The dystopian future is no longer a world of science fiction. It is on U.S shores. It has burrowed into our laws and our government and our psyche. I think back to 2016, and the following events happening in the United States would have been unthinkable:
*A nine week pregnant brain-dead woman being kept alive on life support for MONTHS against her family’s wishes so she can give birth to a fetus that will probably not even live (Adriana Smith).
*A woman snatched off the street in broad daylight by masked men because she wrote a piece critical of U.S support of Israel against Gaza (Rümeysa Öztürk).
*An Australia woman, married to an U.S Army serviceman, who traveled to Hawaii to see her husband, then at the airport was taken to a holding room, where her bags and phones were searched, and asked a slew of questions about her work as a former police officer, whether her tattoos were gang-related, and about her marriage to an American. She was then denied entry to the U.S. and deported back to Australia the next day. (Nicolle Saroukos).
*238 Venezuelan migrants were flown from the U.S to a maximum security prison in El Salvador. Our government deported 238 individuals, including U.S. legal residents and even some who entered the U.S. legally, to El Salvador, by accusing them of gang ties. They are currently being held in a max security prison with no contact with their families or legal representatives. No due process, per the U.S Constitution was ensured before they were arrested and flown out of the USA, zip tied on chartered flights. (Names of those sent to El Salvador are available at:
*Mass firings of federal employees from various departments, creating a void in services and global soft politics. Departments such as the National Parks Service, The IRS, The Social Security Administration, The Veteran’s Administration, USAid, The CDC, The National Health Service, and The Department of Education, among others have been affected. 132,000 to 280,000+ federal workers have either been fired, taken buyouts, or are slated for termination in the near future.
*The separation of as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender
service members from the United States military, both active duty and reserve, and
giving others thirty days to self-identify under a new directive. These include trans military personnel who are near retirement and have served their nation
honorably and unselfishly.
*The dismantlement of environmental laws and the firings of
over 400 climate scientists and researchers who oversaw the congressional
mandated National Climate Assessment. The assessment is used to draft environmental
rules, legislation and infrastructure project planning to protect the U.S from
the consequences of climate change.
I could go on and on because the sheer madness that has taken place in a mere four and a half months, with more to come, is mind blowing.
All of these events are happening now in May, 2025.
The monster behind these far-right and isolationist initiatives has been Project 2025, a pet project of the Heritage Foundation. The ACLU calls the Project 2025 a “new hierarchy of rights that would elevate religion and property over basic human rights.” The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973 and gained a foothold and burgeoning influence in federal government policy with the strengthening of the far-right evangelical movement under President Reagan. This movement was directly responsible for the termination of women’s reproductive rights in 2022. Rights that had been guaranteed by the Supreme Court’s Roe V Wade decision in1973. Rights I took for granted during my reproductive years; rights that I mourn the loss of for my daughter, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters.
And who did the Heritage Foundation pour money into electing in 2024? That’s right, Trump and every other far-right candidate on the state and national level. When SCOTUS ruled in favor of Citizens United in 2010, it reversed a hundred-year-old restriction on campaign finance and it allowed corporations and mega donors to spend unlimited money on elections and empowered super Pacs, the likes of the Heritage Foundation. Mega donors, billionaires (including Musk. Theil, and Bezos), and corporations elected Trump. The American people did not. So, it is any wonder that the far-right with its conservative Christian Nationalism is opposed to LGBTQ rights, women’s reproductive rights, diversity and inclusion, due process, federal oversight, workers’ unions and protections, immigration reform (because then who would be the proverbial bad guy?), minority civil rights, non- profit public education, protection of public lands, anti-immigration reform, and anti-gun reform. And it uses fear mongering and "othering" as a control mechanism. The Heritage Foundation's mission statement is: “Heritage’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
Promote polices to do what? Elevate white nationalism to the
determent of every minority group and every religion that is not far-right
Christian based?
Does “free enterprise” mean unchecked and unfettered
Capitalism that has widened the gulf between the ultra-wealthy and the working
poor over the past fifty years, all but erasing the middle class?
Can “limited government” protect the rights of a U.S
population of 347 million compared the 2.5 million population in 1776 when the
U.S was founded?
Does “individual freedom” only mean freedom for the few chosen that Christian Nationalists deem deserving, but not women, LGBTQ+ people, the working poor, and people of color?
And what are “Traditional American Values? The values we were founded on include these words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (The Declaration of Independence, 1776)
If I have no rights to my own body or reproductive choices,
I do not have liberty.
If I can be arrested,
incarcerated, and given no due process, I do not have liberty.
If I do not have equal access to education, food, safe shelter, and healthcare, then I do not have the freedom to pursue happiness, and in fact the absence of some of these (food, shelter, healthcare) could interfere with my ability to have life.
“A strong national defense” is a subjective gray area. Our national defense budget encompasses 13% of our federal budget, far larger than any other nation's defense spending. In comparison, our national resources and environment are only allocated 1% of the federal budget. Every military think tank knows that the chances of wars increase when people do not have access to water, when people’s homes and communities are destroyed by extreme weather patterns, and when agriculture is decimated by increasingly extreme heat. No amount of guns or weaponry or defense spending will stop those types of future wars. Our national defense should encompass not only military might, but also ecological and environmental research and oversight laws. But that would mean admitting that man-made climate change is occurring, and ignoring special interests like oil lobbyists.
By the way, social services only accounts for 3% of our federal budget. So next time someone tries to blame our budgetary problems on a kid receiving free lunch at school or a minimum-wage working mom receiving food stamps, instead of putting the blame on billionaires who are exempt from paying the same tax rate as teachers, retail workers, librarians, truck drivers, and medical professionals, tell them I said to kindly bite my ass.
I never thought I’d live to see the day when The Handmaid’s
Tale, 1984, and Brave New World would become instruction manuals. It was real while it lasted USA. We might not have
been ideal, but we were attempting to live up to them, even if those ideals were only an illusion.
