Army: With the contacts Butler has given you, you now have a simple way of infiltrating the army. Selecting volunteers from the Red Guards and having them sign up will enable you to gain some low-level infiltration, while going through the men he introduced you to will enable you to hear rumors and gossip from higher-levels. MacArthur is certainly planning to use the army against you, you must find out how. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/50/?/??. Result: Make contacts within the military.
Contact with the French and British: With the ports opened to French and British ships, the possibility of contact with your fellow syndicalists has just grown dramatically easier. The providing of support for you during the Revolution is a guarantee, what is less likely is them assisting you during this lead-up due to the difficulty of it, but the Syndintern will surely be able to provide something. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Contact the Syndintern
Personal Actions
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 punch Huey Long in his fat face or 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 once per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: May make 1 change to 1 subordinate's priorities (change order, add one, remove one).
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. Cost: Variable amount of Relations, changes in Strength of factions. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Relations and Strength allows.
Choose A Focus: You are currently taking no focus.
The Union Forever! - Through the most difficult and darkest days, it was the unions that kept the revolutionary spirit alive. Let the unions stand forever. No reactionary or capitalist can defeat the people, united. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain national spirit The Union Forever (Effect: +1 Strength to the Left faction per month).
In the Cities - The cities are already where you are strongest, but there are still bourgeoise who can be convinced to turn against their class and proletariat who can be given consciousness, to say nothing of the lumpen. Time: 1 month. Effect: Modify The Struggle Carries On! (+1 Appeal in Urban Areas per month)
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).
Seek Out the Sharecropper - In the heart of the south, millions of black men and women labor in a state little better than slavery, terrorized by the KKK and other reactionary organizations and denied fundamental rights. Not only does allowing this to go on violate your principles, but they could serve as a significant thorn in the side of your foes. Time: 1 month. Effect: Increased efficacy of actions for gaining support among sharecroppers.
Organize the Farmworkers - The migrating farmworkers are perhaps the easiest target for radicalization. Their formerly prosperous lives ripped away from them, pushed into desperate poverty, the food they work so hard to grow frequently burned in front of them as they starve...Time: 3 months. Effect: Significant increase to support among rural populations, +10 to the next 3 actions involving organizing or agitating in rural areas.
Anti-Foreclosure Teams - The most immediate threat to the remaining farmers are foreclosures. There are a variety of methods of dealing with this problem, from paying the banks to driving off their agents to buying the property at auction then returning it. Begin doing so in mass. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain +10 to all actions involving resisting foreclosure or eviction.
You sent some letters out, made a few calls, and tried to speak with some prominent anarchists, like Leonard Abbott, Emma Goldman, Abraham Isaak, Edna Millay, Sam Dolgoff, and an up-and-coming, fairly controversial fellow from Indiana who calls himself William London.
Unfortunately, they have all decided to be holding a conference on anarchism and syndicalism this month in Seattle and so are unavailable to meet with you and the CSA.
You spent about half an hour cursing when you learned that. None of them are available, not a single famous anarchist is around and you aren't silly enough to put your weight behind someone without influence of their own.
While this could be rather embarrassing for you, it's largely viewed as a sideshow, so it doesn't hurt your standing at all. It's just a frustrating waste of time. Result: Influence cost recouped, +Stress, action can be re-attempted next month.
Send Union Organizers To: (The Midwest areas protected by the Red Guards) DC: 0/10/50. 1 Influence, 24+30 =54
You take quite a bit of care with selecting the organizers, working with the AFL and the IWW to make sure the people who will be giving the Midwest a detailed introduction to socialism and unionization are acceptable to the strongly conservative farmers but are willing and able to reveal their revolutionary potential. You also have them meet with Farmer-Labor representatives and refugees from the Dust Bowl and Bleeding Midwest who have joined your cause to try and learn more about rural life. You attend a few of those meetings yourselves, curious to hear more about a part of America you are largely unfamiliar with.
You cannot imagine living without electricity all your life.
After two weeks of preparation, they leave, traveling to dozens of small towns. From the reports you have received from various Red Guards, you think they will encounter basically stable towns with slowly forming unions and collectives.
The small village of Dozenberry had seen better days, Edward thought. He had expected the dust being everywhere and the washed-out, faded look. He had expected the place to be in disrepair, given the articles in The Vanguard and The Red Banner.
But he had not expected to see a church burnt to ashes, the smell of kerosene and something that he tried not to compare to roasting pork seemingly lingering in the air, a grain-and-gear sign drawn with charcoal on one of the few intact pieces of wood.
"What in Christ's name happened here?" he asked.
The Red Guard who had offered to escort him...Daniel, no Darrell glanced over and spat on the ground.
"Minutemen, comrade. They said some girl was attacked by one of our own and tried to whip up a mob against us. They were making torches, you see, were planning on burning us out of the homes we were staying in. Some of our brothers heard about it from the new mayor, and they came along to put a stop to it. In the confusion, well, there was a lot of kerosene and a lot of gunfire. Not a good combination."
Edward nodded. "The new mayor?" he asked.
"The old one was in the church."
"And the girl?"
"Never was one, comrade. Do you really think we would stoop to such behavior?" Darrell asked, sounding wounded.
The two of them walked through the Main Street, huge puffs of dust rising up with every step, rising up to paint Edward's knees brown. They headed towards a new building, the cleanest in town. It had the look of something freshly and hastily constructed.
"The folks interested in organizing a farming collective are in there," Darrell said, jerking his chin towards it, "and I will be waiting right outside. You need anything, just holler."
Edward nodded in return and strolled outside, glad to be getting a start on what he had come for.
There were six people in the building, sitting on benches. There were a pair of wizened couples and two young men who seemed like they had only begun shaving in the past year.
"Good day to all of you, I'm Edward. And who are all you folk?" he asked politely.
They introduced themselves and discussed what they wanted. Most of all, it seemed to be a return to normalcy. They wanted their crops to grow and their homes to be safe. They didn't seem to have greater ambitions than that, but a bit more prodding got him hints of grander ideas and greater concerns.
They seemed to have an idyllic vision of the entire town being made into one grand farm, where everyone would own an equal share of the whole thing. They wanted to pool everyone's money to buy new tractors and rebuild the damaged area. They wanted to form their own Red Guards.
And they wanted to get a new church, and a new priest.
"What happened to the old priest?" he asked after he had judged there to have been enough discussion for the day.
If nothing else, he was getting hungry, hungry enough he almost missed the answer. "Father Conten was in the church when it burned down too."
He stayed in Dozenberry for another week, helping lay the seeds for this vision, working with them to try and anticipate problems, to recruit more support from the other farmer's, to try and work the state anticipations that were supposed to be helping farmers but seemed barely functional, and then he traveled to another town. First, though, he sent a letter outlining further possible actions for assisting the development of these organizations such as providing arms, helping them acquire tools and seeds, and providing assistance in resisting foreclosures and land seizures.
Result: Small gains in support in parts of the Midwest, more information on the situation in those areas of the Midwest, further actions unlocked.
Establish Community Gardens: DC: 0/20/40/60. 1 Influence, 33+25 = 58
The sheer number of former farmers makes the concept of community gardens much more popular. Sign-up sheets go up in soup kitchens, cafeterias, and housing cooperatives across the nation. And they are rapidly filled. Unemployed workers who want to fill their time, children who are eager to avoid chores through...different chores, and enthusiastic socialists eager to take part in even the most mild of revolutionary activities all join, but the overwhelming majority of volunteers are those who have worked the soil before.
You visit one of the gardens being established in Central Park and you see grown men crying as they carefully press carrots and potatoes into the soil.
And you see an opportunity to do more as well...
You see the potential to bring people together.
Result: The gardens are a massive hit, options unlocked to further integrate rural immigrants into the city through social activities, action continues for 2 more months.
Socialist Radio Networks: DC: 5/25/50/75. 1 Influence, 25
You can operate a radio yourself just fine, no matter what Louise says. You only broke one, and that was because as soon as you turned it on a gunshot came over the airwaves. It's not your fault.
But that doesn't mean you feel remotely qualified with setting up a radio network that will reach across America. Or across a state.
So you pay someone else to do it for you.
With much celebration from within the party, the expansion of your propaganda networks kicks into high gear. The small-scale individual radio operators will hopefully be included in the new network, but now they will have more support and more reach.
Once the construction of the radio towers and broadcasting stations finish, anyway.
In the meantime, people are beginning to discuss how to handle these smaller radio networks. You think they should be made part of the greater whole, but some are advocating for letting them handle their own organization. Yet others propose leaving the details of the organization vague but creating a system of content guides and editors to improve the quality of these broadcasts. An anti-Catholic screed and an incredibly clumsy attempt at advocacy for sexual liberation make you see the sense in their proposals. All these ideas will be included in the eventual organization, in all likelihood, but what do you think is the priority.
[] Creating a single unified forum for the cooperation and organization of radio operators, hosts, and pundits. This will increase the effectiveness of their efforts, as they will have easy access to support and advice, even if most of it will come from telegrams and letters.
[] Ensuring the independence of various small operators, both to help create a diversity of viewpoints and opinions and to prevent accusations of stifling free expression.
[] Setting and enforcing standards to directly improve quality and prevent the creation of counterproductive narratives and the delivery of false information.
Result: Beginning of construction of a radio network and setting up of other infrastructure.
Propagandize The Rural Areas: DC: 0/30/60/90. 2 Influence, 52+15+74 = 141
The SPA does not have the tools, the experience, or the local support to do a truly effective job of propagandizing to rural smallholders outside of a select few areas where farmers and miners mix or where the Dust Bowl has ravaged them. But the agitators and advocates that travel out to farms and ranches across the United States manage to overcome these obstacles.
"We're here to help," they say.
"We just want a fair deal," they proclaim.
"We are following in the footsteps of Lincoln and Washington," they announce.
"Are you willing to help us?" they ask.
It's not all as easy as that, of course. They are met with suspicion, with hostility, occasionally with thrown stones or worse. But more often they are met with cold questions and verbal sallies, and these can be handled much easier.
Explanations are given, falsehoods are countered, assurances are made.
And the rather public efforts of the Socialist Party on behalf of farmers do help. Especially since it's not socialists who are trying to fight the aid that's supposed to be given out.
There are a few places where hostility remains intense, such as northern New York and southern Indiana, but the various rural populations have generally shifted towards a more "wait and see" attitude towards syndicalism.
You doubt you will be getting many votes or membership dues, let alone Red Guards from these areas, at least not without investing more effort though.
And you aren't certain if you can afford that.
Result: General increase to your popularity in rural areas
The Legacy of the Grange: 1 Authority
The first meeting of the New Grange, or the "Red Grange" as the New York World and the San Francisco Examiner dub it, takes place in a rented hall in Des Moines. You couldn't make it personally, but you sent one of your friends and allies, Bob Minor to represent you and the SPA as a whole. He wrote you a letter describing the event, with a cartoon showing a bunch of farmers wandering around blindfolded, groping for the entrance to a building labeled "The Future" hastily sketched in one corner.
The crowd was mixed. Dedicated socialists and syndicalists who had never been to a farm, Farmer-Labor politicians in suits and ties, priests and preachers who had lost their churches to famine or fire, and a few uneducated farmers from the most established cooperatives, and every single group had their own idea for how the Grange would be structured, who would lead it, what the membership requirements should be, and why it should exist.
"Some people want a union, some people want a political party, and some of them want a social group, Jack. I managed to convince them that it should have some teeth. They are pooling money for weapons, and setting up letter-writing campaigns. Outside of that, I doubt they will be doing much that's useful."
He also mentioned that they seemed to like their new nickname. You suspect he is being a little pessimistic, given that and the fact that they are already sending representatives to the Combined Syndicates.
Result: The Red Grange formed.
Report from the Coordination Committee: 2 Influence on Limited Local Elections, 17+47+10 = 74
With laws in place to allow for the harassment and defeat of reactionary militias and the overwhelming strength of the Red Guards, supported by various less-formal militias, the removal of their last vestiges of official power in various syndicalist strongholds. Massive recall campaigns are organized, with the remaining judges, police commissioners, and other such individuals picketed day and night, surrounded by shouting crowds demanding they step down.
Few have the strength of will to resist the people, and those few are dealt with more directly. With their offices empty, new elections are held and dedicated socialists and syndicalists have begun to fill in these gaps.
Now they must look to areas where the workers are less organized and politically active, in various smaller cities and rural regions.
The prospect of doing so, however, has left them stretched thin. They want your support in doing so. Your collaboration and coordination will make what is likely to be a difficult endeavor significantly easier.
[] You will have my assistance. Must commit at least 1 Influence to Local Elections next month. The action will have increased efficacy.
[] I can't, I am sorry.
Report from Norman Thomas: 3 Influence on Giving Speeches, 64+86+32 = 182
Norman has left Washington for the time being, instead looking to bring attention to the SPA's advocacy for social and political justice through a highly advertised speaking store. He began every speech with a heartfelt prayer, and continued onwards in that theme, arguing for Christian kindness and mercy, accusing the KKK and other organizations of "taking a hearth fire made to warm the cold and making it a brand of torment."
Norman is not a truly great orator, he cannot whip up a crowd as you can, but he is intelligent and earnest and steadfast, and that is plenty. He meets questions and objections with peaceful and patient rebuttals, he demonstrably practices what he preaches, he does everything he can to show that he is not bearing false coin...and people respond. It's much warmer than you expected, really.
But that's only where Norman can go himself. The increasing violence inflicted by Minutemen and other dangerous organizations has left him understandably cautious of entering their heartlands. He does not go further south than Kentucky, and even there he is careful, traveling in a secured train with a small escort.
But it is in Chicago where danger strikes. At the Holy Name Cathedral, a young man approached him to shake his hand and then pulled out a knife. One of the guards intervened and clubbed the knife away, and Norman escaped uninjured.
The would-be assassin couldn't say the same. He died before he made it ten steps, mobbed by an enraged crowd.
Norman apologized to the Archdiocese for the resulting mess, both from the death and because some unruly youths apparently blamed the church.
Report from the Legislative Committee: 1 Influence on Expand Wealth Taxes, 39, 1 Influence on Socialist Subsidies, 38
You...question their priorities. Passing these laws is important, and the subsidies will be useful in a variety of ways. But the state bureaucracies are utterly gutted, and actually making these laws work is unlikely to go well.
They are passed, in the limited, watered-down form that is becoming common as various members find themselves getting cold feet or the few remaining hostile representatives manage to resist the SPA.
Report from Smedley Butler: 2 Influence on Instilling Discipline, 91+29+20 = 140, 1 Influence on A Reporting System, 52
Butler goes to meet with Red Guards, and the results are rather like what happens when someone lobs a grenade in a crowded room. He goes apoplectic, cursing the men he met for a solid hour, raging at them, calling them unfit to so much as sweep streets. He calls them disgraces, he calls them cowards and bullies and thugs, he has endless contempt for them.
