--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reagan himself, for much of his life, was…" description: "\"Reagan himself, for much of his life, was devoted against the elites. His antagonism to the Soviet Union is antagonism against oppression by the elites..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/eugene-jarecki-16452_antagonism_reagan-himself-for-much-of-his-life-was_1437032.jpg" --- # Reagan himself, for much of his life, was devoted against… ![“Reagan himself, for much of his life, was devoted against the elites. His antagonism to the Soviet Union is antagonism against oppression by the elites of the many.” quote by Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/eugene-jarecki-16452_antagonism_reagan-himself-for-much-of-his-life-was_1437032.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/eugene-jarecki-16452_antagonism_reagan-himself-for-much-of-his-life-was_1437032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/eugene-jarecki-16452_antagonism_reagan-himself-for-much-of-his-life-was_1437032.jpg) > “Reagan himself, for much of his life, was devoted against the elites. His antagonism to the Soviet Union is antagonism against oppression by the elites of the many.” [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests Reagan opposed elite power structures and equates his anti‑Soviet stance with fighting oppression by dominant groups. **In simple terms:** Reagan fought elite oppression. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge elite domination. Themes politics power oppression elitism Mood critical reflective Type political analytical When to use this quote - activism - policy analysis - education - public discourse Key Concepts anti‑imperialism populism political rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - How do elite interests shape policy? - Can anti‑elitist sentiment be constructive? A Different Perspective The analogy oversimplifies complex geopolitical dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antagonism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antagonism/) [Elites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elites/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression/) [Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet/) [Soviet union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-union/) ## Related quotes > [Elites are once again invoking Reagan, dropping their G's and saying things in a folksy sort of way that's meant to capture the hearts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/elites-are-once-again-invoking-reagan-dropping-their-g-s-and-saying/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [Elites are once again invoking Reagan, dropping their Gs and saying things in a folksy sort of way thats meant to capture the hearts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/elites-are-once-again-invoking-reagan-dropping-their-gs-and-saying/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [A blank wall of social and professional antagonism faces the woman physician that forms a situation of singular and painful loneliness, leaving her without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-blackwell/a-blank-wall-of-social-and-professional-antagonism-faces-the-woman/) [Elizabeth Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-blackwell/) > [It's not till sex has died out between a man and a woman that they can really love. And now I mean affection. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enid-bagnold/it-s-not-till-sex-has-died-out-between-a-man-and-a-woman-that-they/) [Enid Bagnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enid-bagnold/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [Hitherto, every form of society has been based ... on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/hitherto-every-form-of-society-has-been-based-on-the-antagonism-of/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Hey." She said, looking up from an open book propped up on one knee. She brushed a few strands of pale hair out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-she-said-looking-up-from-an-open-book-propped-up-on-one-knee-she/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [A program of "disarmament," while imperialist antagonisms survive, is the most pernicious of fictions. Even if it were realized by way of general agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/a-program-of-disarmament-while-imperialist-antagonisms-survive-is-the/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [History shows, in my opinion, that no nation can survive the tension, conflict and antagonism of two competing languages and cultures. It is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lamm/history-shows-in-my-opinion-that-no-nation-can-survive-the-tension/) [Richard Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lamm/) > [The love of power and the love of liberty are in eternal antagonism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-love-of-power-and-the-love-of-liberty-are-in-eternal-antagonism/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [No two leaves were alike, and yet there is no antagonism between them or between the branches on which they grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-two-leaves-were-alike-and-yet-there-is-no-antagonism-between-them/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [When someone criticizes or disagrees with you, a small ant of hatred and antagonism is born in your heart. If you do not squash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-someone-criticizes-or-disagrees-with-you-a-small-ant-of-hatred/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [On the surface the avant garde as a whole seems united primarily in terms of what they are against: the rejection of social institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/on-the-surface-the-avant-garde-as-a-whole-seems-united-primarily-in/) C. D. Innes > [Countries will cooperate with each other, and are more likely to cooperate with each other when they share a common culture, as is most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/countries-will-cooperate-with-each-other-and-are-more-likely-to/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [Communism... is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/communism-is-the-genuine-resolution-of-the-antagonism-between-man-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## More by Eugene Jarecki > [If we went back to the imprisonment rate we had in the early '70s, something like four out of five people employed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/if-we-went-back-to-the-imprisonment-rate-we-had-in-the-early-70s/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [The whole idea of a democracy is that we ourselves, the people, are supposed to make a path of our politics, and