To the editor:

Opinions about the main impulse behind Trump’s reelection are like belly buttons; everybody’s got one. Here’s mine. First, I don’t buy “It’s the economy, stupid.” Harris’ “soak the rich” taxes, government-subsidized first mortgages and defense of Social Security got very little traction. Inflation is coming down; wages are going up. Americans aren’t rich, but America is.

No, the winning strategy was fear. Americans don’t buy more guns than any other people in the world because they want to be free; they buy them because they want to be safe. And what do rich people fear more than anything else? Poor people. In Trump’s parlance: losers (uh, oh, there’s one now — roll up the window!). Good grief, if the United States, with the world’s strongest military, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic to the north can’t be a gated community, who can? Forget Gaza, forget Ukraine (wherever they are) — not our problem. Our problem is to the south. And, as David Frum said, liberals won’t close the border; fascists will. Climate change? Artificial intelligence? Dying oceans? Frightening issues, sure — and global issues — but we will deal with them our way, just leave us alone. Inside our bubbles. With our headphones. Behind our Meta goggles. In 2024 most Americans wanted the same thing most Americans wanted in 1940: to be left alone. I don’t think the rest of the world will leave us alone, but apparently that’s the plan.

Dan V. Johnson,

Lawrence