The premise of class warfare in America is that wealth is good and poverty is bad. Therefore wealthy people are good and poor people are bad. This opinion is shared by rich and poor alike and so it comes as no surprise that the wealthy feel entitled and the poor feel ashamed and helpless. It is within the middle class that a debate about the nature of "success" as it is defined by materialism is played out in a way that simultaneously perpetuates the relentless consolidation of wealth while seeming to offer little hope for those trapped in the ever expanding topography of poverty. When American politicians speak of unity, they are speaking for the ruling class in the United States, but they are speaking to the ruling class in every other country.