At first and second glances it makes no sense. Where the coronavirus is raging worst, Republicans made electoral gains. As cases mounted - often tied to Trump's Superspreader rallies - Democrats assumed a rational electorate would punish the GOP for their acquiescence to death by virus. The evidence was so very clear that mask mandates and partial closures of high risk activities could save lives by the hundreds and thousands.
This speaks to the broader "re-enchantment" of America. Max Weber described the Enlightenment as the "disenchantment of the world." The movement presumably prioritized rational thinking over the magical thinking of both religion and base superstition. It was clear, as Richard Hofstadter pointed out, that this disenchantment had shallow roots in America.
The Internet seems to have supercharged this anti-intellectual, anti-reason strain in America. The loss of objective truths and shared reality is most crushingly obvious in our response to both Covid and global warming. Reason shows us the path forward, but depressingly large numbers of Americans can't be bothered.
The GOP is proud of their response to Covid, because it was rewarded at the polls. It will lead to dead Americans, but who cares as long as those dead are disproportionately Black and Brown?
During our four years in Trumpistan, it was fashionable for Democratic politicians to say "This isn't who we are."
When it comes to rank anti-intellectualism...yeah, it is exactly who we are.
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