Same thing for solar panels. When carter left, he installed the first solar panel on the white house and said 'this will either mark a new beginning or a path untaken'. Reagan took it down.

Now China is kicking everyone's ass in solar panels. And Trump hates renewables so much that he wants to shut down a windfarm in New England that is almost finished, had already cost a lot of money, would employ thousands, and provide a fuckload of cheap electricity to a lot of people.

Sounds about right.

Unhappy, simple-minded people cling to prophecy of change, children's fairy tales of a day when everything will be better and some paternal figure will protect them and give them all the presents they ever wanted.

It's not a coincidence that education and exposure to diverse cultures and beliefs tends to make for a less religious population and why religion is shrinking in larger cities and more connected locations around the world.

The problem is that these people are basically armed serfs, in indentured servitude to their ideological leaders, they are pure political capital if you can harness them and holy shit have we seen that plan bear fruit.