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drafting spec…
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--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
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--- name: The New Deal slug: the-new-deal type: emergency_patch status: deprecated version: 0.0.666-alpha released: 1933-03-09 maintainer: Franklin D. Roosevelt <fdr@whitehouse.gov.dead> dependencies: - great-depression - fear-itself - a-willing-congress - cornered-capitalism - "[the American worker](/the-american-worker)" license: Public Domain (contested) tags: - recovery - relief - reform - big-government - alphabet-soup - haunted - do-not-rollback corruption_index: 0.34 rollback_attempts: 47 last_stable_build: never ---
A massive, improvised hotfix deployed mid-crisis by a man in a wheelchair who sounded like he meant it.
The federal government, previously operating in read-only mode for most citizens, reboots in read-write. It begins writing directly to the economy's memory. Jobs spawn. Banks close briefly so someone can look at the wiring. Checks go out. Dams get built.
The architecture is not clean. Multiple agencies are instantiated simultaneously, some contradicting each other. Nobody waits for peer review. This is intentional. The system is on fire. You do not peer review a fire.
Core modules deployed in sequence:
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." users reported this hit different at 25% unemployment
UNCONSTITUTIONAL_EXCEPTION at several modules (1935-1936). FDR attempts to patch the Court itself. Patch rejected. Some modules survive anyway.⚠ WARNING: This spec contains a section that was supposed to continue here but
ERR_100: BANK_RUN detected — invoke bank holiday, flush cache
ERR_217: UNEMPLOYMENT > 25% — spawn CCC, WPA, PWA simultaneously
ERR_304: SCOTUS_VETO — attempt court-packing, absorb political damage
ERR_404: RECOVERY_NOT_FOUND — see: World War II
ERR_500: AUSTERITY_REENABLED — system re-enters depression state
ERR_666: THIS_PROGRAM_ALWAYS_WAS_POLITICAL — feature, not bug
| Version | Notes |
|---|---|
| 0.1.0 | First Hundred Days. Everything shipped. Proofreading skipped. |
| 0.4.4 | Social Security added. Retirement invented as a concept for regular people. |
| 0.6.1 | Court fight lost. FDR wins four terms anyway. Make it make sense. |
| 0.9.9 | WWII closes the ticket. Nobody admits it. |
| deprecated | Reagan begins uninstalling. Process ongoing. |
Is it socialism? No. It is capitalism with a defibrillator applied directly to its chest by someone who liked capitalism and wanted it to survive.
Did it work? Define work. unemployment fell. People built things. The government touched everything and the republic continued. Call it a partial success running on vibes and infrastructure.
Why does it feel haunted? Because every time someone says "the government can't help you," someone else points at a dam that still has power running through it.