In the fall of 1964, Ronald Reagan went on national television to tell the American people about a growing tyranny in their midst, “subtler, but no less dangerous” than Soviet communism. He also told them to cast their presidential vote for Barry Goldwater, who was ready to tame this new political beast and put a stop to those people who would “trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state.” Now known simply as “The Speech,” it was a performance that launched the extreme right wing of the country from the political margins into the highest seats of government. The resulting political realignment sharply affected how wealth and power are distributed in our society.

Less often noted than his frightening analogies with communism was Reagan’s view that the welfare state violated the “freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers.” As Reagan declared in The Speech, “The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. An...

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