"Many people I got chatting with were on the right because they saw it as the side of common sense, realism, and rational thinking. They didn’t see themselves as being on the side of oppression and resented the left for “demonizing” them"

Those were the ones who voted for Reagan, Thatcher, neocons, neoliberals, all the psychopaths who created current state of affairs. And over a ~40 years' of stubborn voting to boot.

They have absolutely no right to talk about rational thinking, realism or common sense. All of those are just smoke screens used to hide the fact that their petty selfish choices ended up creating this result. To save a few hundred in taxes per year to not having to pay for the education of other people's children, all the way to wanting somewhat cheaper oil.

It does not matter whether these people are 'nice, decent' people when you actually meet them in a different setting. What matters is that these people were the ones who voted for all this sociopathy for their own selfish reasons, and now they dont want to take responsibility for their own actions.