Fractured: A Shattered World
"A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past."
The New Millennium Crisis
To this day, debate still rages over how it happened. From the delayed effects of a Y2K failure to complex economic forces building for decades, the origin of this century's defining moment is unknown. The effects, however, soon became clear to all. On January 19th, 2000, a date now shrouded in infamy, the first cracks in the world's economic system began to show...
It first began as a rippling flash crash in the Asian markets. First Hong Kong, then Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo. Within a few short moments, untold billions was wiped in front of astonished traders as some stocks lost almost 95% of their value. Local currencies such as the Yuan and Yen fell...and kept falling. The Hong Kong and Singapore property markets were decimated seemingly overnight. Anxious citizens rushed to the bank to withdraw their savings, reacting to the panic as more and more markets and industries suffered from the effects of the crash.
It wasn't long until it reached the west. American and European traders were suddenly blindsided as a host of Asian currencies depreciated uncontrollably against the Dollar, Pound and recently introduced Euro. Panic and confusion reigned on the trade floors, with the collapse of Asian markets having a knock-on effect on their western counterparts. In a prominent example, events spiralled out of control in London as commercial real estate prices collapsed by almost 50%. As the media whipped into a frenzy and with the dollar and pound already dropping, the respective governments of the west quickly sprung into action and announced emergency measures.
What started as the Asian Flash Crash had quickly become the New Millennium Crisis.
The Great Collapse
The effects on the world at large were brutal and catastrophic. Western populations, shaken by their weakened currencies, emulated their Asian counterparts and triggered an unprecedented bank run unseen in modern history. Unable to cope, many banks simply collapsed as governments borrowed immense sums of money to save the larger ones. On the high street and in the malls, consumer spending plummeted and retail companies fell one by one. Resultingly, unemployment skyrocketed, forcing a fatal deluge onto welfare and benefits systems that governments had no hope of providing for.
Some nations borrowed even more money, others printed it whilst the remainder rolled over and admitted defeat, shutting down in the face of unthinkable budget deficits. This rampant debt and hyperflation made misery a reality for billions, pounds and dollars worth more as kindling than the paper they were printed on. In Asia, with demand for manufactured goods plummeting, the factories and shipyards began to lay abandoned.
The world slowly ground to a halt.
With the production lines of the world paralysed, the effects of the goods shortages began to set in. Supermarket shelves lay empty, with no produce from farms and fisheries reaching the stores. Power stations, with no fuel to run on, simply stopped working, causing blackouts for millions. Across the globe, tourists and foreign workers were stranded as their accounts became frozen and the airlines carrying them home simply collapsed. Paychecks never arrived and in-turn, the workers simply stopped coming in. The entire economic system of the world had ground to a screeching halt.
A Shattered World
With famine and unemployment widespread, the people of the world did not stay idle. In desperation, anger and even fear, they took to the streets in their millions to fight back against the collapse of the system. Stockrooms and aid camps were raided as starving families battled for every meal they could, whilst the more radical elements made a beeline for the palaces and parliaments. Pitched battles occurred in streets across the globe as police and military, with no guarantee of pay or food, battled to maintain order against rioters.
Taking advantage of widespread chaos and anarchy, separatist movements and terror groups struck from the shadows. De-facto new nations simply emerged unchallenged in some areas, their governments long losing control of the territory whilst too busy battling to maintain order elsewhere. In other rural areas, close-knit communities that were abandoned by withdrawing governments simply closed ranks inward and took matters into their own hands. For many, martial law became a reality as military juntas seized control from helpless civil governments.
It may never be known how many perished in these dark days, but from the lack of food, civil unrest and rampant crime, many millions of lives were changed forever and the outlook of entire areas irreversibly changed and damaged.
The New Dawn
It is is now January, 2020. Exactly two decades on from the collapse, the global situation has stabilised but remains precarious. Many of the countries of old are now non-existent, their fragile unions falling apart and being replaced by new independent nations. Others are unrecognisable, their ideologies and traditions almost completely different to the way they once were. At the opposite end of the scale, many areas remain lawless hotspots of violence with rebel groups and armed factions battling for control.
Poverty, crime and preventable disease have all become more prevalent in this changed world. Diseases such as polio, TB and cholera have returned to the west whilst the developing world has been starved of almost all aid and assistance from the developed, instead watching as former colonial masters fell prey to the same issues and crises faced by them.
All is not lost however. The global economy, whilst a shell of its former self, has shown signs of recovery. Countries have begun to trade in large numbers again and basic financial institutions have been founded to regulate them. Global travel and business has begun again in its infancy. Additionally, whilst supranational organisations such as the EU, NATO and the UN have all but collapsed, enterprising diplomats and notable figures have spread talk of the founding of successor organisations.
Now, the globe stands at a crossroads. Many seek a return to the way things were, advocating for multiculturalism, the return of globalisation and the resumption of international cooperation and cultural events. In light of this, global media has started to recover and rumours already persist of a return to organised sporting events and entertainment export. Opposing this is the protectionist and isolationist view. They blame globalisation as the cause of the collapse in the first place and seek a more divided and protectionist world, with some even having power focused at local levels. As a result, some nations view others with an eye of distrust and refrain from interacting on the world stage unless necessary.
Then there are those who seek to plunge the world back into chaos and anarchy and to reforge it under new, radical ideologies. Insurgencies and rebellions are common throughout the world and radical politics, once confined to the fringes of the modern world, is becoming increasingly prevalent and noteworthy. Whatever path that the masses follow in the end, a new world and system are about to be forged. The only question is who will drive it and how will they do so?
Current Events and Crises
Timeline of Events
