It has been called “the Fascist Playbook.” Project 2025 is a plan by far-right Republicans to seize total control of the United States government. Created by The Heritage Foundation, it is a lengthy 900-page plan detailing how conservatives will appoint far-right freedom fighters to all levels of government in 2025 if Donald Trump is re-elected president. The most startling fact about Project 2025 may not be the plan itself but rather the public’s total lack of awareness that such a plan exists. Among those who do know about it, a small group outwardly discount it as impossible to implement. To those individuals, I would like to remind you of Roe v. Wade. Progress means different things to different people and there are many people who do not want to live in a democracy. Instead, they want to live in a dictatorship with a strongman leader who just makes things happen the way they want them to happen. This is what Project 2025 is, and if Donald Trump is re-elected to a second term he will implement this plan without hesitation.
Many liberal minded people wrongly assume that those on the far-right are unintelligent and not a threat. The creators of Project 2025 are indeed very smart and work for think tanks or law firms. Many are also authors of books. So, what are the goals of these individuals? In their own words, they hope to “restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children,” “dismantle the administrative state, and return self-governance to the American people,” “defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats,” and finally, “secure our God-given individual rights to live freely—what our Constitution calls ‘the Blessings of Liberty.’”
What these carefully worded ideas really mean are, “outlaw abortion and LGBT+ identity, allow racism as it existed in the 1950s, keep immigrants out of the country, and make legal decisions based on their specific interpretation of religion.” The United States, a country known around the world as a melting pot of ideas and cultures, could soon be entering its darkest era as a country governed exclusively by the far-right.
These ideas are not new to American society. In the 1940s, many people sympathized with those who hated Jewish people, Catholics, Irish, and African Americans. The 1947 film “Don’t Be a Sucker” is so relevant to American culture today that it could have been filmed by Steven Spielberg himself. In the film, a public speaker in a park gives a passionate speech about the direction of America. In the speech, he expresses his hatred for black people stealing jobs before shouting, “What’s going to become of us real Americans?” Some of the film’s characters look on in disgust while others seem intrigued by the hateful ideas. This is not an article about the 1940s, yet the parallels between now and then are becoming a frightening reality.
The United States is unique in the world for its reverence of its constitution. In many countries, France for example, constitutions are thrown out and replaced all the time. We view the constitution as a sacred document, yet the idea of a constitution being thrown to the side is not a wild idea. With a conservative supreme court that has been more hostile towards important precedents than any in the past, it is not unreasonable to believe that they would find ways to make Project 2025 a reality should our court system challenge it. Some argue that they have already put the pieces in place.
Joe Biden is the only one who can stop this plan from becoming a reality. He is the only one standing in front of a Trump dictatorship. Again, for people who think this talk is fantasy I encourage you to remember the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of insurrectionists stormed the capitol with the intent to, in their own words, “hang Mike Pence.” These were not protestors; they wanted to overthrow the government! They wanted to install Donald Trump as president despite his loss to Joe Biden. With all the video footage that exists, court cases taking place, plans like Project 2025 written up, and direct rhetoric from far-right mouthpieces like Tucker Carlson it is not at all hard to believe this will be a reality if Trump is re-elected.
Many students will be voting in their first presidential election this year. Now is not the time to make a protest vote for a third party! If you are interested in learning more about Project 2025 and the harm it could cause you and others, you can read more at www.project2025.org/policy/. Just make sure to watch the 1947 film ‘Don’t Be a Sucker’ after you do.
“History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” – Mark Twain