Interesting thoughts, Web.
If such a transformation takes place, I see it taking longer.
I've thought a lot about the [T2k] world in 2000 and beyond, and what it would look like politically, socially, and economically. I won't go into any detail here, but I've written elsewhere that I don't see much room for the modern nation-state in the year 2000 or much beyond. In my musings, power in all three inter-related realms would be derived from control of food. The entity that controlled the production and distribution of food would be the de facto ruler of a particular area.
In many cases, this would very much resemble feudalism and perhaps, over time, a hereditary aristocracy of sorts would develop. In the early 2000s, however, the new feudal system would likely consist of a military unit providing protection for food producers in exchange for sustenance and, likely, a socio-economic standing of some privilege.
In some cases, a sort of armed collective might evolve, where producers formed their own defense forces made up of mostly of part-time militia, this system, perhaps, in time coming to resemble the armies of classical Greek city states, or the early Roman Republic.
It looks like you're postulating a sort of hybrid of the two, evolving relatively quickly. Do you think the "Soviet" influence would spread that quickly? Would the producers be receptive to it? Would their be talk of armed insurrection should the ruling "class" ignore the demands of the agricultural workers? Would the "underclass" have the strength to offer any kind of effective armed resistance?
Here in southern Arizona, where I've lived for 21 years, a good chunk of the white population strongly supports the military, while loathing the federal government (especially when a democrat is in the White House). I don't see many civilians here being that outraged in a T2K-type scenario with the military taking local/regional control. As long as the SAMAD commanders weren't being very despotic, I can see them maintaining that popular local support.
In the past, your articles on SAMAD have portrayed the leaders of Huachuca to be enlightened despots. I think that that would be the best government most people could hope for after four plus years of WWIII. Resistance to such a government would be a very risky venture, with much to lose for very uncertain gains. As history as demonstrated time and again- although, not so much here in America- people have often been willing to trade freedom for peace and economic stability.
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