Perhaps not as extreme or direct, (during their 'moderate' era), but nevertheless some means of shaking off all restrictions to the accumulation of profit. In the past, this was cloaked by appeals to 'freedom' and 'liberty' and the 'free market'. Any attempt by the State (or any other civic or public institution) to protect the consumer or the worker or the environment from any policy that might interfere with making money was to be fought hammer and tongs. Think, pesticide poisoning, lead in the gasoline, carcinogens in tobacco, global warming, the 40 hour work week, the 8 hour work day, child labor laws, Dredd Scott...the list goes on and on.

Keep in mind these are not necessarily critical remarks. Its simply that this is where their interests lie, this is how they see the world; confirmation bias and self-interest will always color the judgement of even the most honest and well-meaning men. There are certainly plenty of examples of do-gooders, tree-huggers and muckrakers succumbing to the same fallacies, but on the other side.

This is why we believe in democracy, we know that free and open public discussion and participation in the decision making process is what is necessary to occur if a compromise, even an imperfect one, can arise that has the best chance of working and meeting the public need.

Unfortunately, impatience with the slow and imperfect nature of this process tends to generate shortcuts and work-arounds, and often downright skullduggery. Both leftist and rightist ideologies fall into this trap, but its usually the right, through its control of Capital, that is the one with the resources to get its own way. The left usually relies on the situation getting so bad that downright violence can be conjured up, As the song says; "...lawyers, guns and money...".

The GOP's constituency has always opposed any attempt to control its excesses, and it has resorted to an alternate mythology that the world is plagued with sinister, evil forces determined to come after their liberty. When reason and example and history are insufficient to establish this as verifiable fact, then religious fanaticism, malignant nationalism, racism, and appeals to a mythic nostalgic past that never really existed are enlisted. When the Right does this its called Fascism. The middle class is always afraid of losing any supremacy or prosperity it may have achieved. They remember what it was like Before, or their parents told them about it. They will aways sign up when called.

So when a demagogue like Trump shows up and promises them he can make it all go their way he will always be able to mine hard times for followers. And those who will tend to prosper from his policies, even if they know for a fact he's a fraud and pirate, will make excuses for him and cover for his lies. They always figure they can use him, and if necessary, control him.

Papen, von Hindenburg and Hitler all over again.