Mystical Clay

[The Blackangel]

A major earthquake occurs in California. After the damage is assessed, workers discover a strange type of clay that was exposed by the fault line. Immediately, certain workers report a bizarre sensation: Merely touching the clay gives them a euphoric, almost sexual, sense of well being (they only need to touch it once to feel great forever). Soon, thousands of people begin flocking to the clay to experience it. About one in four people feel the euphoric effect, regardless of gender, race, age, or nationality; the rest of the populace feel nothing at all. Scientists who study the atomic structure of the clay realize this substance could also serve as the cleanest, most efficient fuel ever discovered (one pound of clay could power all of Los Angeles for 10 years). However, those who have personally and spiritually affected by the clay implore the government not to pursue this avenue; they insist that using the clay as energy will destroy mankind's ability to feel joy. They cannot explain what this means, but they overwhelmingly (and specifically) suggest that this is literally what will happen. In fact, many of them claim they will attempt to overthrow the U.S. government if the clay is "misused" in any way whatsoever.

You are in the second term as your tenure as president of the United States. The clay has no effect on you whatsoever. Would you support an initiative that allows 5% of the clay to be mined?

[Reality vs Adventure]

It seems like there is a lot more to lose here to mine the clay. For one, it's by a fault line which if mined could cause more earthquakes. Second, there could be an uprising from people wanting to protect the clay. Being in a second term as president would green light risky endeavors. 5% doesn't seem like much. But how much clay is there? For all I know 5% could be a whole pound or 1000 pounds. If there was enough to go around, and 5% could power the USA for 50 years, then that could help clean up the environment and prevent a lot of Middle Eastern wars that the USA can step away from once and for all. So would mining near the fault line cause earthquakes and death? How many lives would that compare to oil wars and global warming? If more earthquakes occurred, would more clay become available? Would the world flock to California to feel its effects and start stealing it and cause mayhem trying to hoard it all? The military would then roll in and guard it. Then what? The clay becomes militarized, and the government will mine it all anyways to prevent people from flocking to the area. Maybe they can research it and make more of the stuff. But it would only be used for prescription in a small tiny dose, while the corrupt wealthy gets a stash at all times. People will fight wars over this stuff. 

So I don't have a clue. If I was president, I could assassinate everyone that came in contact with it and say they died due to clay poisoning, then keep it all a complete secret and mine it all as if it never existed. I wouldn't actually do that, but some people would and I can name a few alive today. But I'm not so sure what I would do. It's a no win situation. You have to protect it from the public. In order to do that, you would have to mine it or have a militarized zone guarding it forever. But that is some stuff that can spark countries to go to war over if they can conquer the USA, they would conquer the energy problem and have euphoria they can make fortunes with. I would lean towards  making a militarized zone there to protect it. I would have to research the effects of what would happen if I mined all the clay? Would it ruin an ecosystem or destabilize fault lines everywhere? The military can squash any uprising. So I'm not particularly afraid of that happening. But if the situation were as it is today with one party an enemy, and risk a civil war, I would have a serious crisis where I would need to instate a state of emergency and even martial law until I find out if it's safe to mine all the clay and safeguard it somewhere secure. Because something like that clay can never be left open to the public. It would create mayhem, foreign and domestic attacks, infiltration, etc. It literally would shut the country down, at least the state of California and curfews nationwide. And no suspected enemy within will have any access to the militarized zone or to anywhere me and my administration resides. And I will gather their family members and safeguard them as well. It will be a preparation for any type of war. 

[The Blackangel]

My thinking is that the clay in and of itself has no mystical abilities. I’m thinking that long forgotten nuclear waste got into the ground in one way or another and was absorbed by the clay. And that nuclear radiation is what is giving random people a feeling if euphoria. It would also explain why they would threaten an attack if it was mined. It’s like a junkie being cut off by their dealer. I’ve seen people try to kill their dealers just for telling them that they were out of product.

As for the power, nuclear power plants already exist. What rules say that there isn’t anything else in this world that’s radioactive as well?

[killamch89]

I'm no geo expert but mining a fault line could end badly because at any time, there could be an earthquake and the miners would be highly at risk given that they're working at a fault line and could be swallowed up by the Earth. But then again, I've seen them legalize all kinds of things in California - some of which range from stupid to disgusting so it wouldn't surprise me if they went this avenue.