Despite claims by left-leaning commentators, the core difference between liberals and conservatives doesn’t involve attitudes toward the poor, but rather approaches to the rich. It’s not true that only liberals care about the poor: today both sides express concern and acknowledge that simply handing government money to poor people can’t eliminate poverty.

On the wealthy, however, there’s no agreement: Liberals want to seize more of their wealth through taxes, while conservatives want all Americans to keep more of the money they’ve earned themselves. The left believes shifting money and power from private to governmental control will let the economy operate more fairly. The right knows that shrinking the private sector and growing government hurts prosperity for everyone. The left resents those who have accumulated significant resources, but the right wants them to continue working hard and creating jobs.