Wisdom of the Gipper

President Ronald Reagan, speaking in 1982, and quoted in 2011 by Rep. Paul Ryan:

Since when do we in America believe that our society is made up of two diametrically opposed classes – one rich, one poor – both in a permanent state of conflict and neither able to get ahead except at the expense of the other? Since when do we in America accept this alien and discredited theory of social and class warfare? Since when do we in America endorse the politics of envy and division?

Our aim is to grow the economy and thus improve the lot of everyone, by increasing the size of the pie rather than arguing over who gets how big a slice. We've been successful; our "poor" live better than the middle class of most nations.