New Washington would consider being part of a union with the other free states and it was a decision that would be weighed for quite some time. There was no rush; New Washington was doing well on its own. It traded with the southern and western states. Business was booming. It was still small compared to the pre-Collapse economy, but was growing every day. People could feel that a real economic recovery was happening and they got to keep the money they earned for a change.
There were several currencies in use. Many local areas had Free Dollars, which were redeemable in gold or silver by free banks, like the ones issued by Joe Tantori’s bank.
In addition to local free bank currencies, the people of New Washington had quickly adopted the southern and western states’ currency, the New Dollar. There was no government decision on what currency to use; people just starting using the New Dollar because it made sense. That was the magic of a free market.
The New Dollar was actually backed by gold, silver, and, indirectly, oil. A person could take a New Dollar into any bank in the southern and western states, and eventually a New Washington bank, and walk out with gold or silver. They couldn’t walk out with a barrel of oil, but oil was indirectly backing the New Dollar. The southern and western states had plenty of oil and used it to buy gold and silver that was then used to back the New Dollar.
There was no inflation wherever the New Dollar was in circulation and people flocked to the New Dollar for that reason. This increased the economic and political influence of the southern and western states. Everyone wanted to hitch their cart to the economic powerhouse of these states.
There was no burning reason for New Washington to formally join a union of the southern or western states, however. That certainly might eventually happen, but New Washington had a stable currency courtesy of the New Dollar, so joining a union of states wasn’t necessary to have a currency. No one was trying to invade New Washington, so they didn’t need military alliances, which could suck New Washington into a war it didn’t want. Why get dragged into some border dispute between Wyoming and Nebraska or whatever just to be in a union of states with Wyoming? No, joining a union of states had to make sense to the people of New Washington. They were thinking about it. It was a big decision and any treaty to join a union of states would be voted on by the people. They had seen what being part of a too-large union of states ended up getting them.
A much bigger debate among the people of New Washington than whether to join the southern and western states was what to do about the “Seattle question,” as it became known. Should New Washington force Seattle to join it? To reunite the state so it had its old borders?
Most people in New Washington initially wanted a forceful reunification with Seattle. There was something mesmerizing about the old borders of the state. The whole state had to be under one flag.
But then most people thought about it and decided Seattle, rotting, dying, and gasping for life, could remain a part of the FUSA for as long as it wanted. Most people realized that with free and prosperous New Washington as a shining example, people in Seattle would start to voluntarily come to New Washington. That’s how New Washington would eventually regain Seattle: when everyone in Seattle wanted back into a functioning state like New Washington. The Patriots weren’t in a hurry. They had lots to fix in New Washington.
Religion was another topic that needed some reform, or, actually, just some freedom. There was a massive return to religion after the Collapse. So many people had experiences that led them to believe in a higher power. Most of the people from Pierce Point and the 17th fit into this category.
The New Washington Constitution created a very clear separation of church and state. Government was not to be in the religion business; that was a purely private affair, but the New Washington Constitution would not allow silly bans on religious life. No more suspending kindergartners for saying “Merry Christmas.” The New Washington Constitution would do what the federal Constitution was supposed to do before judges perverted it, which was to ban the government from “establishing” an official government-sanctioned religion, not to ban people from exercising their religions. Government allowing kids to say “Merry Christmas” was not “establishing” a religion; it was allowing people to exercise them. But requiring kids in public schools to pray was forcing religion on people, so that would not be tolerated.
Government exists to protect liberty, including everyone’s ability for free exercise of religion. This included non-Christian religions and atheism. Religion must be protected for two reasons, Grant had always thought. First, free exercise of religion is a fundamental liberty and government exists to protect liberty. Second, and a very practical reason, is that a healthy religious life means a healthy society. Charity flourishes and takes care of people the government can’t take care of, and private charity does a much better job. Religion often means people feel accountable to a higher power, not just to bureaucrats. There was no downside to a society when religion was healthy, provided that people could be truly free to worship, or not worship, as they pleased.
In addition to more religion, another social phenomenon after the Collapse was the reversal of the wussification of the American male. (New Washingtonians and others in the FUSA still called themselves “Americans.”) The government couldn’t do much to reverse wussification, except to get out of the way of society. By virtually eliminating taxes, now both parents in a family didn’t have to work. This was huge. Men and women could have their traditional roles without having to worry about a second wage earner to pay the taxes. If men and women didn’t want to have traditional roles, that was fine, too. It was just that the majority of Americans did want the traditional roles. Now, without crushing taxes, they could have them if they wanted them.
Men had been vilified by the old state. Grant thought of all the TV ads and sitcoms in which the man was the stupid idiot and the woman saved the day. Over and over again. All threats to decency were from men. They were all wife beaters and gun-toting nuts. Grant had always thought that the reason for this was that the old government didn’t want strong families to be a check on government power. Government wanted full control over people. And, to do that, government needed to eliminate the family. That was actually in the Communist Manifesto.
Gov. Trenton would use his bully pulpit to remind society that men actually have some worth. They need to be strong and work hard. Men have an obligation to provide for a family. Men cannot be lazy and expect the government to take care of their families. If a man were injured or disabled that was a different situation, of course, and a charity should help. And in some families it made more sense for the woman to work and the man to take care of the kids. That was all fine. It was just that the era of men getting to be overgrown boys, shirk their responsibilities, and have the government take care of their families was over. Over for good.
The war, in which many regular suburban men had picked up a gun for the first time and used it, had also taught both men and women that men have some worth as protectors of their families. There hadn’t been a need to do this for several generations. People were reminded of the unique role men have in a properly functioning society, in a free society.
Stopping the vilification of men didn’t mean that women had to stay at home and cater to men. Not at all. Just as the war meant many suburban men picked up a gun and used it for the first time, many women did the same. People realized just how incredibly important women are to a society and especially to families when times got bad, even more so when many men weren’t around because they were off fighting a war. Many families saw with their own eyes that women canning and growing gardens saved the family. And women are usually better at comforting and nurturing. There was plenty of that which needed to be done. Almost everyone suffered a tragedy of some kind; there was a lot of comforting necessary. Grant kept thinking about Anne Sherryton and how she had read the brewery orphans those stories after doing some very brutal and tough work that few men could. There was no denying how important women were.