Republicans continue to vote republican no matter what laws or policies are passed that directly or indirectly harm them. Voting republican has become a cultural identity.

> Why is it that Republicans so despise and revile the poorer sections of their community?

Greed, narcissism and bigotry. The republicans I know personally consider themselves "different" then the people being hurt by these decisions. They either think "it won't happen to me" or "I'm not like those people" even when the evidence is right in front of them. There's also a heavy dose of "one day I might be rich" which allows them to vote for policies that help the rich, but directly hurt the middle class and poor.

> Don't they realize the actual damage they're doing to their country by fracturing its cohesiveness?

Of course they do! They aren't dumb, they're bad people.

I'm tired of pretending Republicans aren't terrible people. Hillary was right about deplorables. What she got wrong was how many Americans fit this definition.