The right wing sees its values as vulnerable in a changing world. It's not only that non-white people have gained power, although I believe that that has caused many whites to become dangerously unhinged. But LGBTQ rights have also advanced; more Americans have become less religious; most Americans do not want Roe vs. Wade to be reversed.
In addition, it's plain to anyone who really looks at results that unfettered free-market capitalism does not result in better lives for more than a few people, and that the economy actually prospers when regulations and taxation are applied.
Once upon a time, even Republicans saw a role for the government in helping people who have been victimized by natural disasters. Nowadays, the only spending that is not characterized as socialism (or should I say communism) is the defense budget.
Current Republican behavior in the face of coronavirus and vaccination is certainly bizarre, and the corporate embrace of vaccination mandates has suddenly turned the zealots against their erstwhile natural allies.
As with climate change, I believe that the Republican rebellion against coronavirus vaccination and responsible behavior during a pandemic are motivated more by a fear of big government than anything else. Anti-vaxxers are also attacking "big pharma" for wanting to make money on vaccines. Suddenly, capitalism is evil.
Any recognition that the government can and should help in times of trouble; that the market is a human-invented mechanism that needs human intervention (regulation) to work properly; that science has done more to improve human life and health than prayer; that homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice or a sin; that Black people are not parasitic layabouts; that public health measures are not fascism; that there are many perfectly good reasons for abortion is just too big an assault on the conservative world view to be tolerated.
Perhaps they are afraid that we are right, that the "values" they have long held dear are false, that the whole infrastructure supporting their beliefs is crumbling.
Their ideas can no longer prevail on their own merits. They have, as a result, actually given up on democracy, to protect their beliefs from society's rejection.
