Neoliberalism. That is the core of it I think. Partially because I think the leadership class of people (Ceos, politicians, and social thought-curators) have found that this is a really effective way to distract people and keep them from forming meaningful interest groups.
In reality, more people are losing freedoms. I think people actually do feel that in the water. One way or another. One way this manifests is literally just having to live around more people.
To older folks who maybe grew up going “out back” and shooting beercans there is this idea that “other people” took that freedom from you but the reality is that there just weren’t as many people around.
Now people expect that kind of freedom in the wooded areas behind a densely populated apartment complex and feel indignity when it isn’t smiled upon.
I don’t think some of these people have really become more ideologically motivated by neoliberalism, but I think the bullshit narratives feel real to them because what they see is “I’m being told to inconvenience myself for others and those others don’t belong here or else I wouldn’t be inconvenienced by them…”
So the refrain becomes:
They are changing my life. They are crowding me out. I should cough at them or shoot them so I can avoid being attacked by the demands of others in my home. It’s a real victim mindset that basically DARVOS antisocial behaviors and legitimizes symptoms of actual disorders (for certain people). Toxic as fuck.
I agree the motivation is neolliberalism (I saw a CEO literally say “we” like high cost of housing because it ensures cheaper labor) but the reason people believe it I think isn’t neoliberalism which is why they hate “liberals” so much even though what they HATE is in fact the… loss of liberty.
My POV is mainly from red state land though, I have no idea where the entitlement comes from in other populations. I just mean a lot of people here believe this way, but ALSO basically have this conformist and populist belief system which is also completely counter to big businesses neoliberalism. Frankly I think this mismatch is what birthed MAGA (that and racism, of course).
It’s stupid but one way to defang a resistance I guess is to take people’s rights but get them to fight over something else with all the anger they feel as those losses build up stress in their lives.
Is it your shitty pay and bad housing prospects that you are mad about? NOOOOO it’s Karen and her stupid mask. It’s Crystal and her only fans. It’s Jorge and his greencard. It’s one woman breeding and another not because either way it’s wrong. And it just goes on and on from there…
Because the bizarre thing I see is that people only even take a “neoliberal” small government take on some issues but on more important and impactful problems in their own lives they seem content to lick a boot.
