In the history of English literature, certain lines of criticism have left a lasting sting.

One of the most memorable came from the screenwriter and cartoonist John Rogers, who had this to say about the relative merits of J.R.R. Tolkien and Ein Rand.

He said, there are two novels that can change a bookish 14-year-old's life, the Lord of

the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.

One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable

heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal

with the real world. The other involves orcs.

Rogers didn't know it when he wrote that in 2009, but he was foreshadowing the obsessions of today's political far-right.

From the White House to Silicon Valley, we're now dealing with a generation of reactionaries like J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel, who

meld the worst of both literary worlds, Tolkien's and Rand's.

Like Ayn Rand's cartoonish heroes, they believe rich capitalists ought to run the world,

and they have bottomless contempt for concepts like equality and democracy.

But they've also latched on to Tolkien's fantasy realm of Middle Earth as a cultural touchstone,

one they believe is symbolic of their own worldview.

They love to name their slush funds and surveillance companies things like Peter Thiel's

Palantir after magical artifacts from Tolkien's

books. But, as often happens with the political right, they have no idea what they're talking

about. There were noticeable flaws with J.R.R.R. Tolkien's politics, but it's unlikely that he would have had any fondness for

oligarchs, war profiteers, or their allies. In fact, Tolkien's whole mythology warns against

exactly the kind of power-hungry politics these people pursue. For an idea of the kind of

rancid ideological stew we're

dealing with here, just consider the story of Vice President J.D. Vance's venture capital

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