I still can't get over how many Republicans are Putin supporters.

@BohemianBoo I still can't fully comprehend it.

@Human1000 It actually makes sense when you know the history of Conservatism. It was basically started as an anti-democracy movement and never really changed.

@BohemianBoo Do you mean things like poll taxes? I don't think of that as conservative per se.

@Human1000 So it's a really long dive into history, but here's the short version.
During the French Revolution, there were a lot of upper-class people who opposed the coming shift from Feudalism to Capitalist Democracy, mainly because they thought society should have a strict hierarchy. They didn't like the idea that with elections, the commoners could vote to elevate themselves. So these people decided that if they were stuck with Capitalism, then maybe they could use Capitalism to reinforce hierarchy, as opposed to the Liberals who just saw Capitalism as a way for people to pick their own professions.
And this philosophy of using Capitalism to maintain a strict hierarchy like they had under Feudalism basically became Conservatism. That's why it's so easy for them to switch to Fascism. Conservatism is about forcing hierarch within a Democracy, but the Democracy part is an unwanted compromise.
And it's been like that ever since. The End.

@BohemianBoo Other than the relatively new phenomenon of voter suppression I still don’t see evidence of this, especially as the Democrat party also supports capitalism. You also have many Republicans voting for the 1965 Voting Right Act.

The House approved this conference report version of that bill on August 3 by a 328–74 vote (Democrats 217–54, Republicans 111–20), and the Senate passed it on August 4 by a 79–18 vote (Democrats 49–17, Republicans 30–1).

@Human1000 Like I said, Liberals see Capitalism as a way for people to pick their own jobs, as opposed to Feudalism. Whereas Conservatives see Capitalism as a way to maintain hierarchy within a Democracy.
And the Republican party wasn't always this conservative. Back in the day, the GOP was more centrist. On some issues, they were even to the Left of the Democrats.

@BohemianBoo You're ascribing unconscious motivations, as most people couldn't describe either economic system. As a moderate Dem with some small c conservative values, I can't say either of those points is reflective of my ideology. 🙆‍♂️

@Human1000 It's not unconscious on the part of the Republican politicians. They know that they're anti-democracy. They know that all of their attempts at stealing the 2020 election were the first step towards full Fascism.
As for the average conservatarded Republican voter, I don't think they're knowingly authoritarian. Some of them honestly believe the right-wing propaganda about "small government," while others just like oWnInG tHe LiBs. Most of them don't care about policy either way.

@BohemianBoo I agree with that!