Christian nationalists, like House leader Mike Johnson, want to believe that Donald Trump is guided by the Bible. After all, he did walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bible in hand, and raised high.
My theory is that underneath the cover of that Bible was Trump’s true manifesto — the fictional book “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. Although the book is a work of fiction, it has been the Republican Party’s manifesto for years (Paul Ryan handed it out to all his staffers claiming it was his favorite book about economics).
“Atlas Shrugged” is about a decimation of a democratic government and a takeover by the elites — the uber-capitalists who exude self-interest, narcissism and “stable genius.” There is no place for do-gooders, religion, anyone born that is not a “stable genius,” social programs, or altruism of any kind. (Ayn Rand was an atheist). Individualism rules and everyone is expected to make it on their own. Unions, religious missionaries, programs like Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid do not exist in Ayn Rand’s world. It is every person for themselves.
This is the type of government that the people of the United States have voted for and what we see very quickly going into place from Mar-a-Lago. It is a return to the 1950s, which involved book banning and book censorship, blacklisting of Hollywood figures, exiles for U.S. diplomats, and programs to terminate federal support for Native Americans. It was a nasty time in our history.
The majority of the people who voted in this past election have expressed that they “want to go back” to that. Hang onto your seats, we are in for a bumpy (nasty) ride.
Janelle Heck, Millcreek
