I was thinking about some of last night's threads, and it struck me that political definitions in this country come down to one very simple distinction:

- Leftists believe that the primary duty of government is to help the least among us -- to empower the poor, give voice to the disenfranchised, and work to enforce social justice. They believe that if these things are accomplished, society as a whole will prosper and will work more fairly and effectively for all its members.

- Rightists believe that the primary duty of government is to preserve and increase the wealth and power of those who are already wealthy and powerful -- to be strong on police power at home and military intervention abroad (to promote business interests) and weak when it comes to regulation and taxation.

- Centrists believe that the primary duty of government is to look after the middle class, on the grounds that this serves the majority of the population. Some are true middle class populists, but many have an upward bias -- they believe that it is important to support businesses which provide middle class jobs but that the poor can best be handled by encouraging them to rise to the middle class if they are capable and otherwise largely ignoring them.

The refusal of Americans in general to admit that we have a deeply entrenched class system means this simple distinction is rarely acknowledged. Instead, the media tend to label people as liberals, conservatives, and moderates -- as though it was a matter of personal temperament which could be measured in terms of such qualities as fiscal prudence or cultural attitudes.

But in fact, it's all about class -- and especially once you strip away distractions like abortion and gay marriage, it becomes starkly clear that the real issues we're arguing about in this country today all have to do with the single question of whose interests society should put first.