I think you’re giving them too much credit. It’s not a philosophy that they’ve just taken too far. They’re just fed a constant stream of hate and propaganda that even if they think they like an idea, republicans just give it a name with the word “democrat” or “socialism” attached and start talking about how “THE LEFT WANTS TO TAKE AWAY YOUR FREEDOM TO LET LITTLE KIDS STARVE” and then suddenly they’re pro little kids starving.
I think you’re over interpreting the “just” here. This behavior is horrible and destructive for society. Let me be crystal clear there.
The point is that the US puts this heavy emphasis on “rugged individualism“ that a lot of other countries do not. This leads to an inherently selfish outlook that over-prioritizes my convenience/comfort.
We have a cultural problem, not an epidemic of some psychological classification/disorder/etc.