it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-whole-idea-of-a-democracy-is-that-we-ourselves-the-people-are/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [War is party-blind. It doesn't care who is in the Oval Office. The forces that drive us to war don't care whether it's Republican,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/war-is-party-blind-it-doesn-t-care-who-is-in-the-oval-office-the/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [The prison industrial complex, to put it in its crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there's what you call bureaucratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-to-put-it-in-its-crassest-term-is-a/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [As I was growing up, you know, I'm a white Jewish American born to Holocaust parents. My father fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/as-i-was-growing-up-you-know-i-m-a-white-jewish-american-born-to/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [You can't have a discussion about politics without mentioning Ronald Reagan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/you-can-t-have-a-discussion-about-politics-without-mentioning-ronald/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [There are people who are trying to advance themselves by wrapping themselves in Reagan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/there-are-people-who-are-trying-to-advance-themselves-by-wrapping/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [I have criticisms of Ronald Reagan, but he lives in another universe from the kind of political theater that is represented by people, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/i-have-criticisms-of-ronald-reagan-but-he-lives-in-another-universe/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [If you watch the evening news, Dr. Kissinger is very often brought on to sort of be the statesman of his age and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/if-you-watch-the-evening-news-dr-kissinger-is-very-often-brought-on/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [The thing that happens is that politicians run on tough-on-crime rhetoric. You appeal to the public and say, 'Let's put more money into taller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-thing-that-happens-is-that-politicians-run-on-tough-on-crime/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [It is only education and understanding of the past that teaches us not to repeat history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/it-is-only-education-and-understanding-of-the-past-that-teaches-us/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [The prison industrial complex is perhaps, at least domestically, the most striking example of us putting profit before people. It all stems from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-is-perhaps-at-least-domestically-the/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [You can call me an Eisenhower Republican. There is a gigantic gulf between an Eisenhower Republican and the kind of fringe brand of Republicanism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/you-can-call-me-an-eisenhower-republican-there-is-a-gigantic-gulf/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [Ron Reagan amazingly qualifies as an honest broker. I asked him if he was a mama's boy and he said no, more of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/ron-reagan-amazingly-qualifies-as-an-honest-broker-i-asked-him-if-he/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [Reaganism as a political movement has enormous resources behind it and it seeks - through stagecraft and through a tremendous level of effort toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/reaganism-as-a-political-movement-has-enormous-resources-behind-it/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) [Explore all 39 Eugene Jarecki quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) ## More Antagonism quotes > [Communism... is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/communism-is-the-genuine-resolution-of-the-antagonism-between-man-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Countries will cooperate with each other, and are more likely to cooperate with each other when they share a common culture, as is most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/countries-will-cooperate-with-each-other-and-are-more-likely-to/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [On the surface the avant garde as a whole seems united primarily in terms of what they are against: the rejection of social institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/on-the-surface-the-avant-garde-as-a-whole-seems-united-primarily-in/) C. D. Innes > [When someone criticizes or disagrees with you, a small ant of hatred and antagonism is born in your heart. If you do not squash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-someone-criticizes-or-disagrees-with-you-a-small-ant-of-hatred/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [No two leaves were alike, and yet there is no antagonism between them or between the branches on which they grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-two-leaves-were-alike-and-yet-there-is-no-antagonism-between-them/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The love of power and the love of liberty are in eternal antagonism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-love-of-power-and-the-love-of-liberty-are-in-eternal-antagonism/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [History shows, in my opinion, that no nation can survive the tension, conflict and antagonism of two competing languages and cultures. It is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lamm/history-shows-in-my-opinion-that-no-nation-can-survive-the-tension/) [Richard Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lamm/) > [A program of "disarmament," while imperialist antagonisms survive, is the most pernicious of fictions. Even if it were realized by way of general agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/a-program-of-disarmament-while-imperialist-antagonisms-survive-is-the/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [Hey." She said, looking up from an open book propped up on one knee. She brushed a few strands of pale hair out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-she-said-looking-up-from-an-open-book-propped-up-on-one-knee-she/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [Hitherto, every form of society has been based ... on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/hitherto-every-form-of-society-has-been-based-on-the-antagonism-of/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [It's not till sex has died out between a man and a woman that they can really love. And now I mean affection. 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