If I live to be 100, I will never, ever understand the conservative mindset

[malthaussen]

66. Thread is full of many differing explanations...

... none of which is likely to result in the understanding you crave.

I'll add my own two cents: imagine, if you will, a person convinced he is being deprived of what he deserves by machinations and powers beyond his ken. Any proposed change is then suspicious, as it will be believed to be yet another underhanded plot to deprive him of even more. He knows only one thing: that the liberals are the ones stealing from him. They steal his money, his dignity, and his sense of self-worth. Therefore, any triumph over them is to be celebrated: "they" haven't "gotten away with it" this time. (remember George Zimmerman saying "They always get away with it" when he was chasing down Trayvon Martin?) You can see this mindset in the anti-vaxxers, who are convinced that the vaccine is some kind of "plot" which they are much too clever to fall for. But if you expect a coherent explanation of the "plot," you'll be disappointed.

-- Mal