‘Economic Gap Bodes Ill for U.S.’

May we stop congratulating ourselves on the death of communism in the East long enough to acknowledge the utter failure of a political theory much beloved here in the West?

I refer to the “trickle-down” theory. For 10 years Reagan and Bush have based American economic policy on the principle that the poor, who must subsist on table scraps dropped by the rich, can best be served by giving the rich bigger meals. This policy has inevitably resulted in a permanent, growing underclass who can scarcely be blamed for demanding their own place at the table.

In these history-making times, politicians who go by both the “C” word and the “L” word--conservative and liberal--would do well to consult their own history books, where they will discover that societies marked by profound financial inequality have again and again turned to the “R” word: revolution.

CLAIRE MONTGOMERY

Crestline