Maybe a lot of them are QAnon nutters too, but what does that have to do with the protests or tribalism?
I had to remind myself here - the general idea is that they are motivated by loyalty and group affiliation more than logic.
So if Donald Trump says that deficit spending is evil, they agree with their leader. And if he does deficit spending, then they approve. It's more about emotion and bonding with people who think the way you do in general. Principles are secondary.
They are called tribal because they tend to reject institutions and public cultural practices that are based on intellect. They suspect that facts are lies, provided by institutions. "Trust" is an issue.
Some of the protestors may in fact be expressing legitimate concerns about government overreach and such, but the nature of the protests is perceived as not being based in logic and community-mindedness as much as it is in paranoia and provincial thinking.
Is that fair ? Based on the people who I personally know who are into this, then I would say yes. My staunchest libertarian friend has taken up the banner that freedom in our current situation runs secondary to duty to ones community and he is expressing his dissatisfaction with the anti-mask movement. Also he is doing so IN WRITING.
The best invention we came up with as a liberal society is the social compact to subvert violence, and leave decisions to a public intellectual exercise. As flawed as that system can be, it is still better than a forceful mob catharsis....
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