The Third Red Scare is a response to the increased hostility of the People's Republic of China and its operations on American soil. The Vigilant Citizen's Hotline was even established to allow hysterical citizens to report neighbors to the government for any behavior that could be construed as in support of communism. The federal government used the increasing national paranoia to try and control the situation, by discouraging assemblies, fueling the anti-communist sentiment, and encouraging reporting subversive elements. Together with a deteriorating economy and worsening social climate, the United States began to crack. The problem was further emphasized by the collapse of the European Commonwealth and the Middle East oil powers, as the oil fields were exhausted. The automotive industry desperately tried to come up with a solution to the problem, but electric and early fusion cars were too little, too late to solve the needs of society. Traffic on the streets died as fuel became too valuable to waste on cars. A year later, in 2060, available fuel reserves were on the brink of depletion worldwide.