But he also says that they can be made into soldiers.
The former VFW men and the experienced and organized veteran cadres form the backbone of his efforts to make that change. Standards of behavior, dress, and manner are set. Meetings are firmly scheduled twice a week, consisting of an affirmance of their commitment, drills, discussions of why and how to fight, and then personal unit business.
Butler's trusted men, the former VFW, are the ones put in charge of making sure this is followed, and that any disciplinary matters are handled appropriately. He has already begun turning up evidence of Guards behaving inappropriately and covering it, either by claiming their victims were reactionaries or pressuring their comrades into covering for them.
Butler is incensed upon finding out, you are incensed, and he begins a full investigation into the matter, no matter the vicious outcry it spawns from many factions of the CSA.
Personal Action: Spend Time With Your Family
You manage to make time for your family again this month. Hannah is thriving, learning new lessons, including how to swear, unfortunately. Louise only found out about that when Hannah asked her mother to "pass the fucking peas" in the middle of dinner.
The poor girl was sent up to her room without supper, and then you had to speak to her about appropriate times for cursing and try to pry out where exactly she learned that word.
As enjoyable as fatherhood is, it is not always relaxing.
You even managed to snatch some time for just you and Louise, the two of you spending half a Wednesday afternoon attending a concert in Central Park as a small band set up and played a dozen songs for tips. The two of you danced together, first trying the stately steps you were both taught as children, then imitating the youths when that proved too slow for the songs.
You kick up your legs and swing your arms and chuckle at how ridiculous the two of you look together, then wander back home to find you have the house to yourselves for another hour or so.
Ask a Favor: Syndicalists: Organize Mutual Aid, Centrists: Organize Mutual Aid
You are determined to see success in the first major rural organization. You have staked quite a bit on the idea that farmers and farmworkers, as they are now, have revolutionary potential. So you spend even more of your capital on it. Perhaps it is throwing good money after bad, but you are determined not to falter.
So you ask for some favors, for some people to take extra time to help set up meetings between the organizers and the refugees from the Midwest who can help prepare them. It seems to be helpful.
Choose A Focus: Seek Out the Sharecropper
In terms of direct connections to the areas populated by the oppressed sharecroppers, you have little. Geographically and demographically, they are not your base. They are isolated from you by geography, infrastructure, and repression. But you have an indirect connection. Throngs of Africans have traveled north, and have been welcomed into the IWW and other organizations. They still face discrimination and hostility, but the SPA is actively combating it, and encouraging the migrants to join in the struggle.
And these migrants have family back home. It is these people you seek out, asking them to write favorably of the SPA and let their families know you are coming.
You can only hope it will help when you send organizers and revolutionaries to them.
Result: Focus completed, ease and effectiveness of actions in sharecropper-dominated areas increased.
You sit at the kitchen table in your DC home, feeling lonely. But as you pore over the pages of the various newspapers you subscribe to, you know that keeping your family in New York was the right thing to do.
The streets here are wide by most standards, but they are far too narrow to accommodate the vast throngs of Red Guards, Minutemen, police, and soldiers, all of whom clash in the street on a near-daily basis. These conflagrations are small, but they grow every day, and more and more soldiers are being recruited to keep order, to suppress these bloody battles.
Even so, there are districts of the city where the order is being kept by paramilitaries. Small ones, and distant from the centers of power, but they exist, and endless rumors swirl that MacArthur will be moving to suppress them, but so far he has been distracted by endless crises elsewhere.
You have seen the scars left behind. You have seen the rivers of blood shed. And in your mind's eye you see what causes them...
Paul and Ryan and Steve and Billy and Patrick had all gotten together, drinking at their usual bar, the drinks half off and the barmaids giving them swooning looks thanks to the prominent red armbands they wore. They bent their heads together and came to a plan. The widow three blocks down had been letting Minutemen stay in her house and given them food.
That couldn't be tolerated. Paul knew that, even if his friends called him yellow. But the widow was also nice to him, and he didn't want to hurt her. So they agreed to just give her a warning...a brick or two through her windows and some letters in her mailbox. Nothing like when they had handled those police bastards who had tried to infiltrate them. He swallowed at the memory, and shook away the sound of screams that hadn't been anything a man could make.
They wrote a dozen letters, and had the other patrons contribute some of their own. There were so many they didn't all fit in the mailbox properly, and the door was left hanging open. Then they took up bricks and began to throw them, shattering the windows on the neat brown home, shards of glass scattering everywhere.
Seconds after that, four burly men had charged out. "That's my Ma's house, you bastards!" one shouted, and then battle was joined. Paul swung his fist and one man collapsed, and then he felt a strangely light punch to his belly and fell down.
"Wha..." he said, dazed.
"You stabbed Paul!" someone shouted.
The world turned darker. Figures, no longer visible as anything but vague shadows indistinguishable from each other, multiplied across the scene, limbs waving like the tentacles of some great beast. Incoherent roars and snarls echoed through his pain. He closed his eyes and began to sob...it was too much, it was all too much. Then, like a miracle, he heard one clear sentence.
"This is all that bitch's fault."
Paul couldn't find the strength to disagree.
Two hundred Longists marched down the avenue. Cheering crowds lined the street in places, but far more looked on with sullen indifference, or alarm. Ervin was in that last group. He was the police officer in charge of keeping this thing peaceful, and he knew full well Longists were incapable of that. He was a good American. He paid his taxes, voted in elections, kept his nose clean and behaved like a proper man. And if everyone else did the same, this country wouldn't be having these problems. The fucking reds and the damn Longists should just sit down, shut up, and let sober men handle things.
But they weren't going to, and so Ervin had to keep the peace and protect ordinary Americans from these radicals. And right now, that protection meant keeping this march from getting violent...
And all of a sudden they had stopped in their tracks in front of a newspaper stand. "All for Long, or all is lost! All for Long, or all is lost!" they chanted, screaming like angry apes.
He wasn't sure what had gotten them to act like this, but it had to be stopped. He blew his whistle sharply, and then they turned to him. "Right, you lot," he snapped, barely restraining himself from spitting, "Move along and stop terrifying the man."
"The man is a liar and a thief peddling false information!" one of the crowd called.
"Then sue him for libel. Handle things like civilized people, you damn fools, or you'll handle them from a jail cell!" he spat back.
One of his officers coughed. "Should we be so rough with them sir?" the man asked softly.
Ervin ignored him. He was either a coward or a sympathizer, and neither could be tolerated.
The Longists snarled insults at him, but he held firm, confident they would back down. They were bullies, they would crumple once met with strength.
There was something flying through the air. It impacted the ground before him and bounced, slamming into his shin. "Aaagh!" he shouted.
There was a gunshot.
Someone screamed. The street went dead silent.
"Get the pigs!" someone else shouted.
"Fire at will!" Ervin shouted back...but the crowd had more men than they had bullets, and the officers who were supposed to watch his back knew it too.
They melted away, firing wildly as they fled, bullets cutting down Longists and onlookers alike as a wall of flesh sped towards them.
Within seconds the street had turned into a scene out of a nightmare. Men and women were fleeing in dozens of directions, colliding with each other, panic spreading like the Spanish Flu. He saw the newspaper man who had started everything somehow stand untouched, an island of impossible peace. He saw a window shatter, glass flying through the air.
He saw his fellow officers flee with all their strength.
Those who didn't run fast enough were trampled.
Ervin turned towards an alley, trying to sprint through the crowd, pulling past snatching hands as he desperately sought any exit.
Something slammed into his leg, the same one that the rock had hit. He collapsed, looking up to see the grim face of an old woman, a grey pin on her dress. She was holding a heavy cane.
"You union men always did cause such trouble," she said.
Then the Longists caught up to him.
The last thing he saw was the officer who had tried to warn him being smashed against a wall, his head breaking open. Then there was another gunshot, and he saw nothing.
Red flags flew everywhere. Symbols of their godless faith decorated the buildings like some savage painting their huts. Sylvester kept his eyes locked straight ahead. He would never come to this part of town, no matter what, but his daughter had gone missing and a trusted friend had seen her heading this way.
Sylvester preferred to let them rot in their own sin, and only intervene to prevent them from launching their crusades against whatever they had decided meant one was bourgeoisie, but that wasn't an option today. So he walked in and sought out whoever was their mayor or tsar or commune leader or whatever they called him.
He much preferred an honest president, a man who could be trusted to do the right thing for Americans. The only problem was finding someone...if the Democrats or Republicans didn't find a better option, he might just have to hold his nose and vote for a rabble rouser like Long. Anything to keep the Red Terror from American shores.
Then he saw his daughter...and there was a...
"Get your filthy hands off her!" he roared, charging forwards.
The son of a whore stood up, shocked. His daughter started to shout something, but the blood was roaring in his ears and nothing mattered except keeping her safe.
His fist connected, pain lancing up his arm even as blood poured down the dirty syndicalist's face, but he had attracted attention, armed men with hostile expressions and red armbands approaching far too close.
He tried to tell them off for endangering his daughter so and for their attitudes when the wind was knocked out of him. His hands went to his stomach and came away wet. Someone was crying and screaming, someone else was shouting.
The last thing he heard was an unfamiliar voice saying "He had a weapon."
With grim resolve, you shove away the papers. You can't do anything about the murders and fires and riots, you can't make the bloodshed halt. The city - and the nation - will suffer until it escapes from the confines of capitalism. All you can do is make that transition as swift as possible.
You rise and reach for the phone, punching in a number.
"Yes Norman, I know it's late, but I want to go over your planned speech for tomorrow. Are you sure bringing up Reconstruction like that is a good idea? We have to persuade the Democrats if we are going to pass the anti-lynching bill, convince them that they will benefit electorally from this. Bringing up Reconstruction means if they vote for it they will get tarred with that brush..."
Rumors and News
Longist militias have begun launching a series of attacks on those they deem "enemies of America'' or "agents of the syndicalist threat." Men in motley mixes of grey and white and green clash with police and hired security forces, shattering them in one bloody defeat after another. The targets are greatly varied - black communities, Catholic churches, and Jewish neighborhoods are all terrorized, but the predominant focus is upon the Bourbon elite of the South. One crude Minutemen explained the reasoning rather crudely: "They tried to make us like niggers, only we aren't like them. We fight back."
Many of these attacks have been conducted with the aim of liberating wealth and sharing it among the Minutemen and their families, although doubtless a significant portion is ending up in Long's coffers. This wealth typically includes factories, which are then sold to allies such as Ford.
Meanwhile, Long has used these attacks to portray him as a moderate. In the Senate, he argues that Americans are threatened by you on one side and Pelley on the other, and that some reforms must be made and deadwood cast out lest all of America be destroyed. With the growing power of the SPA, some have begun to consider the wisdom in acquiescing to his demands.
However, it seems that not all of the political establishment is willing to give what they see as a surrender. A block of Senators and Congressmen, led by John Garner, have declared they will only pass economic reform bills if they come with a massive expansion to various internal investigation and security forces.
This has not been...taken well, to put it simply. Bertrand Snell called them an "arrogant band of highwaymen demanding an entire nation stand and deliver security and prosperity for their own selfish power."
When Garner tried to defend himself, he was shouted down with a barrage of curses until Vice President Curtis came to his aid. Despite the power of the Cactus Clique, it seems that it may well be possible to pass some form of relief on the federal level.
In addition to the political battles in Washington, the army has been tarred. Not only have a series of daring exposes come from brave reporters who infiltrated the camps to report on rampant abuse, arbitrary rules, and conditions that make Hoovervilles seem like luxurious Manhattan Penthouses, but General MacArthur has been involved in another massacre when a group of preachers of a peculiar splinter church (there have been quite a few of those in recent years) attempted to bring food and spare clothing to one of the camps but were gunned down at the general's orders.
The reaction to these two incidents has been explosive. Garner's home in Texas was burned down by Longist militias, and MacArthur was burned in effigy from Richmond to New Orleans. The reactionaries seem to have well and truly divided themselves.
In Canada, Canadian liberals are making a stand against what they describe as overreach and the abuse of power by the king. They make a symbolic walkout of Parliament in protest, and then promptly begin negotiating with the reactionaries for concessions.
And unrest in Quebec has been sharply curtailed by the deployment of the Mounties, who have blanketed the province so suddenly that all the air has been sucked away from the fires of defiance.
However, your attention is drawn south, to affairs within the United States and the party as a whole. Various initiatives are going successfully, as credit union branches are opened, gardens dug, and cooperatives improved. The Red Guards once more take an active role in organizing and supporting the new farming cooperatives, typically by supplying weapons and providing advice on handling disputes. These successes are propagandized as widely as possible, but the relatively limited reach of current methods is making this difficult. And the Red Guards are beginning to get tired, the trickle of their members returning to the city and their struggles there is steadily growing. However, they are typically leaving on good or at least cordial terms, which is something.
Affairs within the party are proving more difficult. It began with Harry Haywood, one of the leaders of the Orthodox faction, proposing a resolution committing to a firm stance on Negro liberation and expanding the policy of agrarian revolution to the south. Important members of the Syndicalist faction attacked his ideas as impractical, and then accused him of wishing to bring the "slaughter of Haiti" to American shores.
The disgraceful argument raged for half a day, ending when Browder proposed a vote to tighten the party line on matters of race and then expel anyone who disagrees. He compared those who deviated to lepers during his speech, which seemed to make people think he was being sardonic. You aren't so certain. Regardless, everyone agreed they were being ridiculous, and the mood generally seems to have changed to favor encouraging or at least including a harder tack on race issues.
In other affairs throughout the country, an attempted strike in Los Angeles was suppressed by the police and private security forces, but also through a degree of conciliation, with the pay cuts that had prompted the strike modified and reduced somewhat.
The Green Mountain Boys have continued to make trouble, attacking several would-be organizers and agitators and blowing up a radio tower, accusing it of sending "Satanic syndicalist mind-control waves." You suppose from a certain point of view, they aren't wrong.
A German book about a soldier's adventures in the Congo has been published. It is a lurid and improbable tale, featuring ancient, still-inhabited cities ruled by winged Africans, dragons and dinosaurs, a lost tribe of Israel, and a tribe of Africans blessed by the jungle spirits. It also contains substantial veiled criticism of Mittelafrika, earning it acclaim and opposition from various corners of the world.
A series of strikes in Spain have led to several successes as the CNT-FAI grows in power. A correspondence between several leaders of the CSA and Spanish union has begun lately.
Plans from Subordinates
With your cooperation secured, the Coordination Committee intends to begin removing and replacing the remaining local politicians who are unwilling to come to an accommodation with the new order.
