Let me be clear in what I mean. I know that the Religious Right is entwined in this administration so fully that it's hard to tell who is who anymore. I also know that they are using the administration to promote Rapture philosophy. Some of the backers (ex. Moon) are blatant about it. However, a statement in another post by LiberalEsto made me pause:

What a weird thing it must be to sit around waiting for The End to happen any day now. Why would anyone bother saving for college, getting an education, or planning for the future?

He's right. why bother to invest in the future in any way if you think there won't be one?

We know that this administration is also backed by corporatists like no other. The excessive wealthy has always held the rest of the population in contempt-they call us 'useless eaters' and picture themselves as being the only truly important citizens, while the rest of us exist just to keep them living their state of ease. The ownership class has been trying to erode all the progress which the working classes have made since FDR. What better way to continue to do so, than to convince the population that there is no future anyway? Why should anyone save, or try to better themselves, or do anything to improve their standard of living, if they believe the world is going to be destroyed next week? I begin to wonder if the emergence of the Rapture as the dominant philosophy isn't part of the Olin-Scaife-Murdoch agenda to trick the poor into ruining themselves. It certainly would make more sense as to why it has taken off like it has.

On edit: see, the thing is that it occurred to me now that this could be more than about some people getting rich. After a while, it's not enough for the rich to have money-what's another million when you have billions? The only way to keep the self-important buzz going is to start stepping on the poor, by making their lives worse in every way you can. Take away their savings, their property, and their ability to take care of themselves, and you can keep adding to the distance you have between you and the great unwashed. so, the Rapture may be about more than making money. It might be about getting the poor to give up everything they have, making them so impoverished that they are helpless.