The right wing part of the united states has always been a shitfest. In the 60s they lynched black people because they wanted equal treatment. In the 30s they killed women when they got the right to vote. Before then they rebelled against the US and killed millions of Americans to try to keep slavery. Before then they burned women as witches… Basically they have been garbage humans forever.

We’ve always had garbage people but the problem is unfettered capitalism literally rewards narcissistic sociopathic behavior and we for some reason decided to make that the dominant system. Which means the worst amongst us have the most power and resources and help set the tone. Those people then attract the terribly misguided like Lee Atwater (US example) and religious zealots (evangelicals in the US) who propagate the message that self-interest is all that matters.

For the record I’m not anti-capitalist, but we did let the whole idea get out of control from the very beginning and I think it has a lot to do with the decline. Not to mention the coming death of hundreds of millions due to climate change.

It went down the shitter when white people starting helping & defending other racial groups, and the racist whites, feeling backed into a corner, lashed out in all directions at the same time.