Story idea: What does our future look like?

[MattKester]

Story idea: Post-Trump, Post-Evangelical

I really want to try to stay away from a political discussion here. However, I was listening to a couple friends who are evangelical Christian – and who are very tuned into politics. One characterized his faith as “Dominionist,” and it intrigued me enough to imagine what a post-GOP future might look like if some of the elements were to continue unchecked.

Again, I don’t see this as a political discussion, but I do see a lot of good fodder for world-building and a good storyline. Here are some of the things I see in this kind of story:

• Women may be free, and sex-trafficking is illegal, but wives, consorts, concubines are all considered owned by their husbands. Interestingly, this aligns with some teachings of the early Christian church – and some other religions.
• The government was re-formed under a New Constitution. Much of the Old Constitution is intact, with the three branches of government. However, the government is overseen and selected by a Council – a collection of cabinet Secretaries or Ministers (political leaders); an oligarchy (captains of industry); and some indispensable experts in various fields of study.
• The Houses (led by the Lords – or other title) have rights and privileges, staffs and are typically led by the very rich. They continuously compete with each other and sometimes stick it to the other guy. A line from Dune (Frank Herbert) comes to mind: “The art of Canli is still alive.” In other words, there is a real society of assassins, and each House must build its own security force.
• Some of the Lords are very soft-body slugs. Others are hypercompetent and intelligent. One protagonist, for example, is skilled at spotting threats and disarming them before the antagonist gets to him. In one storyline I’ve thought of, the Lord of his House spots, disarms and seduces an assassin who has targeted him – ultimately submitting to his domination.
• There are public schools, but most children are forced to attend private schools. Some children are kidnapped and sent to an academy where they are trained from childhood in martial arts and assassination. One protagonist discovers such a school and raids it, rescuing and adopting several of the children. I think there are several directions a story could go with this.
• In another storyline, I see one Lord potentially playing chess and, in a flash of insight, figures out how he might control the Council and the Presidency. In another, a judge makes a decision that ultimately exposes a plot or conspiracy within the Council.

Interestingly, I see that there could be stories in a corporate setting. There are potential threads for incest, BDSM, Loving Wives, Romance, Sci-fi/Fantasy. I could potentially see someone taking this in a direction that Piers Anthony did in his Incarnations of Immortality series, where higher powers were released on the world to help govern humanity – and some Lords are vested with powers of nature.

Yes, my mind went a number of directions. Let me know what you think. Please feel free to use any of these idea if you think they are useful. I’m not sure how original some of this is, anyway. It was just a stream of consciousness I had one day.