The State Legislative Committee, having been hamstrung by resistance from bureaucracy for long enough, is preparing to go over, around, or through them. They are viciously debating the possible replacement structures, such as creating elected councils responsible for implementing the various laws or simply hiring new officials.
Thomas has been shaken by his experience, but with the current kerfuffle in Congress, there will never be a better time to push for minority rights and worker protection on a federal level. Even a failure to pass those will be seen as a success, due to generating outrage that will fuel your support.
And Butler is continuing his efforts to whip the Red Guards into shape. Every day he bulldozes over resistance and discovers concealed crimes, but gradually the paramilitary improves under the stern leadership of Butler and the VFW.
You have 6 Influence and 1 Authority total. 0 Authority and 1 Influence are committed to ongoing actions. You are not currently taking any foci.
As tensions rise and the chance of a revolution grows ever higher, many in the party wish to contact the Syndintern to gain their support. Hard currency, resources, weapons, technical assistance, and more await you just across the Atlantic. Make contact with the Syndintern in 2 months (from the Center).
With the reactionary militias slowly faltering and a slow, slight expansion in industry in some cities, there is room for more in the unions and workers who need to be recruited and given an education in class conflict and Marxism to prepare for the Revolution.Begin expanding the unions in 2 months (from the Orthodox).
The other parties have a far greater reach through their control of newspapers, radios, and other means of delivering mass information. This has allowed them to smear our good name and drown out our attacks. We cannot allow a propaganda gap! Expand your propaganda apparatus in 2 months (from the Parliamentarians).
The reactionaries are doubtless working to sow doubt and division in our ranks and to launch deadly attacks upon us. We need some system for warning of their infiltration and infection or protecting vital leadership from their attacks. Or both, both would be better.Establish some means of countering reactionary attacks and assassinations within 3 months (from the Totalists).
Party Actions
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 and hostile interruption. 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. The possibilities of the written word are limitless. Cost: 2 Resources 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 topic. 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 Social 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, county governments. You even effectively control some 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 of 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. Cost: Significant and dangerous backlash from within and without the Party, possible legal challenges. Time: 3 months. DC: 70/140/180/240. 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 change to 1 subordinate. Can be taken multiple times.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/180. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
Open Investigation: If a subordinate is unpopular or incompetent, you can begin publically looking into their performance. This can wash off some of the reflected stink, particularly if you find something, but if there is no evidence of wrongdoing or fraud that can only make the situation worse or lead to questions of your judgement. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Some chance of finding problems with chosen subordinate, options to deal with problems, chance of +1 Influence.
Support Subordinate: Expressing confidence in a subordinate, either by offering direct aid or by giving material support, can boost their performance, especially if there isn't a structural reason for their failures. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Positive modifier to chosen subordinate, chance of them gaining positive trait.
Acquire Expertise: You are only one man, you cannot know or do everything. Having trusted subordinates who can do part of the work helps, but so too does having trusted advisors, people who can offer you advice for dealing with things you don't quite understand. Cost: Varies Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Find assistant for chosen subject who can give significant bonuses and penalties to rolls and other situations.
Establish a Budget: While some of your subordinates have their own budgets to draw on, Butler does not. The standard expenditures towards the Red Guards are covering most of his needs, but without financial support there is only so much that can be done. Looking to the future, Butler has suggested you set aside some funds for him and other subordinates to use at their discretion. Cost: X Resources, -Y Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Chosen amount of Resources with chosen Resource income is set aside for the use of subordinates. It may be later modified as a Free Action.
Expand the Party Line: The recent "lively debate" has greatly shaken the SPA. While part discipline and your mutual needs held the party together this time, there is no guarantee that will continue, and a split at this time will be disastrous. The current party line names racial issues as a high priority, but one secondary to economic justice for all. A vote to tweak the language in the party platform to be more expansive would inflame some tempers, but it would soothe far more. If you can get the vote through without drawing on your position too much. If bringing up the issue doesn't reignite the argument all over again. If Browder doesn't reveal he was being entirely serious. If. Cost: -5 Relations with all factions. Potential for further unrest. Using Authority is dangerous. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/80/160/240. Result: +10 Relations with Anarchists, Syndicalists, and Centrists, +5 Relations to Orthodox and Parliamentarians, increase to Appeal with minority groups, slightly increased party unity.
Encourage the Correspondence: The developing correspondence between the CSA and the CNT-FAI is good to see. The international proletariat must be united to free all the world. Begin writing letters of your own, and encouraging other leading figures in the SPA and CSA to do the same. Advice can be shared, questions answered, burdens relieved...and you know the CNT has Syndintern contacts. It would be impossible for it to be otherwise. Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/5/10/20. Result: Increased internationalist sense within the SPA, potential for further benefits.
Showcase Successes and Suffering: Your recent focus on the rural areas has earned you a great deal of criticism. Bringing your reasoning to the CSA and showing the benefits of this focus, both to the cause as a whole and to the people you have helped, can counter accusations of throwing away money and resources. It may also support the dwindling and flagging Red Guards in the Midwest, many of whom are likely to leave soon. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Increased support from the Red Grange, possible support from other factions, decreased loss of support for rural actions.
Union Actions
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.
Appoint Union Representative: There are dozens of unions, many with hundreds or thousands of chapters. A rare few even have branches in Canada, with a rarer few having branches in Mexico. The Combined Syndicates serves as a forum to allow them to coordinate and cooperate, but the vagaries of time and travel mean that the larger meetings are often sparsely attended. Electing (although your influence will help make it an effective appointment) a representative to help manage the syndicates, smooth over disputes, and ensure all voices are heard would reduce the growing pains the CSA is suffering from. However, the notion is not entirely popular...Cost: -1 Influence, potential loss of support from the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Subvote to determine who you will support for Union Representative and how much to invest in them.
Prepare Rural Unions: Rural areas are utterly lacking in the sort of density mines or cities have that labor organizers and workers used to create their powerful unions. A new approach will need to be devised, or more likely multiple to approach the different situations you will doubtless encounter. Perhaps some of the newer unions or the Montant and Colorado miners have some insight? Cost: None. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Improved chance of success for actions in rural areas.
Mutual Aid Foundations: While directly expanding the soup kitchens would benefit many, a less costly alternative would be the establishment of mutual aid organizations to ensure that people are fed. Since they are less directly dependent on the SPA buying food for them, they will be cheaper for you to maintain, but still serve to provide relief to the struggling masses and help expose them to socialist ideals. The examples of such institutions being created in Chicago have helped show the way. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Improve quality of food kitchens. +0.5 Resources per month. Gain support from IWW MA and MM.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/150. 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.
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? Cost: loss of support from TUUL and ASA, loss of relations with the Orthodox. 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/35/70/100. 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 with the Syndicalists.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/75/100/125/150. Result: Large, one-time boost to Resources.
Street Brigades: Another proposal to deal with the immense number of potential scabs, reactionaries-in-waiting, and unemployed workers that are flocking to the city is to hire them for various jobs neglected by the municipal government such as fire services for poorer neighborhoods, street-cleaners, and other such tasks. While potentially costly, the work and the pay will fill their bellies and salve their pride, while giving them opportunities to be exposed to socialist rhetoric. Cost: -2 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Begin recruiting unemployed workers into labor brigades and exposing them to socialist rhetoric.
Form Farmer's Cooperatives: The newly organized farmer's cooperatives are young and fragile. They need tractors, fertilizer, organizational support, and more. The Red Grange is struggling to assist with these matters, lacking finances and reach. And the Dust Bowl continues to ravage the Great Plains. Government subsidies are being delayed and disappeared by hostile civil servants and damaged infrastructure. The party must take care of it's newest members. Cost: 4 Resources, moderate loss of support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/20/40/60/80/100/120. Result: Expand and strengthen farmer cooperatives, gain Relations with Ultraleft Farmer Labor and support from the Red Grange.
Seed Donations: The devastating droughts and dust storms have not just uprooted soil and those who work it, but the plants that grow in it. Losses due to spoilage, bad weather, and desperation have put many seed stocks at critically low levels. Fortunately, the French Commune has a far more robust agricultural sector that has largely recovered from the ravages of the Weltkrieg. They are willing to ship over stocks of seeds for a relatively low price in gold and some better quality machine tools. These shipments can then be transferred to farmers. Cost: 2 Resources, slight loss of support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60. Result: Slightly expand and strengthen farmer cooperatives, slight gain of Relations for Ultraleft Farmer-Labor and support from the Red Grange.
Special Foods: The gardens mostly produce simple crops like potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. While they have definitely improved the quality of the soups and stews and other meals served at the various people's kitchens, spices and herbs are in short supply for those kitchens. It should be relatively simple to purchase some mint plants and various others to add them to these new gardens. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/30/50. Result: Improve quality of meals at soup kitchens, gain support from The Teamster's Union, the SPU, and the AFL-CIO.
Mass Recruiting, Pt. 1: The cities are dense places, heaving with workers. Most of them are already unionized, but some have resisted the pressure of the CSA and remained separate. Some have even managed to avoid entanglement with reactionary groups. Through propaganda, demonstrations, and door-to-door recruiting, these remaining individuals can be brought into the unions and encouraged to take up the cause. Growths in union membership will strengthen your hand as the dues increase and the workers become more radicalized and organized. And soon, they will throw off their chains. Cost: Risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60/90. Result: Small gains in support from the AFL-CIO, the IWW Mountain Men, The Teamster's Union, and Regional Unions. Increase in income. Expansion of unions due to recruitment.
Militant Actions
Additional Weapons: The armaments of your "regular" Red Guards are highly irregular, and the "irregulars" who sometimes join in during protests or strikes are even worse off. Beginning to create armories of weapons will help equip both. The first step will be to acquire things like billy clubs and batons, both to avoid attracting unfortunate attention and because stockpiling guns in the current climate is needlessly risky...Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Create stockpiles of "non-lethal" weapons for the use of the Red Guards.
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: 10 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/20/60/100. 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: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Go Hunting: In every city and town of America you face enemies. Hostile police forces, reactionary militias, mercenaries and Pinkertons hired by capitalists, and more. They all seek to oppress and suppress the workers. This cannot be borne. While the Red Guards continually battle in the streets, protecting protests, defending meetings, guarding agitators and organizers, they only rarely go on the offensive, and keep it strictly to retaliatory strikes on those most responsible for attacks. Asking for a more general attack would help weaken opposition, and perhaps see some justice done. Cost: Reduces support, reduces relations with the Parliamentarians, chance of it going badly. Time: 1 month. DC: 20. Results: Red Guards begin attacking class enemies, chance of gaining Resources, Support, Influence...
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: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 30. Results: Red Guards gain street medics, help reduce casualties.
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: 45/90/135. 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.
Keep Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: Though it may displease them, their work in the Midwest is not yet complete. Left-Farmer-Labor is not yet secure, the area is not stable, there are still lurking reactionaries and dangers. Have the Red Guards stay in the areas they protect for a time longer, and discourage the trickle of desertions that has already begun. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: 0/30/60/90/120. Result: Red Guards encouraged to stay in the Midwest.
Stop Supporting Left-Farmer-Labor: The Red Guards are not happy with the reception they have received in the Midwest, and the worst of the danger has passed for the rural workers. Already, some are returning to their home cities to continue the struggle there. They have done all they have been asked to do, now it is time to encourage them to leave and carry on their struggle. Cost: ?? Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Red Guards withdraw from the Midwest, letting any established organizations take over independently.
Take the Docks: In many cities, the powerful Dockworker's Unions could stop the transfer of goods at will, or smuggle goods past customs inspectors. While this is mostly used for their own benefit, it could be a potent measure to increase the party's resources and power. Unfortunately, given the suspicion being directed at the docks currently, such an action could provoke severe crackdowns that would have significant support. Cost: Severe risk of backlash, will likely increase corruption. DC: 0/25/50/100. Results: Gain income, easier smuggling, new options unlocked.
Gunrunning to the Midwest: You have small stockpiles of weapons and improvised explosives. While these are typically used by the Red Guards when attacking reactionaries and defending strikers, they may be put to better use defending the newest adherents to socialism. Given the control the unions have over many railyards, transportation will not be a problem. Cost: 2 Resources. Slight loss of support in the CSA. -5 Relations with the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/10. Result: Send weapons and explosives to the farming cooperatives, gian in support from the Red Grange.
Making Bankers Bleed: While most banks have collapsed under the strain of crisis and depression, several have been consolidated into larger enterprises which 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.
Formal Trials: The most basic investigations Butler and his loyal men have completed have turned up a cesspool of corruption within the Red Guards. Bribery, theft, racketeering, abusing innocent men and women, brutality, rape, harassment, and every vice known to man. Currently, while most important figures know at least some of the details, no one knows about all of them. Butler wants all the dirty laundry aired, with teams of Red Guards, VFW, and police arresting the guilty and exposing their crimes. You question if that is the tactically best decision, but you recognize the principle behind it. And there is something to be said for being honest, and something else for getting it over with..You want to tell him to go ahead. You know it's the right thing to do. But what if it costs you the Revolution?.Cost: Relations drop with everyone, especially the Totalists, loss of support with all factions in the CSA. Chance of backlash. Likely to weaken the Red Guards. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/40/80/120/160. Result: Probable gains in support from the SPU and AFL-CIO, probable gain in Relations with the Parliamentarians. Infighting. Removal of criminal elements. Make a principled stance. Make it easier for Jack to meet his daughter's eyes. End the risk of someone else leaking how bad things are. ???
Target Rural Reactionaries: Even in towns protected by the Red Guards, there are various hostile elements that remain.Hostile local militias, criminal gangs ranging from corrupt families who treat their towns life fiefdoms to bandits who resemble the villains of a Western movie, Longist groups, tendrils of the KKK and similar organizations, and more all threaten the newly converted socialists...many of whom may well convert back if sufficiently intimidated. While there has been something of a truce in the Midwest after the army moved in, some in the party speculate that they are merely seeking an opportunity, and should be defeated before they find one. Cost: Probable backlash, loss of support from the SPU, slight loss of support from the AFL-CIO. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/25/50/75/100/125. Result: Destroy hostile forces in some sections of the Midwest, gain relations with Syndicalists and Orthodox, gain support from both factions of the IWW, strengthen farming cooperatives.
Cultural Actions
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 a staunchly secular ideology, 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 Left, loss of support from Jews and other religions. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from 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 -1 Influence, chance of increased stress. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70/120. 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: 6 months. DC: 0/25/50/100. Result: Create a system of cheap socialist private schools.
Organize Childcare, Pt. 2: You have designed your improvements to the ad hoc system of childcare, now it is time for the implementation to begin. All this will really involve is producing guides and perhaps some propaganda, but it will help. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75. Result: Encourage the creation of more equal and better-designed childcare institutions.
