Greg, I should explain something that I thought was clear, but apparently is not. When I said, “I don’t understand,” I did not mean that, literally, I did not understand the meaning of the English language words I was quoting. I did not mean that, literally, I had never heard such opinions before and was unaware of the right-wing ideology of “rugged individualism,” sink or swim, take care of yourself or die. I’m well versed in these beliefs, Greg.

When I said that I did not understand, what I meant, but did not explicitly state because I assumed a certain level of customary understanding on the part of my readers, was that I do not understand how the right can believe the assertions and claims exemplified by these quotes, because they are so uninformed, so ignorant, and so inhumane.

I understand that the right-wingers I quoted do not see themselves as uninformed, ignorant, or inhumane. But they are. So telling me what they believe and why they say what they say does not advance the discussion. I already know all the arguments. The point is, those arguments are worthless. They are easily disproved, not supported by historical facts, and ultimately incomprehensible, in the way that inhumanity, selfishness, and meanness are always incomprehensible — at least to me.

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The foundational metaphysical split between right and left:

The Right believes humans have evil nature;
The Left believes humans are basically good.

The Right belief in evil nature affects how the Right interacts with both the common man and the government.

Right interaction with Common Man

The Right believe we humans either stand up and care for ourselves, or we become lost souls. Further, we become lost souls who are uncared for, as government ultimately cannot care for all our needs. We either take care of ourselves, or we flounder.

Certainly there exist victims – of mental illness, of other conditions – who deserve consideration and care. The Right see far fewer victims; the Left see far more victims.

Certainly there exist persons who are temporarily down on their luck, and who could benefit from compassionate action. Private charity is the preferred solution. Government must tread cautiously and scrupulously in this area, remembering to “first, do no harm” (to incentive, for instance).

Right interaction with government

The Right believe government is run by fundamentally flawed persons whose group instinct is always to gain more power. The only way for government to gain more power is to take more liberty away from citizens. Therefore, government is dangerous. Very dangerous.

Margaret Thatcher:

“When all the objectives of government include the achievement of equality – other than equality before the law – that government poses a threat to liberty.”

Barry Goldwater:

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.

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Second, in the area of economic and government theory: the right believes government cannot provide massive care for it’s citizens and long survive. Margaret Thatcher:

“The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

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Every quotation you did not understand, every way of thinking you did not understand, was grounded in the above. You say “What is wrong with…?” Rightly or wrongly, the Right looks to the above and finds fault.