I saw news today from a Washington Post story that the Heritage Foundation has plans to "save" the American family. They call for a "Manhattan Project to restore the nuclear family," which of course means coming up with ways to force (oops) induce married heterosexual couples to have more kids.
The Post story highlights that this report is controversial within Heritage, because it departs from its historical commitment to small government and free markets, since it would require big intervention into Americans' private lives.
The report calls for cuts to anything that supports families without two married, straight parents.
It's time for policymakers to elevate family authority, formation, and cohesion as their top priority and even use government power, including the tax code, to restore the American family.
Restore "the family," which of course still exists, but is not a unitary thing. We have "families," not "family." And elite "family" authority — which I'm sure really means father authority, as George Lakoff has explained.
The Post story was reprinted in today's Star Tribune. By contrast, the same edition carried a review of a book in its Variety section called The Dirt Beneath Our Door.
It's a memoir by a woman who grew up in a Mormon polygamist household in Mexico. She was the 11th of her father's third wife's children, one of his 62 in total. He, of course, could not provide for that many people. Her mother somehow managed to work two low-wage jobs, one of which was waitressing, and would bring home half-eaten food from the patrons so her children would not starve. The father was also physically abusive to the children "to save you from going to hell."
Without the polygamy (so far!), this is the vision of the Heritage Foundation. Their report scorns contraception and no-fault divorce, and we know what the lack of those mean for women in marriages.
This is what we are up against in this country: Christian nationalist totalitarians who want to return to 1850 or before.
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