This.
Everything you said, actually, but this in particular.
It resonates with the observation that
“Generally, the work of Ms. Rand is hugely enjoyed by people with the literary sensitivities of 11-year-olds who imagine they have fierce political sophistication.”
— RationalWiki
(There does seem to be a significant overlap between Trump supporters specifically, Republicans in the large and randroids).
Having lived in several countries myself, including Germany for seven years in the 1980s/’90s … and then again for a couple of years 2014–2016 … no, you cannot get through to this type of person that there is a wider perspective to be had on not just anything but everything. They suffer from what Edward de Bono termed the Village Venus Effect: so long as you never leave it, the most beautiful woman in the village (i.e. the most appealing idea you have ever encountered) is the most beautiful woman in the entire World.
The last time I was in the US (2012), I was at a bar with some friends and as, at the time, I was still a smoker, stepped outside for a cigarette. Outside, there was a TV, so that you needn’t think about anything yourself even if you need to step outside for a smoke.
There was an advert, starring some big name football star of recent (or possibly even current) times, talking about a scholarship fund into which one could pay that would return a dividend that could be used to fund one’s child(ren) through college.
He had benefitted from it himself and went on to say that as a result, he had become a successful athlete and travelled all around the …
At which point, I was stunned to hear the word ‘country’ come out of his mouth.
Naturally, as a European myself … and, furthermore, one who had left his homeland aged eighteen, to start living in a variety of different countries over the course of his life … I unthinkingly anticipated the word ‘World’ as the conclusion to that particular sentence, so, to hear someone express their pride in having pursued so little ambition in their time came as something of a shock.
But, of course, when your vision is so narrow, even so much as leaving your home town is broadminded.
