Throughout all of this, the Catholic Church declared a ban on any form of contraception in South America, Mexico, Central America, and Africa. In these poor countries the Church felt it still had significant influence. This action only added to the already staggering population growth. People not killed off by disease died from starvation. The rise of the Christian Right, who were no more than fascists, added their considerable weight to the crisis. This movement managed to influence the U.S. federal government, particularly the executive and judicial branches. Their influence had U.S. Presidents reject the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Accords, using the excuse that participating in them would hurt American business interests. In true Fascist tradition, the American military industrial complex and right wing Christian ideologues, were cozily in bed with each other. When the developing nations saw the United States pay no more than lip service to Kyoto and Bali, they followed suit. Debt - national, corporate, and personal - was staggering. The Christian Right became deeply entrenched in government, the military, and business. But they needed Democrats and began to court them like a rich old geezer courts a Playboy centerfold. Payment rendered by the Democrats was the gutting of the Constitution and the repeal of Roe v. Wade. The Christian Right was very close to creating their ideal "Christian Nation" but took one huge misstep. Nuclear missiles were shaken by their political puppets like a stick shaken by an armchair general scolding a poor ally. China and India, considered godless by the Right, were the targets of this saber rattling, even though they held most of this nation's debt. When they had had enough, they called in the debt. The United States went financially belly-up and because of the inter-connectedness of the global economy woven between nations, so did other countries. This worldwide governmental bankruptcy, combined with things previously mentioned, brought about total collapse. Governments capitulated and civil order became non-existent, ushering in The Age of Anarchy. The world, now more than ever, needed heroes.............