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. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/40/70/100. Result: Improve the variety of services offered by libraries.
Songs of the Revolution: The Internationale. The Preacher and the Slave. This Land is Your Land. Solidarity Forever. Many are the songs of the socialist movement. Let everyone hear them. Establish choirs and wandering musicians and every other way to spread your message through song there is. Cost: 3 Resources, -0.5 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/50/70/90/ Results: Easier recruiting, increase to morale among the party.
Unity In The Melting Pot: The Socialist Party and the IWW have long used multilingual speakers to reach out to immigrants. With the end of the Weltkrieg and the defeat of the Bolsheviks, thousands from Eastern Europe have flocked to America's shores to find conditions no better, while others have come north with Central and South America. Reaching out to those groups will be essential. The multilingual program will be expanded, to begin. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 5/45/90. Results: Easier recruiting, increased support among immigrants.
(1 Influence Committed) Socialist Radio Networks: Huey Long has used the radio to spread his reactionary babble to thousands of Americans. We can do the same. Through speeches and interviews, your message can be broadcast. While some may turn off the radio rather than hear the truth, the more you reach the more you can convince. The first step will be to purchase...whatever it is that produces radio waves for broadcasts. That was never something you needed to learn in school. With migrant hordes crossing the land east and west, a way to reach them grows increasingly important. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 5/25/50/75. Results: Significantly easier recruiting, increased support.
Posters and Pamphlets: The speeches you give reach only those who hear you. Your speeches written down reach all who can read...but they are a bit too long for a poster discreetly put up or a pamphlet smuggled behind a boss's back. Beginning to create and produce snappy slogans and logos for posters and pamphlets will help you in the propaganda war, especially given the number of virulently anti-socialist publications that will smear you and your movement in any way possible. The lack of any organized system for spreading your message has led to several individuals starting up their own newspapers and similar operations to express support for socialism and syndicalism, albeit with a somewhat critical attitude to you. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 10/50/80. Result: The creation of posters and pamphlets to help spread your message, increased ease of recruiting.
Newspaper Distribution: Various socialist and syndicalist newspapers are produced by SPA members, affiliates, and allies, ranging in quality from the professional The Red Banner made using the equipment formerly belonging to The Chicago Tribune to smeared sheets being printed in basements. Not only do they allow for the expounding of your political program and views, but they perform a variety of community functions. Setting up new printing presses and newsstands can only help you spread your message. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/15/30/45/60/100. Result: Expanded newspaper distribution, easier recruiting and organizing
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. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: Begin propagandizing destitute professionals.
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: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Expand community gardens with other (cheap) community activities and facilities, encourage interaction between different groups.
Political Actions
Minority Rights: Norman has begun championing the rights of various minorities who are abused and mistreated throughout America. In the current system, actually doing so is an impossible task. If nothing else, the AFP and Democratic Senators would filibuster any such bill to death, and many of the Republicans are little better. But making noise about it can help push the state legislatures into doing something, as well as draw attention to your cause from the oppressed. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/30/55/80/105. Result: Gain increased support from minorities, begin passing state-level and possibly federal-level anti-discrimination laws.
Impeachment: If President Hoover has been unable to leave the White House grounds for two months, he is clearly no longer fit for office. The two-thirds majority impeachment requires is veritably impossible to achieve, but even making noises about it could help gain you support and allies, especially if you are high-profile enough. Some in your party consider it nothing but a waste of time, others feel it is a tactical error. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 5/40/90/200. Results: The Socialist Party initiates an impeachment motion for Hoover, chance of gaining legislative allies or support.
Poach the Democrats: The Democrats have traditionally been a party pulled in many directions - Bourbon conservatives, progressives, Southern populists, and union members, political machines - and while a significant portion of all these factions have left, there are always remnants, such as the Roosevelt family. The party as a whole rejects you wholeheartedly, but individual members can be convinced to change their allegiance. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 60/120/180. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Pro-Worker Legislation: It would ordinarily be unlikely to pass, at least on a federal level, but demanding it will make a statement in and of itself. And you will not just push this legislation on a federal level. These laws will focus on the things workers have fought for. Better wages, workplace safety, price caps for company stores...with the stroke of a pen, they can be spread across the country, and it will be the SPA that will take the lion's share of the credit. Unfortunately, the current mood in Congress is intensely hostile to you. Cost: Loss of Relations with the Syndicalists. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/20/40/50/75/80/100. Results: You pass worker-protection laws on the state and possibly federal level and can gain varying amounts of support.
Party Lawyers: Many potentially vital laws are being held up in the courts. And frankly, you have a shortage of good lawyers. There are some willing to work for free from dedication to the cause, but most lack the wealth for that or are entirely uninterested in working for you. But enough filthy lucre can solve that problem. Cost: 1 Resource, -1 Resource per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 40. Results: Hire some lawyers to help defend the laws you get passed.
Local Elections: Mayors, sheriffs, county judges. All positions of undeniable importance to the people who elect them. Beginning a campaign to get favorable individuals elected into those positions in the areas you don't completely dominate will help set favorable ground for future elections or revolutionary actions. With the chaotic situations in many Midwestern states, the potential leverage is immense. It is highly likely there will be attempts by corrupt sheriffs and mayors to disrupt any rural organizations unless that danger is countered through the creation of favorable local governments. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/30/75. Results: Increase support on the local level.
Staff State Offices: The state bureaucracies are often intensely hostile to the efforts of the SPA, but while they are an obstacle they are one who can be defeated, or at least gone around. Beginning to hire loyal socialists and syndicalists will allow you to gradually begin purging these hostile organizations. The expertise and loyalty of these offices is a vital resource, one often denied to your supporters. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/45/90. Results: Begin gradually purging and replacing hostile bureaucrats, slow enough that there should be minimal loss of institutional knowledge.
Cut Out the Rot: As an alternative to slowly replacing the resisting bureaucrats, they could be purged in one fell swoop. Their behavior has given ample evidence for malfeasance and corruption, and even those not directly involved are certainly complicit as part of a corrupt system. You do not have the time to slowly winnow them away, and there is no benefit from avoiding sabotage that is already happening. Remove them all, to prison or to the bread lines, and replace them with trusted individuals. Cost: Malus to implementing state laws and ordinances. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/60/120. Results: Replace all the hostile bureaucrats as fast as possible.
Agricultural Subsidies: Another potential way to bolster the farming cooperatives, and farmers in general, is to expand the subsidies to them. The state governments have enough money for it, and considering the behavior of several other governments, only a hypocrite would complain if they went even moderately into debt. Given that the factions which most disdain your rural focus also disdain electoralism, this will be exceedingly unpopular with some sections. Cost: Minus Relations with Syndicalists, loss of support with both factions of the IWW. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/25/50. Result: Expand agricultural subsidies, gain in support from The Teamster's Union, the Red Grange and Regional Unions. Gain in Relations with Ultraleft Farmer-Labor.
Expand Socialist Subsidies: The newly established subsidies for businesses that maintain certain standards of behavior have been decried as excessive interventionism, but they have also kept many fed and warm, and the value generated has been far more than the governments have been put in. Expand these subsidies to expand the impact...and possibly allow for the reasonable establishment of additional revenue streams by taking advantage of these policies. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75. Result: Expand subsidies to workplaces, unlock further options for government intervention and business establishment.
Intellectual Actions
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.
Create an Educational Program: Designing a socialist education program will be just one of the many questions you have to answer after the revolution. There are important differences in content and teaching style and likely other things as well. Begin looking into who is an expert in such things and start drawing up the broad strokes of what a curriculum will cover. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Begin designing an education program.
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 -1 Influence. Time: 6 months. DC: No roll. Result: Begin coming up with a more detailed roadmap for socialist America, begin unlocking actions to create small-scale imitations/programs related to this.
Who Supports Who?: If you looked out the window to see New York City, you would think nine in ten supported you. You are not fool enough to think that, of course. The Payment Army alone disproves that, let alone the bullying your daughter has experienced, the endless attempts at suppression, the thousands of letters denouncing you. Beginning to get an accurate count will be vital for effectively directing your efforts. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Get a general idea of where your support is strong and weak and what people are concerned about.
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: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Counter anti-Semitic narratives, increase in support from Jews, small chance of +1 Influence.
Proletarian Unity: The workers of the world must be united. There are false divisions embedded deep into the American psyche. Racism is the greatest but by no means the only one. Target these divides, weld them together as best you can. Make promises of restitution and justice, publicize what you stand for. It will be difficult and potentially dangerous, but you have to start somewhere. Cost: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence, chance of losing support. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/75/125. Result: Counter racist narratives, increase support from minorities, small chance of +1 Influence.
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. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Creation of curriculum, improved results and lowered difficulty for Organize Education.
Document Rural Life: Farmers live vastly different lives than urban workers. And even within that broad category, there is a vast gulf of distance between a Midwestern smallholder, an Appalachian backwoods farmer, and a Southern sharecropper. Documenting some of their experiences, their cultures, their hardships and abuses that they endure under capitalism, and their desires for themselves and their children could help overcome gaps of understanding and painful clashes that have bedeviled your efforts in rural propaganda and organizing. It might be seen as a boondoggle by some, but it also may add weight to your argument. Cost: Small loss of support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Reduced difficulty of rural organization and propagandization.
Intrigue Actions
Siphon Party Funds: The first step in performing covert actions is to acquire funds to do so. Simply taking money directly from the party treasury strikes you as a bad idea, as the resulting vanishing will be wide open for anyone who looks. So instead you will arrange for a few dribbles of cash to vanish into an account you can use for off-the-books problem-solving. Cost: -0.1 Resources per month. Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70. Result: +0.1 Resources per turn goes into a dark fund you can draw upon for covert ops.
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: 25/50/75/100. Result: Increase to income.
Hire an Assistant Secretary: You need someone who is good at this sort of thing. Someone trustworthy, loyal and competent. That's going to be really hard to find...but at the same time it is undeniably necessary. How would you even begin to find that? Cost: Risky...and you will have to commit an Authority to them. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/??/????. Result: Find some potential spymasters, can delegate Influence or Authority to them.
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. 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.
Revolutionary Guards: People have been threatening to kill you and your family and other leaders for a long time. You have developed protection against overt attacks, but perhaps it is time to begin developing a more covert sort of protection as well. Cost: - 2 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Create organization of plainclothes bodyguards for you, your family, and other important figures. Unlock additional counterintelligence actions.
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.
Covert Investigation: Quietly looking into the behavior of a subordinate might allow you to remove them before they can become an embarrassment, or simply confirm their innocence without risking giving the impression they have lost your confidence. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. Result: Find any wrongdoing for chosen subordinate.
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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. 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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Increase chances of avoiding discovery for embezzlement actions.
Infiltrate the Army: With the contacts Butler has given you, you now have a simple way of infiltrating the army. Selecting volunteers from the Red Guards and having them sign up will enable you to gain some low-level infiltration, while going through the men he introduced you to will enable you to hear rumors and gossip from higher-levels. MacArthur is certainly planning to use the army against you, you must find out how. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/50/?/??. Result: Make contacts within the military.
Contact with the French and British: With the ports opened to French and British ships, the possibility of contact with your fellow syndicalists has just grown dramatically easier. Them providing support for you during the Revolution is a guarantee, what is less likely is them assisting you during this lead-up due to the difficulty of it, but the Syndintern will surely be able to provide something. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Contact the Syndintern
Personal Actions
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 punch Huey Long in his fat face or 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 once per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: May make 1 change to 1 subordinate's priorities (change order, add one, remove one).
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. Cost: Variable amount of Relations, changes in Strength of factions. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Relations and Strength allows.
Choose A Focus: You are currently taking no focus.
The Union Forever! - Through the most difficult and darkest days, it was the unions that kept the revolutionary spirit alive. Let the unions stand forever. No reactionary or capitalist can defeat the people, united. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain national spirit The Union Forever (Effect: +1 Strength to the Left faction per month).
In the Cities - The cities are already where you are strongest, but there are still bourgeoise who can be convinced to turn against their class and proletariat who can be given consciousness, to say nothing of the lumpen. Time: 1 month. Effect: Modify The Struggle Carries On! (+1 Appeal in Urban Areas per month)
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).
Promises of Equality - You believe in equality, and the dignity of all. You know you are not alone in this belief, but convincing the sharecroppers will be difficult. You are probably not the first to make such promises to them. Time: 1 month. Effect: Increased support among black people.
Form Spartacus Columns - the KKK and the Silver Legion, to name just a few, inflict all sorts of horrific violence upon sharecroppers, and that is leaving aside the abuse they receive from police and frequent incidents of mob violence. Between a lack of weapons and a lack of organization, little can be done against them. Your strikers have defeated soldiers, paramilitaries, and police. They can do it as well. Time: 1 month. Effect: Easier to arm and organize the sharecroppers.
Letters From Cousins: Your most potent tool for recruiting among the sharecroppers of the Black Belt are the connections they have to newly unionized men and women who have traveled to Chicago and New York and Detroit and a thousand other cities, and found a welcoming community amongst the unions. Time: 1 month. Effect: Easier organization and recruiting in the Black Belt.
Organize the Farmworkers - The migrating farmworkers are perhaps the easiest target for radicalization. Their formerly prosperous lives ripped away from them, pushed into desperate poverty, the food they work so hard to grow frequently burned in front of them as they starve...Time: 3 months. Effect: Significant increase to support among rural populations, +10 to the next 3 actions involving organizing or agitating in rural areas.
Anti-Foreclosure Teams - The most immediate threat to the remaining farmers are foreclosures. There are a variety of methods of dealing with this problem, from paying the banks to driving off their agents to buying the property at auction then returning it. Begin doing so in mass. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain +10 to all actions involving resisting foreclosure or eviction.
Expand the Party Line: 3 Influence, 41+58+8+10 = 117
You broach the matter with the hardcore Syndicalists first, given that they were the ones who started this particular problem. Careful discussions in party offices and quiet arrangements have revealed a mirror of the split in the IWW: some are enthusiastic supporters of social justice, true equality, and the destruction of bourgeois morality, others have reservations. In some cases, these reservations are principles giving way to what they see as practicalities. They do not deem the sharecropper an important part of the revolutionary coalition and they expect those who have emigrated to SPA-dominated cities to be avid supporters given the IWW's efforts already. In other, thankfully fewer cases, you suspect there is at least some racism underlying their opinions.
Regardless of where this decision came from, a significant fraction of the Syndicalists agreed initially to maintain unity and the status quo, but when Haywood brought up his proposal, several panicked and reacted "somewhat unfairly" in the words of one of their members, although you would use stronger language.
During one of the recesses where attempts at calming the delegates were made, a hasty alliance between the Syndicalists and Ultraleft Farmer Labor to block the planned change. Given their awareness of the weakness those factions had, they relied on savage, brutal rhetoric in an attempt to strengthen their position.
