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In early May 2068, the USA and USSR go head off in nuclear war, and both countries, and the rest of the world, were completely devastated. In the US, the bombs ranged from smaller 100 kiloton bombs to 30 megaton bombs. Before the war, a food crisis caused heavy rationing of food in places like California and New York, and a proxy wars between the US and Soviets in East Africa and Southeast Asia heightened political tensions. 90% of the world’s population is dead, and life is forever changed for the survivors. Towns are the only safe places, as the vast expanses of wilderness are stalled by savage animals and raiders, that will kill you at best, eat you at worst. Women found outside will often be enslaved and subjected to unimaginable suffering. Most people are substinence farmers at best, Hunter gatherers at worst. It stays like that for 500 years, but there is 1 problem.

In the event of nuclear war, the government would most likely help the survivors or put in martial law and things like that. But, in my story, the government never helps anyone, and is never heard from again by the citizens of America. The military personnel that survived all deserted to form tribes, or become raiders. All the high ranking members of the United States government (excluding the president) survived the war and relocated to secret bases, so my question is, what would be a plausible reason for why the government disappeared?

In America, 21% of the population survived.

Talos 2
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  • -1 for thinking that there is a "the government" in the US, which is -- by design -- a federal system with power at the individual state level which really shocks most other First Worlders. – RonJohn Apr 27 '18 at 21:13
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    @RonJohn: You didn’t have to downvote me. You could have just told me so o could edit it – Talos 2 Apr 27 '18 at 21:18
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    Why is it always 500 years? – JBH Apr 27 '18 at 21:19
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    That's the good thing about down votes: they can be retracted. – RonJohn Apr 27 '18 at 21:19
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    @JBH for the same reason it's always 90% of the people are dead, and (almost) always technology/culture is Medieval. – RonJohn Apr 27 '18 at 21:21
  • Have you thought about this? 90% of the population is gone, which means there is no civil infrastructure, no utility infrastructure, no transportation infrastructure. Your actual survival rate is more like 1% because everyone in cities depending on those things won't get them and they die. If the entire U.S. federal government were standing on the Potomac river, unaffected by the devestation, they could do absolutely nothing but spout patriotic speeches. There's too few people to give them anything to work with. – JBH Apr 27 '18 at 21:23
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    It's worth remembering that your 10% survivors include (I assume) children and the aged. That means only 6% of productive members of society survived - and after one week there wouldn't even be a working telephone for the government to contact them, much less deliver goods and supplies across an entire (now mostly empty) nation. It wouldn't even matter if the government had survived. Now, if your survivor rate was more like 60%. That would make a difference. – JBH Apr 27 '18 at 21:26
  • @JBH that would make a good answer, albeit to a bad question. – John Apr 27 '18 at 21:33
  • @JBH: that’s not just America. It’s the entire world population. In America, 21% of the population survived – Talos 2 Apr 27 '18 at 21:33
  • @Talos2 That would be the kind of information you need to include in the question. – John Apr 27 '18 at 21:35
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    You mean you haven't provided us with all the details - and you're wondering why you're getting downvoted? Ignore the world, focus on just one nation, tell us exactly what the conditions are for that one nation, and then we can answer your question. Don't tell us in comments, please edit your question. – JBH Apr 27 '18 at 21:35
  • @JBH:!@ Om sorry I’ll fix it in the edit – Talos 2 Apr 27 '18 at 21:36
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    More data, Talos. Where did the bombs fall? What kinds of bombs were they? What time of year? Are we assuming the bombs fell "today" or "near future?" What was the situation before the bombs fell? How much time between "crisis start" and "launch warning" and how much time between "launch warning" and "explosion?" We need details. – JBH Apr 27 '18 at 21:39
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    @JBH: Ok I will – Talos 2 Apr 27 '18 at 21:44
  • How do you bring USSR back to life in 2068? – Alexander Apr 27 '18 at 23:20
  • @Alexander: It never fell – Talos 2 Apr 27 '18 at 23:31
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    Congressmen don't come out to help because they're having too much fun in the mine shafts and a 1:10 ratio with beautiful and fecund young women. – RonJohn Apr 28 '18 at 03:37
  • Even with your edits, it completely ignores state and local governments. – RonJohn Apr 28 '18 at 03:38

2 Answers2

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The 21% who survive are not government people.

nuclear targets map

Survivors are not a random 21% of the population. In a big nuclear exchange, population centers and centers of military power will be wiped out. The fact that the top leaders survive shows that they are wily folks, but they will have no-one left to do their bidding and nothing to do it with.

Survivors will be concentrated in the rural west and far north. Governmental entities are not represented by these people except for small town governments and national park rangers.

An interesting premise for this scenario: the Navajo nation might be the largest organized governmental entity to survive this exchange. In the fairly large area they control, the tribal government does try to help people.

Willk
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  1. They defunded the door release on the inside of the shelter
  2. The people they were relying on to let them know when it's safe to come out are all dead; alternatively, they were watching the news to know when to leave, and the news networks are down.
  3. As RonJohn suggested, they're having too much fun to leave.
  4. Those top secret shelters never existed.The people escorting them there killed them, stole their valuables and left them to rot.
nzaman
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