"...and some of that agenda actually makes the poor worse off."

 

"Those who are primarily concerned about the well-being of the poor are likely to discover over time that much of the agenda of the left does not really do much good for the poor, and some of that agenda -- environmental extremism, for example -- actually makes the poor worse off."

~ Thomas Sowell, from his 2000 column 'Poverty and the Left'

"Capitalism has created the highest standard of living ever known on earth. The evidence is incontrovertible. The contrast between West and East Berlin [or South and North Korea] is the latest demonstration, like a laboratory experiment for all to see. Yet those who are loudest in proclaiming their desire to eliminate poverty are loudest in denouncing capitalism. Man's well-being is not their goal."

~ Ayn Rand from her essay 'Theory and Practice,' collected in her anthology Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal