When resources are in abundance it tends to result in cooperation and liberalism. And liberalism strives to keep resources in abundance. Conversely, when resources are scarce it tends to result in competition and conservatism. And so conservatism strives to sabotage efforts to make resources in abundance. I live in Johnson county, Iowa - a deep blue dot in a sea of deep red. A hard truth of Johnson county is that much, if not all, of any abundance it does have is due to the University of Iowa (Iowa’s largest employer) bringing what is basically "student tourism" to the area. But most people in republican run towns scattered across Iowa have no such mechanic. They are left working all their lives, with the money they earn by trading their time and energy evaporating without much trace.
I don't know how the media in these areas explains that scarcity, but it clearly has nothing to do with the wealthy who suck all the money out of the air, or the fact that it is entirely Republicans who want to ensure the wealthy get to do more of it. Perhaps there are just too many steps between the extra nickel-and-dimes they are charged or denied and the mountains of cash the wealthy hoard to trust that everyone else could understand there is a causal relationship. Perhaps they have been repeatedly hit over the head with the narrative that it is socialism to demand the wealthy stop doing that or to force the wealthy to stop by taxing them. Or perhaps they have spent so much time with this that it would undermine too much of their struggles to have it fixed.
Maybe all three. Maybe something else. Probably everyone has slightly different reasons. In any case, republicans seem like they would rather be right about our government taking our money and giving it away than admit they are wrong about who it is being given to. In parts of Johnson county there's enough in the air that the wealthy can't yet easily consume it all without completely suffocating rural towns. But without some cooperative statewide resistance I'm sure our time will come. At least 59% of our voters would rather drag the rest of us down to Hell with them than admit they could use a hand getting out of it. I've often thought that the damnation of Hell need not be eternal: if it lasts only until one admits to their soul that they were wrong, the sort of people sent there in the first place would still be there forever. I suppose I was arrogant in assuming that thought was original instead of just plain observation.
In any case, I think the 35 and older crowd is too mad at each other to fix this. And no one seems to have a satisfying answer for why, which makes it more frustrating instead of less. Probably, our best chance is to teach the next generations how to identify and value common ground, which can only be accomplished by providing some to them. Apart from pulling more of our money out of the air, this is likely why Republicans want to privatize schools so badly. Properly funded public schools are the foundation of civilization. Gutting them would give segregation the sort of boost that would negate the decades of effort we have spent trying to eliminate it, and then common ground will cease to be even theoretically possible.
However, it's critical to keep in mind I don't just mean racial segregation. Yes, certainly that, but conservatives have a long history of getting the white working poor to vote against their interests by simply telling them that it is in black people's interests. Republicans aren't clever; They're just cynical. They will keep doing the same trick until it stops working. They have been at this for decades: making people mad about being taxed, winning power on the assumption that they would do something about it, but then just cutting taxes for the rich while selling out our public services for profit to make them more expensive. Public schools have only held out this long because of overwhelming community support, which they have become wise to and have been attacking relentlessly with CRT, anti-masking, and now “grooming.” It isn’t good when our front line for holding off authoritarianism has also become our last line of defense.