John could barely believe what was happening. Since The New Authority had taken power he had seen the economy decline with each new initiative and program they had forced into place. For some reason they were either unwilling or unable to realize that it was their initiatives that were causing the decline. John knew this because in addition to being a radio talk show host, he was also a student of history. John knew that all these mistakes had been made before, in Ancient Rome.

While his modern society may not seem anything like Rome thousands of years ago, John knew differently. Because the common dominator in both societies was people. The citizens of both moments of time had fallen into a trap. A trap of thinking that the state was the answer to every perceived unfairness or inequity. They seemed to forget a very old saying of unknown origin, life is unfair. In fact John not only knew that life was unfair, but had leaned from studying history that life was suppose to be unfair. It was this unfairness that forced societies to adapt, overcome, and advance. When societies became comfortable or felt "taken care of" that society ceased to advance. Some argued with John that the "security" that the state provided was an example of an advancement of society. John knew differently. Example after example throughout history has proven, the state can never collect enough taxes to provide cradle to grave security for it's citizens for any prolonged amount of time. The reason is simple, the more the citizens feel "taken care of" the less likely they are to take care of themselves. As citizens stop producing wealth, the pool of tax payers gets smaller and smaller. Soon the state must take more from those who are still producing. This is usually primarily business owners, and entrepreneurs. Eventually, the ever increasing taxes force the business to close and the entrepreneurs to give up. Economies crash, and society collapses.

The New Authority were making all these same mistakes. Demonizing those who produce and achieve. Claiming that the reason their initiatives had failed was because they hadn't gone far enough. And finally, taking control of more and more businesses as the owners were unable to keep up with their tax liabilities or just gave up trying. After a town hall meeting where John was dismissed by a representative of The New Authority as a selfish malcontent, he decided to use the only tool he had left to oppose The New Authority, the airwaves. Using Rome as his example he draws the parallels between the two societies for his listeners. All the while hoping it's not too late…