Now it has had the opposite effect.
You push and pressure them, bringing to bear every rhetorical trick you know to make them agree, and then you call for a three-part vote.
The first was some mostly symbolic censures of the party members who were most acrimonious. The second was an affirmation of everyone's commitment to party unity.
The third was the dangerous part. You proposed adding a line to the party platform, going beneath the current statement about racial justice, adding that the SPA will pursue "social, political, and legal equality for the American Negro" as part of a broader program of addressing various structural injustices.
Haywood seconded your motion, and then the centrists of the party voted in support, their sheer numbers making opposing it futile.
The reaction wasn't as bad as you feared. There were a few defections from the party, but nothing that would truly weaken you. The Socialist Party of America has held together, and together you will march onwards to the Revolution.
Results: Stance on racial justice and minority rights clarified, slightly increased party unity, the Centrists are likely to use their high Strength to control future debates. Relations and Strengths changed.
Encourage the Correspondence: 1 Influence, 59+15 = 74
The first letter you write is a perfunctory thing. It's simple well-wishes that go out to the CNT-FAI as a whole. You make sure it is as public as possible though, and while you wait for their reply you begin to read everything about Spain you can get your hands on.
A similar reply comes back, and you write an equally public but significantly more detailed letter noting the commonalities in your struggles, especially against the false democracies of Spain and America.
Around this point, you notice others writing their own letters, and begin to sponsor special shipments to Spain containing them. Even your daughter gets involved, becoming penpals with two girls in Catalonia who's parents are active in the union.
About a week later, you get another letter, bringing simple instructions to stay at a certain hotel the next time you are in Washington, DC.
You obey with all the caution you can muster, and find yourself awoken in the middle of the night by a Canadian.
"Our comrades in the Syndintern send their regards. And we would like to hear your opinion on how the struggles of the proletariat fare in this place."
His voice is calm and steady, but you can't help but notice his hands are trembling, and that he is careful to keep his back to the wall.
You propose meeting again in the morning, with coffee.
And thus begins a rather fruitful relationship with a man who tells you his name is Alexander.
The first shipment of guns is on its way within a week.
Result: Contact made with the Syndintern, action continues.
Proletarian Unity: 1 Authority
You have found a deep rot within the Socialist Party and the Combined Syndicates. Significant portions of both are tainted by racism in a number of forms, from a vicious, corrosive hatred that wouldn't be out of place at a Klan meeting to a lofty assumption of moral and intellectual superiority to a simple contempt and disregard. None of them are acceptable. None of them are to be tolerated. You expound on it like a preacher from his pulpit. You write a dozen articles and essays. You go on the radio to expand on your opinions and beliefs.
You argue that it is immoral. You argue that it is foolish. You argue that it is counterproductive. You argue that it is counterrevolutionary. You list countless incidents where racism weakened revolutionary activity. It has broken strike after strike, been used to destroy organization after organization, and turned workers away from their true enemies time and time again.
You argue and argue and argue and argue, a long and painful and seemingly futile process.
But you start to see some changes in people's attitudes.
Result: Begun countering racist narratives, changes in strengths and attitudes within the SPA and CSA beginning to form, slight increase in minority support, further actions unlocked, slight decrease in overall support from within the CSA and SPA.
Minority Rights: 1 Influence, 6+20 = 26
You spend so much time speaking on the importance of resisting racism and creating solidarity, trying to create bottom-up support for the notion, that you nearly miss a major opportunity for going from the top-down. The vote is about to be called while you are away at a party meeting in Des Moines, convincing members of the Red Grange not to segregate the youth groups they are planning on creating.
Norman Thomas and four other Senators filibuster until you manage to return. To make it easier for them, you made use of an airplane for the first time. It was a rather terrifying experience, all told.
Norman has done an incredible amount of work for you on this. It's provoked some grumbling, again about you focusing on "pet projects" while leaving the real work to others.
You can't tell how much of this is frustration with your heavy-handedness on anti-racism, how much it is those you have attacked trying to counter you, and how much is genuine concern about your behavior. Regardless, it has cost you some support.
Results: Norman has managed to pass some significant laws.
Local Elections: 1 Influence, 7+15 = 22
It takes money, time, and guns to get sheriffs and county judges and mayors friendly to the SPA in charge. In dozens of small towns across America, fierce campaigns are run, supported by agitators and Red Guards. The same tactics that have been used before time and time again to remove forces hostile to the workers come out again.
But they don't quite work as well. You don't have the overwhelming support or the goodwill you do in the major cities.
In some places, old administrations are tossed out unceremoniously. In several cases where the towns were effectively dominated by rapacious corporations, rowdy posses and their Red Guard allies tar and feather the old leadership or hold impromptu tribunals. In others, massive protests force the small-town dictators to surrender their power.
But in many more your supporters are met with an unreasonable amount of hostility.
They arrive in small towns to find doors shut in their faces. They are arrested, beaten, stabbed, and shot. And the Red Guards fight back. Peaceful small-town streets become painted with blood. Several opposing leaders are executed in places where resistance is especially fierce, and the collateral damage is likely to be substantial.
Peter and the boys had gotten warning from two towns over. The syndicalists were coming to impose a dictatorship, to burn and loot, to carry off their wives and daughters for rape gangs. The police had come out in force, and taken every able-bodied man they could find. The main roads were barricaded, the younger men were set to watch the sides, and every gun in town found its way into a pair of willing hands.
The mob approached in a bus, painted blood red. It stopped a few hundred feet away and twenty men marched out, some armed some not.
One started to step forwards.
A dozen rifles were pointed at his chest. "Don't come any closer, you son of a bitch! You and yours best just turn around!"
The man stopped. "We're just here to talk, we don't want to cause any trouble."
"You caused plenty of trouble at Grantville. We don't want you, we don't want your hunkies, we don't want your Papists, we don't want your Negroes! Turn around!" Peter yelled, and the others joined in, volleying abuse at them.
The armed reds shifted, uneasy, but their leader held up a hand. "There was a fight in Grantville, yes. One of the Guards got a little drunk. We disciplined him and sent him home..."
"Turn around! This is private property, and you are trespassing!" Peter shouted.
Someone pulled a trigger.
You are sitting in your office, head on your hands. Blood pounds in your temples as you read yet another report of failures. You took the wrong approach in your instructions, and so many are paying the price for it. You begin to draft a letter with new instructions...
And Daniel J. Tobkin, accompanied by two flunkies, enters unexpectedly. "Mister Reed, I hear your boys have run into a spot of bother."
He makes a proposal of his own. Tobkin wants you to take a radically different tack. Instead of ousting hostile leaders, he wants you to subvert them, and he assures you he will be able to lend extensive resources to this task.
You find yourself listening, but you notice he makes no mention of what he wants from you. Tobkin is not the sort of person to spend so much influence for so little gain.
You thank him, and tell him you will decide soon.
[] Accept Tobkin's offer. The action will complete in the background, with a lower DC than if you did it on your own. Increase in support from The Teamster's Union.
[] Reject Tobkin's offer, and have the Red Guards and agitators continue as normal.
[] Reject Tobkin's offer, and pull back. You will need a stronger base of support in these areas before trying again.
Socialist Radio Networks, 87+5 = 92
The expansion of the radio network goes rapidly. Multiple attempts at legal blockages are dealt with in friendly courts, several attempted sabotage operations by reactionary militias are suppressed, and the newly established organizing committee of the CSA has begun publishing their first advice program for budding radio speakers, a guide to stations in various parts of the country, and establishing a funding system for creating new transmitters.
The network is developed enough that you can begin making speeches that will be heard by people in three states, while other speakers can manage similar feats. Soon though, you will have the ability to be heard across the nation as distant stations are connected together. (Apparently you need telephone wires for that? Even though the whole point of radio is that it's wireless? That's what the professionals say.)
Result: Progress continues. The SPA Radio Committee is proving very popular, and people are beginning to tune in.
Report from the Coordination Committee: 2 Influence on Limited Local Elections, 35+33+5 = 73
The Coordination Committee invested significantly more time in managing the groups they sent to secure support, carefully ensuring they behaved properly. The Red Guards frequently chafed at this short leash, but accepted it.
More importantly, the Committee picked their targets well. Many local leaders, though corrupt, reactionary, and behaving contrary to the interests of the workers are popular for a variety of reasons. The leaders they targeted were ones who were vulnerable. In many cases, the revelation of scandals (having protection does wonders for enabling victims to speak up against their attackers) assisted these changes in leadership.
A small, fragile network of councilmen, sheriffs, judges, police chiefs, and civic leaders has spread across Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and parts of several other states. The influence of the socialist party is not yet dominant in these areas, but it is steadily growing. Further outreach efforts will likely be needed to overturn the remaining leadership, although portions of these are beginning to accommodate themselves to the coming transformations.
Report from Norman Thomas: 1 Influence on Federal Worker's Rights, 55+10 = 65, 2 Influence on Minority Rights, 91+90+10 = 191
Norman has spent an incredible amount of time and energy lobbying Senators and Congressmen. He's worked sixteen hour days for two weeks straight, determined to see the legislation he desires passed. He has ignored questions from the party, hostile protests, and violent attacks on his character.
And the Cactus Clique has been outmaneuvered. Shouted down and demoralized, they are forced to concede in the Senate and the House.
The worker's rights section of the bill is limited, simply ending yellow-dog contracts and establishing that workers have a right to unionize. Introduced by Senator Norris, this is the bill's second time in Congress. The barrage of abuse directed by the Socialist Senators finally allowed it to be passed, giving one of the many rights that Americans have long been denied to the people.
Senator Norris received much of the credit from people, while his own party attacked him for "colluding" with you.
The Anti-Lynching Law, however, is Norman's from start to finish. Viciously opposed at every step, it is nonetheless forced through by endless negotiations and maneuverings on Norman's part, including several barrels of pork that threaten to break the budget of the U. S. Government and veteran's pensions, all bundled together as part of one law.
The law dies in veto, provoking widespread, wildy outraging thousands.
Protests and marches begin across the country. A few are even started in the heart of the South, although they are met with the gun, the noose, and the pyre.
In response, laws are passed in state governments across the country. Some only ban lynching. Some go further. "In Illinois, we remember the Declaration of Independence. All are equal, we make no exceptions!" says an old friend of yours, to enthusiastic applause.
Report from the Legislative Committee: 2 Influence on Cut Out the Rot, 72+10 = 82
Lower-ranked officials are fired by the dozen. Higher ones are forced to resign. Many return home to find police officers waiting. They are taken in, and asked questions with only a little regard for their rights and protections, and demands are made. "Did you steal state funds? Do you know any who did? Did you attempt to sabotage the tax collection? Did you take bribes? Do you know anyone who did?"
The questions are asked, again and again and again. The answers are used to fire more, to arrest more, to sweep through the government organs like white blood cells through the bodily ones.
The halls of government are ever so briefly left as silent as a tomb. A great deal of knowledge and experience has vanished from them, but the fierce resistance that so many displayed has as well.
In its place is excitement and enthusiasm as fresh hires, inexperienced and uncertain but determined to serve the people file in. Discussions rage in buildings where the only words had been dry as dust as the new and eager plot ways to make things work better, disregarding the hesitant advice of those few who avoided the purge.
Perhaps a fresh dawn has come.
But just a few miles away, in a jail cell, men sit aching and cold and scared and weary, fresh anger burning in their hearts. They murmur justifications to each other, finding seeds of truth within each one and watering them. They are angry, and perhaps rightly so.
But what can they do about it?
Report from Smedley Butler: 1 Influence on Instilling Discipline,10+14 = 24, 1 Influence on A Reporting System, 12
The changes Butler has been making in the Red Guards has prompted outcry and anger. As the month passed, resistance rallied. Many branches of the Red Guards underwent schisms, with new, looser organizations such as the Boston Worker's Militia, the Seattle Red Army, and the Midwestern Farmer Defense Force forming from those displeased with the reforms.
Meanwhile, the creation of the reporting system was stalled by paranoia over Butler possibly using it to remove opponents and become a Napoleon.
Numerous promises and agreements were made as Butler sought desperately to turn the disorganized militia into a competent and capable force. He conceded the right for local militias to punish their own and for changes to the articles he intends to create to be voted on by each individual force.
Some of the new organizations return to the greater fold, while others insist on maintaining their independence.
Gradually, the behavior of the Red Guards begins to improve.
Gradually, they become more mindful of the duties and obligations they have.
Work Overtime: Cost: Severely stressful, unhealthy, bad for your family. DC: No roll. Results: +1 temporary Influence.
You put in endless hours this month, crisscrossing the country again and again, spending days in backrooms that stink of cigarette smoke and sleeping in your office. You leave Flora to take care of your daughter, walking her to and from the office, and you can only occasionally spare the time to check on her.
She's still a bright and happy child, but she clearly is missing you.
You promise to spend more time with her next month.
Jesus, you need a vacation.
Choose A Focus: Promises of Equality
Race was not something Marx thought about in great depth. He saw it as something the capitalists used to divide and weaken the workers, and perhaps that is all it was in Germany so many years ago. But in America, it has become something more. It is a twisted hierarchy of social, economic, and political discrimination that leaves thousands suffering in unnatural poverty, and would continue doing so even if it was abolished today.
There needs to be more than just the abolishing of Jim Crow and the creation of more socialized modes of production. The social fabric of the South needs to be torn up, the oppressed need to be given the opportunity to speak for themselves at last, and restitution must be made.
The recent modification to the party line is a start, but it is a statement of direction, not action.
There is more to be done.
But you have already gone further than any other party, and you will make it clear that there are no brakes on this train. You will accept nothing less.
Result: Focus completed.
Ask a Favor
As the party convulses with turmoil, you burn carefully accumulated favors to ensure your success. The donations from the Centrists pour in, as agitators and organizers and politicians more determined to build a revolution than worry how it is built whip up extra enthusiasm for giving for a better tomorrow.
The dedicated Marxists are pushed to assist you in keeping the party together so that the Vanguard does not splinter, and they back your motions in the party congresses to the hilt.
The Parliamentarians obligingly write letter after letter, and telegram after telegram, and make speech after speech, advocating for electoralism and minority rights...just as one of its starkest failures is exposed.
Result: +4 Resources, bonuses to actions.
A/N: Not a great turn, but Norman did amazing work as usual. You should do something nice for him sometimes. 2 hour moratorium.
In Chicago, the strikes last a day. The workers down their tools as one in the single beat of a heart, and the factory owners capitulate, They come forth with bent backs and agree to the demands of the workers, effectively surrendering control of their factories and railways and stores. And they flee, some to Canada, some to family homes, some to other cities where they hope there will be less strikes and less chaos.
