It's not unusual for people to speculate as to the intelligence of Republicans. Ted Cruz is, I am informed, a graduate of Harvard. I would speculate that few morons graduate from the institution, but his views of reality seem a bit skewed. I don't really have a problem with understanding any of this, but if you subscribe to the idea of Republicans being idiots, it might feel a little puzzling.
Even people of average intelligence tend to do things which improve their own lives, but most only help other people if they happen to be altruistic. People determine what will be good for society based on personal experience, not abstract data. If you've never met a poor person, you probably assume what is good for your friends is good for society.
Now when Republicans destroy the social safety net so that rich people can become richer, they really do believe that rich people (like themselves) are the center of the universe, and the poor and middle class are just lesser classes which orbit around them. A rich person's magnificence will enrich those around him, and lesser celestial bodies will benefit even more by getting closer to the sun.
In their experience, they profit by protecting rich people who contribute millions to their political campaigns. Its in their interest to believe that it will all "trickle down," so many really do think that. Evidence doesn't matter, their personal experience does.
They will never have the experience I do when I go to the pharmacy and I'm told that I can't have my medication. They will also avoid any publication which talks about that experience. They will spend a great deal of time around the rich, and happily relate those occasional experiences where a billionaire contributes a million here or there to some particular group they happen to like.
But now, this is where you may be coming up with a retort. What about not increasing the debt limit? This is incredibly stupid even for them personally, many of you will say. A default will harm the world economy and even they will be harmed by it.
Quite right. This is really, really stupid. It is stupid by anyone's definition. They are threatening to do something which is in the interest of nobody at all.
That is what makes this moment in history so interesting. There is this Libertarian idea that we need no government, and that people acting in their own self interests will run a more efficient world, and this is one of those moments that shows what comes of that.
We are here, because these idiots were promoting their own short term self interests. This month the GOP walked up to a cliff. They looked at the rocks below, and hesitated. Some sort of primitive instinct told them they were doing something stupid.
Then they listened to the people who fund their campaigns, who told them that if they didn't jump, they would be primaried. They should jump off that cliff, and pull us along for the ride.
In their minds, it was always for their own benefit.