The United States was preparing for the annual Christmas holidays, though a little more soberly than in Christmases past. This year the giant department store chains, the chain store discounters, and nationally-franchised mall boutiques had little to offer - in most cases not even a building from which to sell their wares. The mammoth malls that had survived the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. bombings ended up being destroyed by earthquakes and hurricanes just a few weeks later. Fortunately, there were plenty of locally-owned retail stores offering quality merchandise that came with an unusual appeal: if you had trouble with what you bought, or weren't satisfied, you could actually return and talk to the store's proprietor. (S)he could "make it right" on the spot without having to go through the cumbersome procedure of countless unresponsive automated phone calls, customer service 'reports' that often seemed to end up in "file 13", or nasty letters to some far-off, elusive "corporate headquarters" where it might take months to process a return authorization or refund.
There were still some chain stores operating in the heartland, but they were mostly functioning as local entities since there was no longer a 'corporate headquarters' - no corporate bigwig, no regional supervisor, no area manager. Most employees of former K-Mart, Sears, WalMart or J.C. Penney's stores now reported to their store manager, who suddenly found himself (or herself) a sole proprietor of just one retail store. Money generated from the sale of the store's merchandise didn't get sent back to Troy, Michigan; Chicago; Bentonville, Arkansas or Plano, Texas. The money stayed within the local community, and that created jobs, resulting in vibrant economies even though much of the country was in the throes of a terrible economic depression.
In two weeks, the nation would celebrate its first Christmas since the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. 'Rebellion of '08' had virtually wiped out most of the federal government, most of America's "big business", most of the country's wealthy elitists, movie stars, and athletes, and most of America's corrupt political culture which had allowed the greatest nation in the world to reduce itself to a society enamored of flagrant film-flam artists, and obsessed with valueless members of the cause' celebre.

Perhaps, some pondered, Christmas 2008 would be celebrated for the true meaning of the holiday. Christmas, after all, marked the birthday of a man who was also believed to be a god. Perhaps it was fitting that the rebirth of the United States of America would mature near such an eminent event. There would be a lot fewer "low prices - everyday" offered by the WalMart family billionaires. America could, indeed, give itself the gift of rebirth and renewal - as a country that had been led into insane 'war' by a group of unstable gluttons - and that was now about to emerge as the pre-eminent promulgator of "peace on Earth, goodwill toward men".