Humans evolved to not know the difference between bullying and leadership.

The highest paid government employee in nearly every state is a sportsball coach. Liberals have fed the smartest kids to urban progressive districts since forever, leaving the concussed sportsball fanatics to the mercies of real estate pickle vendors and car dealers in every rural county. The liberals that were left in flyover country have to hide or move out while the Koch brothers bought the anti-abortion and anti-regulatory politicians with the weakest moral constitutions.

Anyone surprised by Trumpism is just playing dumb. Liberals do that when bullies walk the hallways. It's a survival instinct that Republicans take advantage of to get what their corporate sponsors want.

If you want to fight, play the right game. The opposite of unfettered capitalism is not socialism. It's sales taxes and UBI based on sales tax. Democrats need to fight for better bureaucracy and get rid of the corruption boat anchor that is the income tax code.

That's all anyone really needs so we can get on with actual government services instead of corporation-pandering services.