Increasingly, they see their fellow citizens as morally bankrupt. American citizens are far more likely to view their fellow countrymen as fundamentally evil than citizens of the other surveyed nations.
Maga hats are as evil as the Nazis were. They want death camps. They're bad people. They are not a mirror image of socialists who want health care for all, nor queer people who just want to live lives.
Every political campaign relies on the explicit premise that the opposition intends to dismantle civilization — either forcing you into communism or fascism, neither of which, if we are being honest, sounds particularly appealing.
There aren't any communists seriously running for office. Not even close. There are people who want to reduce inequality and give labor a larger, fairer, slice of the pie. That is not communism.
Meanwhile, trump and the like meet all the characteristics laid out in eco's essay on ur-fascism. ( https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism )
They grew up watching the adults in the room treat the opposing political party as an existential threat to survival
The Republican party is an existential threat to survival if you're queer or not white enough. They're also a threat, on a longer timeline, due to climate change. And also the deregulation and incompetence that gives us like disease outbreals. We should not act like that's an irrational response.
Also, historically, the Republican response to HIV under Reagan lead to incalculable death and sorrow.
This article feels like a teacher seeing two kids fighting, and their response is they're both wrong. They're not considering how one kid is constantly the aggressor and the other is fighting back. It's a false eeuuvlance.
This article kind of sucks.
Most conservatives don't care, and when they do care they don't understand.