Calvin DuBois did not look back as he fled his adopted home, a refugee twice over now. He had fled Paris as the city descended into bloody madness with a briefcase full of jewelry from the shop he worked at. He had used it to flee to Britain, then onwards to America, where the jewels became pieces he made rather than pieces he sold.
He worked at a shop once more, and went home to his new wife and ate bad American food and worse imitations of French cuisine and drank what wine he could get and cursed the syndicalists as the madness spread across America.
And no one was willing to do anything to stop it. The army was useless, the police were joining the marches, the private militias hadn't even tried. He placed a hand on his wife's and thought. New Orleans, he told himself, and the words sounded like a prayer.
In New York, the strikers are met by veritable armies of mercenaries. Blood runs in the gutters before one side breaks and runs, and the strikers stand triumphant, raising red banners in the city streets. They have triumphed today, defending themselves against all colors. "Soon, we will be the ones on the attack," they promise.
Jasper Cain had not been planning on fighting when he woke up this morning. He hadn't even realized the strike was today. "Why do people say next Friday when they mean this Friday?" he had grumbled to no one in particular as he took his place in the column. There were thousands of people, forming one great snake that wound around the silent steel hulks where they worked. The police were on their side, the National Guard wouldn't dare go against them, the army was on the other side of the country.
And all of that was just fine with Jasper. He was a mild-mannered fellow, one who preferred things be settled with civilized agreements. Even capitalists were Americans, he liked to say, and should be treated as such.
That courtesy only goes one way, he growled as he heaved the billy club again, cracking across a would-be strikebreaker's jaw. Teeth scattered in an arc as he glanced around at the swirling chaos. The Pinkertons had come out of the cross-street ahead of them, armed with guns and clubs and knives.
They had come behind too, and probably all along the column.
"Where are the police?" someone shouted.
"Momma, momma!" someone else screamed.
Voices hammered him from every direction. Orders were bawled, commands barked, battle cries howled. The air stank of blood and sweat and gunpowder.
"Who the hell is in charge?" Jasper screamed, and then a Pinkerton appeared and raised a gun.
Jasper inhaled for the last time as the thug pulled his trigger...and then nothing happened. He inhaled again.
He stepped forwards and the man turned tail. "Charge them! Charge them, make them run!" he shouted.
Other people were shouting the same thing. The strikers began to push, numbers and fury beginning to tell. And the Pinkertons had nothing to counter it.
Soon they were left in a gory street, two dozen corpses lying intermingled with the groaning and the grieving. Jasper turned around, in utter shock at the carnage. "Why couldn't they have just talked to us?" he moaned.
In San Francisco the strikers gather to find they have been given a choice. A choice between ranks of mounted police and imported Chinese laborers and between some kindly men representing a consortium of business interests who were hoping to address their grievances.
William was patiently explaining the scam to his friends for the third time. "Look, it's like this. You are a miserably poor Chinese worker. You are offered a lot of money to go work in a factory overseas. It's a great offer, of course they say yes. The alternative is starving. And the capitalists have plenty of chances to lie to them all they want. The poor bastards probably think we are planning on stealing their souls and feeding them to dogs. And they don't speak a proper language, so we can't tell them otherwise. You don't blame the Chinamen, they are just pawns. Nah, it's the pigs. We need a way to fix them, or they'll just keep doing this to us. We'll raise it at the next meeting..."
His friends kept bickering about it and how to handle it as William kept arguing for solidarity. They would win the next strike, he was sure of it. They would walk away with a closed shop, not these measly pay increases that barely kept up with how costs had grown.
In a hundred cities work stops. The machine of capitalism grinds to a halt as spikes are jammed into the gears. It's masters beg for aid, crying out for any help, and find no respite as the workers they oppress roar and rage, breaking their cages and throwing off their chains, howling like lions newly freed. They are met with capitulation sometimes, or violence, or defeat. But no matter what, they seek more. This is only the beginning.
Rumors and News
Anger over the poor response to the Dust Bowl and the still-faltering economy rises, and leads to the outbreak of a new political movement, as several groups begin proposing seceding, not from the United States but from individual states as a whole. Parts of Virginia and West Virginia, a small portion of southern Indiana, and scattered communities across the United States have all proposed to form their own state governments and demanded they be given the ability to elect their own Senators and Representatives. A number have published Constitutions, including the State of Free Indiana, where KKK leader D.C Stephenson led the Convention, declaring that being Catholic, Jewish, and syndicalist would all be illegal. The Red Guards drove him and his followers out of Indiana after a brief gun battle in Marion, however in other areas it had been up to National Guards and other federal forces.
They have failed utterly. Overstretched and with poor morale, portions of the National Guards joined the rebel forces. Douglas MacArthur immediately pulled troops from several locations, including New York City, to "restore order." Entire regiments of the U. S. Army moved into the rebellious areas, tanks leading the way. The ringleaders were executed after brief court martials, weapons were confiscated, and then the soldiers moved onto the next area, trusting in the BOI agents who came in after to keep groups disrupted and disorganized and federal propaganda to downplay their failures and difficulties.
They seem to be struggling with that, to the frustration of many bourgeoisie.
Huey Long has been accused of being responsible for the entire affair. He has ably defended himself without ever actually denying it. You aren't even certain what the truth is, which is a maddening sensation.
The Socialist Party of America has had several major successes as Red Guards units, party cadres and unions act on their own initiatives. The Midwestern Cooperatives are slowly expanding in size and prosperity, despite the adverse conditions and the relative lack of support from the party at-large. While most Red Guards have returned to their home cities, some forming independent groups in response to Butler's reforms, small numbers have grown attached to these farming communities and chosen to stay. Besides helping defend the cooperatives, they have provided additional connections to the greater socialist movement for their often isolated new homes.
Meanwhile, the Teamster's Union and their many affiliates have been hard at work persuading various leadership figures to side with them, using the bogeymen of Longist secessionism and federal repression to convince them that tolerating labor unions makes for an acceptable alternative. Meetings have begun, sometimes with the factory owners attending, and many find aspects of your program interesting. They are not truly radicalized, and have yet to join the party in most cases, but they have begun sending representatives to the Combined Syndicates. They have joined the Social Patriots as a bloc, greatly increasing the power of the potentially hostile faction who view any revolution or even the rise of dual-power structures as a grave sin. They have not made any trouble yet. However, given the current climate, you suspect many of them will be steadily sliding to the left. It may well be best to leave them alone for now. When discussing the matter with your close allies, they offer some rather contentious advice.
More radical workers have begun taking actions as well. Waves of strikes have struck the country, crippling entire cities as tools are downed and machinery grinds to a halt. Efforts at breaking strikes have failed and faltered, and the army is too distracted by the secession-from-states crisis to break these strikes, while the National Guard will not be called in by sympathetic (or terrified) governors.
Overall, the size and power of your movement has continually grown. The forces of reaction are divided and outnumbered, the chaos is increasing every day, granting you strength. Unfortunately, that chaos often has bloody consequences.
There was another assassination attempt. A man attempted to sneak into the New York City SPA headquarters with a pistol and a list of targets. You were the first on it. Chillingly, your daughter was third.You couldn't read what was second, there was blood on that part.
Violence across the country has grown, with politically motivated shootings and stabbings happening seemingly daily. There have even been cases of crude explosives being used, especially during the state secession movements, where improvised bombs were used to damage roads, rails, and bridges and delay federal troop movements.
In Canada, meanwhile, an improvised Underground Railway is apparently being established, stretching from the Yukon south along the western coast. It will likely need your cooperation to reach across the border in the future, but local party branches are managing well enough for the time being.
Unrest has begun rising in Montreal, meanwhile, as an organized group calling themselves Les Socialistes Québécois has begun leading marches. They have proclaimed their desire for a more independent and Francophone Quebec, national self-liberation for themselves, and the total socialization of Quebec while maintaining traditional non-economic and non-political social structures. The local police forces have been reluctant to suppress them, but the Mounties have shown no such hesitation.
More rumors of Russian instability and insanity has leaked out as the country suffers the agony of a failed revolution, although some of the news seems improbable.
In addition, an attempted memorial for the defeated Shanghai Uprising has been forcibly dispersed by troops from the Legation Cities. The brutal beating of several pregnant women has been highly publicized by the remnants of the KMT and other groups.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Syndintern has made covert contact with you. Already they have begun supplying you with small amounts of equipment and weaponry. Further support will cost goodwill with them and require easier access, but already the Red Guards are growing better equipped. Small stockpiles of heavier weaponry than rifles and shotguns are even being established in a few safehouses in New York City. You have given them a report on the SPA's activities, but further dealings will need to be organized.
Plans from Subordinates
The Coordination Committee has turned their attention to working with Tobkin and the Teamster's Union, focusing on further subverting politicians and providing the new comrades with assistance in securing power.
The State Legislative Committee, having finally overcome the obstacle of obstructive and resistant bureaucracy through brutal and overwhelming force, now seeks to expand its agenda. The first priority is expanding the subsidies, especially for agricultural-related production such as tractors, harvesters, and fertilizer.
With the current legislative session having come to an effective end, Thomas is looking to spend some time in contemplation and prayer in order to relax. However, he also intends to spend some more time conducting outreach to various groups in order to persuade them that the SPA will fight for them harder than anyone else.
And Butler is still continuing his efforts to whip the Red Guards into shape. Every day he continues to bulldoze over resistance and discover concealed crimes, but gradually the paramilitary improves under the stern leadership of Butler and the VFW despite resistance from those who fear a Napoleon and those who seek to avoid justice..
You have 7 Influence and 1 Gravitas total. 0 Gravitas and 2 Influence are committed to ongoing actions. You are not currently taking any foci.
With the reactionary militias slowly faltering and a slow, slight expansion in industry in some cities, there is room for more in the unions and workers who need to be recruited and given an education in class conflict and Marxism to prepare for the Revolution.Begin expanding the unions in 1 months (from the Orthodox).
The other parties have a far greater reach through their control of newspapers, radios, and other means of delivering mass information. This has allowed them to smear our good name and drown out our attacks. We cannot allow a propaganda gap! Expand your propaganda apparatus in 1 months (from the Parliamentarians).
The reactionaries are doubtless working to sow doubt and division in our ranks and to launch deadly attacks upon us. We need some system for warning of their infiltration and infection or protecting vital leadership from their attacks. Or both, both would be better.Establish some means of countering reactionary attacks and assassinations within 2 months (from the Totalists).
The first steps towards the social liberation of the proletariat have been taken with the revisions to the party line. It is time to take them further and apply the same logic to the other oppressed groups of society. Take an action to counter racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, or similar predijuces within 3 months (from the Syndicalists, they seem to have switched attitudes).
While the focus on expanding the party's reach in many areas where we previously lacked support has had admirable results, the core of the revolution will be the urban workers who have been left to the affairs of local party congresses and unions. This has been an acceptable state of affairs, but it may be wise to begin providing assistance to these groups, given the recent opportunities caused by Longist terror and Federalist floundering. Attempt at least 3 urban-focused actions within 3 months (from the Center).
Party Actions
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 and hostile interruption. 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. 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 topic. 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 Social 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, county governments. You even effectively control some 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 of 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. Cost: Significant and somewhat dangerous backlash from within and without the Party, possible legal challenges. Time: 3 months. DC: 70/130/170/215. 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 change to 1 subordinate. Can be taken multiple times.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/180. Result: One-time increase to Resources, amount is dependent on roll.
Open Investigation: If a subordinate is unpopular or incompetent, you can begin publically looking into their performance. This can wash off some of the reflected stink, particularly if you find something, but if there is no evidence of wrongdoing or fraud that can only make the situation worse or lead to questions of your judgement. Cost: Chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Some chance of finding problems with chosen subordinate, options to deal with problems, chance of +1 Influence.
Support Subordinate: Expressing confidence in a subordinate, either by offering direct aid or by giving material support, can boost their performance, especially if there isn't a structural reason for their failures. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: Positive modifier to chosen subordinate, chance of them gaining positive trait.
Acquire Expertise: You are only one man, you cannot know or do everything. Having trusted subordinates who can do part of the work helps, but so too does having trusted advisors, people who can offer you advice for dealing with things you don't quite understand. Cost: Varies. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Find assistant for chosen subject who can give significant bonuses and penalties to rolls and other situations.
Establish a Budget: While some of your subordinates have their own budgets to draw on, Butler does not. The standard expenditures towards the Red Guards are covering most of his needs, but without financial support there is only so much that can be done. Looking to the future, Butler has suggested you set aside some funds for him and other subordinates to use at their discretion. Cost: X Resources, -Y Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0. Result: Chosen amount of Resources with chosen Resource income is set aside for the use of subordinates. It may be later modified as a Free Action.
(1 Influence Committed) Encourage the Correspondence: The developing correspondence between the CSA and the CNT-FAI is good to see. The international proletariat must be united to free all the world. Begin writing letters of your own, and encouraging other leading figures in the SPA and CSA to do the same. Advice can be shared, questions answered, burdens relieved...and you know the CNT has Syndintern contacts. It would be impossible for it to be otherwise. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/10/20. Result: Increased internationalist sense within the SPA, potential for further benefits.
Showcase Successes and Suffering: Your recent focus on the rural areas has earned you a great deal of criticism. Bringing your reasoning to the CSA and showing the benefits of this focus, both to the cause as a whole and to the people you have helped, can counter accusations of throwing away money and resources. It may also support the dwindling and flagging Red Guards in the Midwest, many of whom are likely to leave soon. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/25/50/75/100. Result: Increased support from the Red Grange, possible support from other factions, decreased loss of support for rural actions.
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.
Expand the Maximum Program: The recent wave of strikes and the changes to the party line have encouraged the growing radicalism in the party. Things that were controversial a few months ago are now demanded by all but the most staid figures. The current program is considered insufficient by some, particularly in its aspirations. They look at what the unions and the Red Guards have accomplished, and they ask "What else can we do?" And they say it could be the immediate abolition of capitalism, or even the state (if you ask the anarchists). Cost: Loss of support from the right wing of the party, decreased strength of the right wing, general loss of support, increased attention from the state. DC: 25/75/125. Result: Strengthen left wing of the party, gain in support from the left wing. Note: mutually exclusive with Make Assurances.
Make Assurances: The class interests of the bourgeoisie have compelled them to work against you, but many workers have been terrified by the brazen attacks on the idols of their civic religion and your radical political proposals, even as they are attracted by the vision you propose. Publicizing assurances as to your more reassuring intentions, such as refusing to nationalize without fair compensation, could soothe some fear and comfort the newest members of the Combined Syndicates. Cost: Loss of support from the left wing of the party, decreased strength of the left wing, general loss of support. DC: 25/75/125. Result: Strengthen right wing of the party, gain in support from the right wing, decreased attention from the state. Note: mutually exclusive with Make Assurances.
