It's important in this context to distinguish social conservatism from libertarian "free market" conservatism. There is no necessary link between the two. Social conservatism is old as the hills. Libertarianism is of more recent vintage, tracing back to early to mid 20th century, Ayn Rand and the like. It is nearly unique to America because it perfectly synergizes with our style of materialistic capitalism. It ended up being linked to social conservatism in the mid 20th century as a form of anti-communism. Libertarian conservatism is why, for example, we don't have socialized medicine or a more aggressive response to climate change.
However, what's important to understand in today's context is that our core division is along the lines of social conservatism vs. social liberalism. It's pure tribalism: religious v. secular, white v. non-white, old v. young, rural v. urban. OP's article is really discussing the libertarian form, which we are seeing with, for example, the whole "anti-mask" movement. Government can't tell me what to do, etc.
But this continued link between the two styles of conservatism is really a function of our social divisions which have been exacerbated through conservative media. There's a reason Tucker Carlson spends two weeks talking about Dr. Suess and comparatively little time discussing government policies. Because it's the social divisions which prick the conservative hind brain. Opposition to actual policy like masking or universal healthcare is really just a form of contrarianism. They reflexively oppose liberal policies not out of considered analysis but because liberals are the wrong kind of people and thus whatever they are trying to do must be opposed.
I don't really know what to do about any of this. Unless or until enough conservatives take their heads out of conspiracy theories and other conservative propaganda there isn't much we can do. We are hopelessly divided along tribal lines. The extreme woke shit from the left probably isn't helping but I get the sense that toning it down would only help a little.