Part of the American Way is to harm yourself as long you harm someone else, too. Preferably worse, but it doesn’t really matter as long as someone else you don’t like gets damaged as well. Expressing your antipathy is what’s important no matter the consequences.

An example of this is that a neighborhood around here petitioned the city to close off one of the entrances/exits to the main road to prevent people from driving through it.

Not that many people drove through it as it was.

However what it now means is that at least half and maybe many more of the people who live there will now be forced to experience a much longer commute, some likely increasing their driving time by 10-20 minutes.

All so they can harm the few who drove through “their” neighborhood.

This is a minor example. But it’s very emblematic. Enough of the neighborhood is content to harm itself with a much worse commute to prevent a few people from transiting through.