Private Promises: Although you may well be publicly changing your stance on certain issues, and pushing the party as a whole to do the same, you have no intention of abandoning your commitments, or leaving party members confused by the sudden shift, since that could lead to a sudden split. This is purely a rhetorical, tactical measure, you are willing to promise that to whoever needs to hear it in order to support you. In private of course, but the leadership of the various factions is generally trusted and respected. Cost: None. DC: 30/60/90/120. Result: Mitigate costs of Make Assurances or Expand the Maximum Program
Union Actions
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.
Appoint Union Representative: There are dozens of unions, many with hundreds or thousands of chapters. A rare few even have branches in Canada, with a rarer few having branches in Mexico. The Combined Syndicates serves as a forum to allow them to coordinate and cooperate, but the vagaries of time and travel mean that the larger meetings are often sparsely attended. Electing (although your influence will help make it an effective appointment) a representative to help manage the syndicates, smooth over disputes, and ensure all voices are heard would reduce the growing pains the CSA is suffering from. However, the notion is not entirely popular...Cost: -1 Influence, potential loss of support from the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/Variable/Variable. Result: Subvote to determine who you will support for Union Representative and how much to invest in them.
Prepare Small-Town Unions: The farming cooperatives and the Red Grange are taking the lead in working with rural areas, providing the slowly growing unions there with expertise and assistance organizing. But another gap in your capabilities has been revealed. You don't have much reach in the small twins that only have minor factories or mines. Unions have begun to slowly form in some of these towns, but more work needs to be done to ensure that these unions will represent their workers, and not serve as another tool of oppression by the town capitalists, especially given their relatively weak ideological underpinnings. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: Strengthen newly formed unions organizationally and ideologically..
Mutual Aid Foundations: While directly expanding the soup kitchens would benefit many, a less costly alternative would be the establishment of mutual aid organizations to ensure that people are fed. Since they are less directly dependent on the SPA buying food for them, they will be cheaper for you to maintain, but still serve to provide relief to the struggling masses and help expose them to socialist ideals. The examples of such institutions being created in Chicago have helped show the way. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/80/100. Result: Improve quality of food kitchens. +0.5 Resources per month. Gain support from IWW MA and MM.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/120/150. 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.
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? Cost: loss of support from TUUL and ASA, loss of relations with the Orthodox. 5 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/35/70/100. 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 with the Syndicalists.
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: 0/10/20/30/40/50/75/100/125/150. Result: Large, one-time boost to Resources.
Street Brigades: Another proposal to deal with the immense number of potential scabs, reactionaries-in-waiting, and unemployed workers that are flocking to the city is to hire them for various jobs neglected by the municipal government such as fire services for poorer neighborhoods, street-cleaners, and other such tasks. While potentially costly, the work and the pay will fill their bellies and salve their pride, while giving them opportunities to be exposed to socialist rhetoric. Cost: -2 Resources per month. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Begin recruiting unemployed workers into labor brigades and exposing them to socialist rhetoric.
Form Farmer's Cooperatives: The newly organized farmer's cooperatives are young and fragile. They need tractors, fertilizer, organizational support, and more. The Red Grange is struggling to assist with these matters, lacking finances and reach. And the Dust Bowl continues to ravage the Great Plains. Government subsidies are being delayed and disappeared by hostile civil servants and damaged infrastructure. The party must take care of it's newest members. Cost: 4 Resources, moderate loss of support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/20/40/60/80/100/120. Result: Expand and strengthen farmer cooperatives, gain Relations with Ultraleft Farmer Labor and support from the Red Grange.
Seed Donations: The devastating droughts and dust storms have not just uprooted soil and those who work it, but the plants that grow in it. Losses due to spoilage, bad weather, and desperation have put many seed stocks at critically low levels. Fortunately, the French Commune has a far more robust agricultural sector that has largely recovered from the ravages of the Weltkrieg. They are willing to ship over stocks of seeds for a relatively low price in gold and some better quality machine tools. These shipments can then be transferred to farmers. Cost: 2 Resources, slight loss of support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/20/30/40/50/60. Result: Slightly expand and strengthen farmer cooperatives, slight gain of Relations and support from the Red Grange.
Special Foods: The gardens mostly produce simple crops like potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. While they have definitely improved the quality of the soups and stews and other meals served at the various people's kitchens, spices and herbs are in short supply for those kitchens. It should be relatively simple to purchase some mint plants and various others to add them to these new gardens. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/10/30/50. Result: Improve quality of meals at soup kitchens, gain support from The Teamster's Union, the SPU, and the AFL-CIO.
Mass Recruiting, Pt. 1: The cities are dense places, heaving with workers. Most of them are already unionized, but some have resisted the pressure of the CSA and remained separate. Some have even managed to avoid entanglement with reactionary groups. Through propaganda, demonstrations, and door-to-door recruiting, these remaining individuals can be brought into the unions and encouraged to take up the cause. Growths in union membership will strengthen your hand as the dues increase and the workers become more radicalized and organized. And soon, they will throw off their chains. Cost: Risk of backlash. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60/90. Result: Small gains in support from the AFL-CIO, the IWW Mountain Men, The Teamster's Union, and Regional Unions. Increase in income. Expansion of unions due to recruitment.
Forcing Concessions: The massive strike wave has already begun forcing concessions, but delivering demands for fairer pay and better conditions in a coordinated fashion will help them be achieved. It is one thing to ignore a single union, it is another to ignore a threatened general strike. Forcing significant labor concessions will send a powerful message to all: the might of united labor is far greater than the might of a state. Cost: Failure will cost support. Time: 1 month. DC: ???. Result: Significant increases in support and radicalization.
Factory Occupations: With the ongoing strikes, the time has come to demonstrate the superiority of socialist economic systems. Encourage the democratically elected strike committees to begin creating plans and production goals, and help serve as a forum for economic cooperation. Seize the means of production, and dare the dogs of capital to stop you! Of course, the seized factories will certainly be next on MacArthur's list after he finally finishes putting out this latest round of fires...Cost: Failure will bleed support. Time: 1 month. DC: ??? Result: Significant increase in support, radicalization, and income.
Militant Actions
Additional Weapons: The armaments of your "regular" Red Guards are highly irregular, and the "irregulars" who sometimes join in during protests or strikes are even worse off. Beginning to create armories of weapons will help equip both. The first step will be to acquire things like billy clubs and batons, both to avoid attracting unfortunate attention and because stockpiling guns in the current climate is needlessly risky...Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Create stockpiles of "non-lethal" weapons for the use of the Red Guards.
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: 5 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 0/20/60/100. 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: 0/10/40/70/100. Result: Dramatic increase in the number and quality of the Red Guards.
Go Hunting: In every city and town of America you face enemies. Hostile police forces, reactionary militias, mercenaries and Pinkertons hired by capitalists, and more. They all seek to oppress and suppress the workers. This cannot be borne. While the Red Guards continually battle in the streets, protecting protests, defending meetings, guarding agitators and organizers, they only rarely go on the offensive, and keep it strictly to retaliatory strikes on those most responsible for attacks. Asking for a more general attack would help weaken opposition, and perhaps see some justice done. Cost: Reduces support, reduces relations with the Parliamentarians, chance of it going badly. Time: 1 month. DC: 20. Results: Red Guards begin attacking class enemies, chance of gaining Resources, Support, Influence...
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: 30. 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: 3 Resources. Time: 3 months. DC: 25/50/75. Result: Acquire small but growing and highly eclectic stockpiles of explosives.
Establish Training Camps: There are many remote regions that the SPA has a prominent presence in. The mountains of West Virginia are littered with empty mines, while the endless plains of Iowa are nearly impossible to search without manpower that simply is not available to your enemies. These will be the perfect places to establish camps for your most dedicated Red Guards to begin turning them from paramilitaries skilled in street battles to soldiers of the Revolution. Cost: 2 Resources, -1 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: 15/30/60/120. Result: Establish training camps in isolated areas for turning paramilitaries into soldiers in small numbers.
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: 45/90/135. 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.
Take the Docks: In many cities, the powerful Dockworker's Unions could stop the transfer of goods at will, or smuggle goods past customs inspectors. While this is mostly used for their own benefit, it could be a potent measure to increase the party's resources and power. The army has effectively pulled out of every city on the east coast barring Washington DC and a few of its immediate neighbors, while the reactionary militias who assisted them have been thoroughly dismantled. There will never be a better opportunity. Cost: Risk of backlash, will likely increase corruption. DC: 10/35/70. Results: Gain income, easier smuggling, new options unlocked. Easier assistance from the Syndintern.
Gunrunning to the Midwest: You have small stockpiles of weapons and improvised explosives. While these are typically used by the Red Guards when attacking reactionaries and defending strikers, they may be put to better use defending the newest adherents to socialism. Given the control the unions have over many railyards, transportation will not be a problem. Cost: 2 Resources. Slight loss of support in the CSA. -5 Relations with the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/10. Result: Send weapons and explosives to the farming cooperatives, gain in support from the Red Grange.
Making Bankers Bleed: While most banks have collapsed under the strain of crisis and depression, several have been consolidated into larger enterprises which 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.
Formal Trials: The most basic investigations Butler and his loyal men have completed have turned up a cesspool of corruption within the Red Guards. Bribery, theft, racketeering, abusing innocent men and women, brutality, rape, harassment, and every vice known to man. Currently, while most important figures know at least some of the details, no one knows about all of them. Butler wants all the dirty laundry aired, with teams of Red Guards, VFW, and police arresting the guilty and exposing their crimes. You question if that is the tactically best decision, but you recognize the principle behind it. And there is something to be said for being honest, and something else for getting it over with..You want to tell him to go ahead. You know it's the right thing to do. But what if it costs you the Revolution?.Cost: Relations drop with everyone, especially the Totalists, loss of support with all factions in the CSA. Chance of backlash. Likely to weaken the Red Guards. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/20/30/50/100/140/180. Result: Probable gains in support from the SPU and AFL-CIO, probable gain in Relations with the Parliamentarians. Infighting. Removal of criminal elements. Make a principled stance. Make it easier for Jack to meet his daughter's eyes. End the risk of someone else leaking how bad things are. ???
Target Rural Reactionaries: Even in towns protected by the Red Guards, there are various hostile elements that remain.Hostile local militias, criminal gangs ranging from corrupt families who treat their towns life fiefdoms to bandits who resemble the villains of a Western movie, Longist groups, tendrils of the KKK and similar organizations, and more all threaten the newly converted socialists...many of whom may well convert back if sufficiently intimidated. While there has been something of a truce in the Midwest after the army moved in, some in the party speculate that they are merely seeking an opportunity, and should be defeated before they find one. Cost: Probable backlash, loss of support from the SPU, slight loss of support from the AFL-CIO. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/5/25/50/75/100/125. Result: Destroy hostile forces in some sections of the Midwest, gain relations with Syndicalists and Orthodox, gain support from both factions of the IWW, strengthen farming cooperatives.
Cultural Actions
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 a staunchly secular ideology, 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 Left, loss of support from Jews and other religions. Time: 2 months. DC: 15/45/90. Results: Increase in support from 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 -1 Influence, chance of increased stress. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70/120. 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: 6 months. DC: 0/25/50/100. Result: Create a system of cheap socialist private schools.
Organize Childcare, Pt. 2: You have designed your improvements to the ad hoc system of childcare, now it is time for the implementation to begin. All this will really involve is producing guides and perhaps some propaganda, but it will help. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/45/75. Result: Encourage the creation of more equal and better-designed childcare institutions.
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. 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.
Songs of the Revolution: The Internationale. The Preacher and the Slave. This Land is Your Land. Solidarity Forever. Many are the songs of the socialist movement. Let everyone hear them. Establish choirs and wandering musicians and every other way to spread your message through song there is. Cost: 3 Resources, -0.5 Resources per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/30/50/70/90/ Results: Easier recruiting, increase to morale among the party.
Unity In The Melting Pot: The Socialist Party and the IWW have long used multilingual speakers to reach out to immigrants. With the end of the Weltkrieg and the defeat of the Bolsheviks, thousands from Eastern Europe have flocked to America's shores to find conditions no better, while others have come north with Central and South America. Reaching out to those groups will be essential. The multilingual program will be expanded, to begin. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 5/45/90. Results: Easier recruiting, increased support among immigrants.
(1 Influence Committed) Socialist Radio Networks: Huey Long has used the radio to spread his reactionary babble to thousands of Americans. We can do the same. Through speeches and interviews, your message can be broadcast. While some may turn off the radio rather than hear the truth, the more you reach the more you can convince. The first step will be to purchase...whatever it is that produces radio waves for broadcasts. That was never something you needed to learn in school. With migrant hordes crossing the land east and west, a way to reach them grows increasingly important. Cost: 3 Resources. Time: 2 months. DC: 5/25/50/75. Results: Significantly easier recruiting, increased support.
Posters and Pamphlets: The speeches you give reach only those who hear you. Your speeches written down reach all who can read...but they are a bit too long for a poster discreetly put up or a pamphlet smuggled behind a boss's back. Beginning to create and produce snappy slogans and logos for posters and pamphlets will help you in the propaganda war, especially given the number of virulently anti-socialist publications that will smear you and your movement in any way possible. The lack of any organized system for spreading your message has led to several individuals starting up their own newspapers and similar operations to express support for socialism and syndicalism, albeit with a somewhat critical attitude to you. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 10/50/80. Result: The creation of posters and pamphlets to help spread your message, increased ease of recruiting.
Newspaper Distribution: Various socialist and syndicalist newspapers are produced by SPA members, affiliates, and allies, ranging in quality from the professional The Red Banner made using the equipment formerly belonging to The Chicago Tribune to smeared sheets being printed in basements. Not only do they allow for the expounding of your political program and views, but they perform a variety of community functions. Setting up new printing presses and newsstands can only help you spread your message. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/15/30/45/60/100. Result: Expanded newspaper distribution, easier recruiting and organizing
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. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/100. Result: Begin propagandizing destitute professionals.
Expand Rural Propaganda: Speeches and radio messages are already being broadcast, describing in broad terms your goals, your successes, and denigrating your rivals. The news of the ever-growing syndicalist movement will surely persuade many, but there are certainly other tacks to be taken. Encouraging more agitators and investing more time into propagandizing rural areas will doubtless increase your support in the farms of the country to greater levels, hopefully squeezing out Long and the hostile remnants of Farmer-Labor. Cost: 2 Resources, likely to cost support in the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/80/120. Result: Increased and better propaganda directed at rural areas.
