I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I think there's more at play than just "Americans no longer believe that a public space should be nicely maintain

I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I think there's more at play than just "Americans no longer believe that a public space should be nicely maintained". I'm sure a lot of the people who vote for policies that enable the the things you mention would also be incredibly unhappy if they saw you littering or chopping down a tree in a public park.