Gold Scandal of 2024 (Falco)

"We were just taking back what was rightfully ours in the first place."-- R-NJ Tony Scalingi's Closing Statement August 12, 2026.

American Replication Techniques
Americans did not invent Replication technology. Despite many of the tech giants investing heavily in 3D Printers and that craze. Replicators were quantum based nano particle manipulators developed of all place in Africa. So, the replicators were not widely available in America until at least the 2050s.

Therefore, the "fake" replication technology that did exist in America was crude, highly unregulated, and in some cases completely illegal. In the 2020s replicated parts flooded the marketplace. Cheap knock-offs of anything from iPads to the latest Louboutins were being replicated in small backroom operations around the United States. Oftentimes these operations included hitmen, loads of cash, and drugs. It would become akin to Prohibition.

Republicans Push to Annihilate Replication
The Republican Party was frustrated with the the idea of Replication. It's not that they didn't understand the science behind the cause like some Liberals were suggesting. It was the fact that it hurt the free market enterprise system that made America so great. So they wanted to destroy the technology once and for all. They argued that if the process were to continue, communuism and chaos would surely win.

The Smear Campaign
From 2021-2023 Republicans, Conservatives, and even some libertarian activist groups banned together to form a sleaze campaign about the technology. This featured late night news shows about the corruption inside the growing replicated black market. Featuring new websites to avoid that sold Replicated stuff. Including Amazon.com which kept it's cyber shelves virtually unregulated allowing replicated items to be sold there.

It worked! The smear campaign was a home run as virtually everyone, everywhere was talking about the dangers of this new found technology. The public was so scared to buy anything for fear of buying a replicated item, that the economy actually shrunk in those four years of unregulated chaos.

The 28th Amendment
Due to public outcry of the shady underbelly of this new technology Republicans proposed a 28th Amendment which forbade the sale of all replicated goods, items and clothing. Food could not be replicated yet. Anyone found operating, owning, or downloading plans to use such equipment would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law! It was signed by President Jon Huntsman on July 4, 2024. Marking a new safer place for America, on her brithday.

Early Critics
The Democrats were quick to judge this new amendment and it passed by one vote in both houses! Libertarians jumped ship and aligned with the Demcrats because they were concerned by how similar this was to prohibition. It was the hope of many Republicans that with the pass of the  amendment it would lead to lower crime rates and less fraud. The reverse happened yet again.

Organized Crime
African American Groups with direct ties to Africa, began an importing business for newer and better replication technology. These gangs along with the usual drugs, guns, and money, quickly spread out across the country. A powerful black market for replicated items grew even larger with the pass of the amendment. The ignorant public thought that everything was fine and that the law was working. Especially Republicans. Rather than reducing crime rates in major cities. By the 2030s after Africa became a united land, Replication technology gave African Americans new power. The likes of which they have never had before.

The Replication Enforcement Agency
Along with the new amendment since it had to be enforced. Huntsman set up Replication Enforcement Agencies inside major cities and hubs where these gangs operated. These cops armed with the latest fraud detection soon became as corrupted as the gangs. Sometimes they even worked together.

Popular Replicated Items
However, if anybody was looking for a silver lining underneath the bloddy beginnings of the unregulated 3D printed marketplace, it was this: The gangs only replicated consumer goods. Never cash, coins, drugs, or even guns! They seemed to have some sort of morals, until the politicians got directly involved.

Enter Jerry Wilson Govenor of NJ
NJ was a struggling state in the 2020s. It was littered with replication gangs along the Jersey Shore. Jerry Wilson had deals in place to sort out the growing competition among the Jersey Shore gangs as they were known in the media. He was passing by an uncompleted house one day with his young son, Henry in the back seat. Henry mentioned that the house looked like a golden throne because the bricks that the men were laying were indeed gold in color thanks to new brick coloring technology. He asked the driver to stop his car and Henry and Jerry both got out to speak to the owner of the new house.

"Sure, it does look like gold." he stated. Jerry got an idea and the two men hatched a plan to replicate gold. The owner of that house was another Republican and the Senator of NJ Tony Scalingi

Early Success
NJ was the first state in the nation to get rid of the growing replication gangs. For the public, all they knew was that the state of NJ's large Enforcement Agencies were paying off. What they didn't know was who they were paying off and why. The Senator and the Govenor agreed that they would replicate gold in an abandoned housing complex in Newark. They would then meet with the gangs there and slowly pay them to stop replicating. It was the perfect crime because the gangs didn't even know that the gold was being replicated!

Greed Takes Over
Over the next eight months Tony and Jerry built a massive criminal enterprise that even Al Capone would be proud of. After they paid off all the gangs to stop their replication process, they went into business for themselves. They became a replicated Walmart and even went so far as to open up the first replicated retail chains. Being a Govenor and a Senator had its advantages here, but then people started to take notice. They weren't really doing anything to help the state of NJ with all this, and they were just lining up their own pockets. The two politicians continued to hype up their success with taking down the gangs, but the public wasn't buying it any longer.

Betrayal
In November 2024 Tony  Scalingi was arrested on income tax evasion charges. He had a house in Atlantic City which he basically completely forgotten about. Jerry Wilson was furious and he turned on his long time friend and ally. First he ordered hit men to take out his surviving family members. Then, he handed over all of the recordings he had with Tony to Congress for analysis. Everything was there, including their first meeting at the house! Jerry Wilson did time but Tony got life. They never spoke to each other after.

Repeal of the 28th Amendment
Republicans  to put this scandal behind them  pushed the new Democratic President to repeal the law. They stated that making replication illegal only made things worse. It was repealed Feb 2025.

Retribution
In the western libertarian media, replication technology is almost religiously linked to the greedy power of the Wilson Family Dynasty. It was where they got their power from. It was when they were first noticed and to some it was when Henry Wilison got his breakthrough. Being only a young kid, Henry recalled in his memoirs that he was well on his way to building Wilson Conversion Systems into a gigantic company even before the scandal, but he'd be lying if he didn't acknowledge that it did influence him.

Conspiracy groups and libertarian activists automatically assumed that that meant the hybrid conversion process included some type of replication technology inside it. Henry never admitted it one way or the other...