Publicize Accomplishments: You have forced concessions from the hostile federal government, run a city successfully for months, defended the rights of soldiers, and won battles by the score in fields ranging from the courtroom to the street. Broadcast your successes, shout them from the rooftops, because this is only the beginning. There are doubtless thousands of workers who are held in bondage only by their fear. Knowledge of your might will banish that fear. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Increased propaganda about your successes.
Anti-Longist Propaganda: The Longists are ideologically incoherent, propped up by those they claim to oppose, corrupt, violent, brutal, prejudiced, openly favor the Confederacy and vilify heroes such as John Brown and Thomas Paine, and above all else they are ineffective. While their influence has been mostly expunged from areas you dominate, they still have some presence in parts of several states, most notably New York and the rest of rural New England. Target them. List their failures, condemn their faults, give them no rhetorical respite. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Increased anti-Longist propaganda.
Mock Federal Incompetence: The federal government has demonstrated viciousness and idiocy in an incredibly variety of ways. There are districts of the capital city where Congressmen can't go for fear of being mobbed. States are tearing themselves apart while the army flails ineffectively and commits massacre after massacre. Dozens of attempts at reform have been struck down, disappeared, or rejected while millions starve and suffer. If you didn't see it, you wouldn't believe it, but there are plenty who reject the evidence of their eyes. Force them to see. Cost: 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Increased anti-Federalist propaganda.
Pillory Capitalist Greed: The Longists 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.
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: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Expand community gardens with other (cheap) community activities and facilities, encourage interaction between different groups.
Political Actions
State Minority Rights: It is clear that there will be no progress on civil rights while the undemocratic and incompetent Hoover regime still controls the White House and Congress is so divided and disunited. Not unless that progress comes on the state level. Fortunately, there are multiple states willing and eager to pass various forms of equality-related laws, from sweeping bans of voting impediments to the abolishment of discriminatory laws to mandates to prevent abuse and discrimination. There will be backlash for pushing this, from allies and enemies both, but moral and practical imperatives drive you to pursue it nevertheless. Socialization requires liberation. Liberation requires equality. Cost: Likely loss of support, loss of support from conservative factions of the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/90/150. Result: Pass significant anti-discrimination laws, increas in support from socially-left factions, gains in support from minority populations.
Poach the Democrats: The Democrats have traditionally been a party pulled in many directions - Bourbon conservatives, progressives, Southern populists, and union members, political machines - and while a significant portion of all these factions have left, there are always remnants, such as the Roosevelt family. The party as a whole rejects you wholeheartedly, but individual members can be convinced to change their allegiance. Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 80/160/200. Results: You convince some members of the Democratic Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Working With Republicans: A scant few Republicans have shown themselves to be potential allies, at least on legislative matters. Their party has for now absorbed the Progressives, creating a fragile and unstable union that could explode at any moment...and you might just be able to pick up the pieces. Insurgent Republicans and former Progressives have praised your advocacy for the recent, defeated laws. And they know together you will be stronger. Approaching them could be worthwhile.Cost: Unknown. Time: 1 month. DC: 50/100/125. Results: You convince some members of the Republican Party and aspects of their political machine to switch allegiance to you.
Party Lawyers: Many potentially vital laws are being held up in the courts. And frankly, you have a shortage of good lawyers. There are some willing to work for free from dedication to the cause, but most lack the wealth for that or are entirely uninterested in working for you. But enough filthy lucre can solve that problem. Cost: 1 Resource, -1 Resource per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: 40. Results: Hire some lawyers to help defend the laws you get passed.
Agricultural Subsidies: Another potential way to bolster the farming cooperatives, and farmers in general, is to expand the subsidies to them. The state governments have enough money for it, and considering the behavior of several other governments, only a hypocrite would complain if they went even moderately into debt. Given that the factions which most disdain your rural focus also disdain electoralism, this will be exceedingly unpopular with some sections. Cost: Minus Relations with Syndicalists, loss of support with both factions of the IWW. Time: 1 month. DC: 40/85/120. Result: Expand agricultural subsidies, gain in support from The Teamster's Union, the Red Grange and Regional Unions. Gain in Relations with Ultraleft Farmer-Labor.
Expand Socialist Subsidies: The newly established subsidies for businesses which maintain certain standards of behavior have been decried as excessive interventionism, but they have also kept many fed and warm, and the value generated has been far more than the governments have been put in. Expand these subsidies to expand the impact...and possibly allow for the reasonable establishment of additional revenue streams by taking advantage of these policies. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 35/95/145. Result: Expand subsidies to workplaces, unlock further options for government intervention and business establishment.
Revised Wealth Taxes: The governments need money. They are maintaining fairly balanced budgets for the time being, especially with the sudden reduction in salaries, but more income would be useful, especially if you intend for some of it to be eventually lost. The capitalists still have extensive funds that could be appropriated for the public good, even as they use a variety of legal tricks to protect their ill-gotten gains. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/60/100. Result: Increased, stronger wealth taxes.
Begin Re-hiring: The massive purge was somewhat excessive. The new hires are lacking in experience. There have already been several severe issues, and it will be some time before they stop happening. Significant reforms are needed, but there might not be time for that. A simpler alternative would be to identify the most trustworthy of the purged bureaucrats and re-hire them. Cost: Slight loss of support from the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/120. Result: Reduced DCs for state-level actions.
Intellectual Actions
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.
Create an Educational Program: Designing a socialist education program will be just one of the many questions you have to answer after the revolution. There are important differences in content and teaching style and likely other things as well. Begin looking into who is an expert in such things and start drawing up the broad strokes of what a curriculum will cover. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 20/40/60. Result: Begin designing an education program.
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 -1 Influence. Time: 6 months. DC: No roll. Result: Begin coming up with a more detailed roadmap for socialist America, begin unlocking actions to create small-scale imitations/programs related to this.
Who Supports Who?: If you looked out the window to see New York City, you would think nine in ten supported you. You are not fool enough to think that, of course. The Payment Army alone disproves that, let alone the bullying your daughter has experienced, the endless attempts at suppression, the thousands of letters denouncing you. Beginning to get an accurate count will be vital for effectively directing your efforts. Cost: 2 Resources. Time: 1 month. DC: 30/60/90. Result: Get a general idea of where your support is strong and weak and what people are concerned about.
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: Likely loss of relations, chance of -1 Influence. Time: 1 month. DC: 10/50/100. Result: Counter anti-Semitic narratives, increase in support from Jews, small chance of +1 Influence.
Linguistic Life: The language federations are a powerful part of SPA politics. German, Jewish, Finnish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian...they are large, organized, and often highly radicalized. In many cases, they contain survivors of failed revolutions or escapees from persecution and repression. Militant and determined, they have taken leading roles in several initiatives, including the strikes in Boston. One possibility for appealing to them, and for fighting nativist sentiments, would be expanding the accommodations various programs give to foreign languages. This would include translating speeches and radio broadcasts, creating signs in multiple languages, and beginning to establish programs for cultural autonomy and ethnic liberation. Cost: Unpopular with social conservatives and nativists such as the IWW MM, the SPU, and the AFL. Loss in Relations with Ultraleft Farmer-Labor and the Parliamentarians. Time: 1 month. DC: 15/30/45/60. Result: Increase in support from IWW MA and Regional Unions, increase in Relations with Syndicalists and Orthodox factions, begin developing a roadmap for cultural autonomy and support for ethnic minorities.
On the Women's Question: Women's liberation must be part of the revolution. Some advocate for the complete destruction of the institution of the family...they may go a bit far, but you understand where they are coming from. There are things you can do to help them achieve true equality. Some of them are obvious, like removing infantilizing laws that restrict women's rights and tearing down barriers that prevent women from working. What else can you do? Cost: Cost: Unpopular with social conservatives such as the SPU and the AFL. 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 women's liberation.
Justice for Jim Crow: The institution of slavery and its ideological legacies and descendants have left their marks upon even the most liberated black communities in America. Not only are they still frequently denied full equality under the law, but they frequently are forced to endure neglect or hostility from the police, charity organizations, and even the Red Guards. They have been systematically stripped of social, political, and economic power, and even when they acquire it violent attacks soon deprive them again, such as during the Sack of Tulsa. Steps must be taken to address these inequities, to dismantle Jim Crow and see justice done. Cost: Unpopular with social conservatives such as the SPU and the AFL. 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 racial justice.
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 such as the SPU and the AFL. 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.
A Replacement for Bureaucrats: The dismantlement of the state bureaucracies has proven difficult to overcome, even as replacements are hired as fast as possible. Furthermore, there has been a growing current of concern within the party that bureaucrats will end up becoming a new capitalist class. However, they are also recognized as being a vital part of existing apparatuses, and one that will be difficult to replace. Discussions need to be had on how their function can be handled in a post-capitalist society, or how they will be replaced. Cost: None. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/50/75/125. Result: Begin developing the party-line on how bureaucrats and civil servants will be handled.
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: 2 months. 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. Cost: None. Time: 3 months. DC: 20/40/60/80. Result: Creation of curriculum, improved results and lowered difficulty for Organize Education.
Document Rural Life: Farmers live vastly different lives than urban workers. And even within that broad category, there is a vast gulf of distance between a Midwestern smallholder, an Appalachian backwoods farmer, and a Southern sharecropper. Documenting some of their experiences, their cultures, their hardships and abuses they endure under capitalism, and their desire for themselves and their children could help overcome gaps of understanding and painful clashes that have bedeviled your efforts in rural propaganda and organizing. It might be seen as boondoggle by some, but it also may add weight to your argument. Cost: Small loss of support within the CSA. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/15/30/45/60. Result: Reduced difficulty of rural organization and propagandization.
Intrigue Actions
Siphon Party Funds: The first step in performing covert actions is to acquire funds to do so. Simply taking money directly from the party treasury strikes you as a bad idea, as the resulting vanishing will be wide open for anyone who looks. So instead you will arrange for a few dribbles of cash to vanish into an account you can use for off-the-books problem-solving. Cost: -0.1 Resources per month. Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 0/35/70. Result: +0.1 Resources per turn goes into a dark fund you can draw upon for covert ops.
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: 25/50/75/100. Result: Increase to income.
Hire an Assistant Secretary: You need someone who is good at this sort of thing. Someone trustworthy, loyal and competent. That's going to be really hard to find...but at the same time it is undeniably necessary. How would you even begin to find that? Cost: Risky...and you will have to commit a Gravitas to them. Time: 1 month. DC: ??/??/??/????. Result: Find some potential spymasters, can delegate Influence or Gravitas to them.
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. 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.
Revolutionary Guards: People have been threatening to kill you and your family and other leaders for a long time. You have developed protection against overt attacks, but perhaps it is time to begin developing a more covert sort of protection as well. Cost: - 2 Resources per month. Time: 3 months. DC: ??/??/???. Result: Create organization of plainclothes bodyguards for you, your family, and other important figures. Unlock additional counterintelligence actions.
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.
Covert Investigation: Quietly looking into the behavior of a subordinate might allow you to remove them before they can become an embarrassment, or simply confirm their innocence without risking giving the impression they have lost your confidence. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. Result: Find any wrongdoing for chosen subordinate.
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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/?/??. 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. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: ?/??/??. Result: Increase chances of avoiding discovery for embezzlement actions.
Infiltrate the Army: With the contacts Butler has given you, you now have a simple way of infiltrating the army. Selecting volunteers from the Red Guards and having them sign up will enable you to gain some low-level infiltration, while going through the men he introduced you to will enable you to hear rumors and gossip from higher-levels. MacArthur is certainly planning to use the army against you, you must find out how. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 3 months. DC: 0/50/?/??. Result: Make contacts within the military.
Find What They Want: The Syndintern has begun making contact with you, but not on a steady basis. You need to arrange a more reliable system of meeting with their representatives if you want to change that. And you need to change it if you want to get a good idea of what they want and gain access to the extensive support they could provide. Cost: Risk of discovery. Time: 1 month. DC: 20. Result: Gain access to Syndintern Mandates and Syndintern Abilities
Steal Weaponry: The National Guards of several states are in total disarray. Extensive orders have been placed in other states for more equipment. The strike wave has further disrupted the supply situation. In other words, now is the perfect time to begin taking weapons that would have been used on the workers and turning them to the cause of liberation. Cost: Risk of discovery, 1 Resource. Time: 1 month. DC: 25/?/??/???. Result: Begin creating stockpiles of weapons and equipment such as grenades, machine guns, mortars, etc.
Personal Actions
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 punch Huey Long in his fat face or 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 once per turn. Time: 1 month. DC: No roll. Result: May make 1 change to 1 subordinate's priorities (change order, add one, remove one).
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. Cost: Variable amount of Relations, changes in Strength of factions. DC: No roll. Result: May get as many favors as Relations and Strength 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: -10 Relations with all factions of the SPA, narrative effects. DC: 0. Time: 1 month Result: Temporarily convert 1 Gravitas to 1 Authority.
Choose A Focus: You are currently taking no focus.
The Union Forever! - Through the most difficult and darkest days, it was the unions that kept the revolutionary spirit alive. Let the unions stand forever. No reactionary or capitalist can defeat the people, united. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain national spirit The Union Forever (Effect: +1 Strength to the Left faction per month).
In the Cities - The cities are already where you are strongest, but there are still bourgeoise who can be convinced to turn against their class and proletariat who can be given consciousness, to say nothing of the lumpen. Time: 1 month. Effect: Modify The Struggle Carries On! (+1 Appeal in Urban Areas per month)
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).
Form Spartacus Columns - the KKK and the Silver Legion, to name just a few, inflict all sorts of horrific violence upon sharecroppers, and that is leaving aside the abuse they receive from police and frequent incidents of mob violence. Between a lack of weapons and a lack of organization, little can be done against them. Your strikers have defeated soldiers, paramilitaries, and police. They can do it as well. Time: 1 month. Effect: Easier to arm and organize the sharecroppers.
Letters From Cousins: Your most potent tool for recruiting among the sharecroppers of the Black Belt are the connections they have to newly unionized men and women who have traveled to Chicago and New York and Detroit and a thousand other cities, and found a welcoming community amongst the unions. Time: 1 month. Effect: Easier organization and recruiting in the Black Belt.
Organize the Farmworkers - The migrating farmworkers are perhaps the easiest target for radicalization. Their formerly prosperous lives ripped away from them, pushed into desperate poverty, the food they work so hard to grow frequently burned in front of them as they starve...Time: 3 months. Effect: Significant increase to support among rural populations, +10 to the next 3 actions involving organizing or agitating in rural areas.
Anti-Foreclosure Teams - The most immediate threat to the remaining farmers are foreclosures. There are a variety of methods of dealing with this problem, from paying the banks to driving off their agents to buying the property at auction then returning it. Begin doing so in mass. Time: 3 months. Effect: Gain +10 to all actions involving resisting foreclosure or eviction.
