My Webpage

The power (the elite)

Even without the Power elite theory (2), it seems clear that "power" is concentrated in the
hands of few: from giant corporations and their top officers to banks, from industry and
Media owners to prime ministers of major countries, on top of which the USA president.

Modern democracies rely on the assumption that "free" elections will grant citizens the power
to choose and decide...

Choose what ?

1. candidates are selected by parties, and particularly in USA, their campaign requires huge
financing arising from....
major corporations, banks, industry and media owners and so on...

2. citizens do not even really know what's going on behind the scenes

3. citizens are increasingly estranged from politics (see decline in electoral participation)

4. KEY is the role of the Media: it is the media that "informs" us about politicians, candidates
and their plans, and it even chooses details of tv programs concerning specific candidates

Again the role of the Media cannot be overstated, and we may perceive that :

our entire understanding of the world and current affairs is filtered through the mass media,
interpreted by journalists and so-called experts. Their views become our views simply
because we are not offered any alternatives

And, the vast majority of the world's population are merely sheep happily following the herd

Trans-national corporations and the Media are ever more successful connivants in a full
brainwashing of people, first by making us feel frustrated, inadequate and not "ok", and then
by alluring us that we just have to buy the latest worthless things in order to be "happy"

The Media is a diabolic/subliminal deception, since we do not consciously or rationally attend
to tv programs: so their effect is the same as that of a collective hypnosis...

Today, the power of the Media is creeping, yet irresistible. And so is the power of Media owners.
(see also the New Commandments, in CONSUMERISM )

a couple of interesting quotations:

�How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don�t think.� � Adolf Hitler

�The rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitious. The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly... it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.�� Joseph Goebbels Nazi Propaganda Minister

extract from "Trust us, we're experts" by authors Rampton and Stauber of the Center for Media and democracy (1):

"In his book Propaganda, Bernays argued that scientific manipulation of public opinion is key. "A relatively small number of persons," he wrote, " . . . pull the wires which control the public mind."Bernays believed that "somebody interested in leading the crowd needs to appeal not to logic but to unconscious motivation."

The third-party technique distinguishes PR from advertising "The best use of a PR firm will be when the firm supplies useful information to influential reporters and analysts who have large audiences." This strategy camouflages the actual source of information, encourages conformity to vested interests while pretending to encourage independence, and replaces facts with emotion-laden symbolism

PR tactic: Hire an expert to discredit an expert ... "

extracts from a study by H.T.Reynolds, Ph.D. ,1996, on the Power elite theory (2):

The power elite theory, in short, claims that a single elite, not a multiplicity of competing groups, decides the life-and-death issues for the nation as a whole, leaving relatively minor matters for the middle level and almost nothing for the common person. It thus paints a dark picture

According to C. Wright Mills, among the best known power-elite theorists, the governing elite in the United States draws its members from three areas: (1) the highest political leaders including the president and a handful of key cabinet members and close advisers; (2) major corporate owners and directors; and (3) high-ranking military officer

In the first place, the elite occupies what Mills terms the top command posts of society. These positions give their holders enormous authority over not just governmental, but financial, educational, social, civic, and cultural institutions as well

Apparently, we may see that the members of the so-called power elite constantly squabble among themselves

According to Mills and others, however, these differences are vastly overshadowed by agreement on a world view. This world view is a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes that shapes the elite's perceptions of government and prevents deep divisions from arising.

Members of the elite agree on the basic outlines of the free enterprise system including profits, private property, the unequal and concentrated distribution of wealth, and the sanctity of private economic power.

The Role of the Elite in Making "Trunk Decisions."

Imagine a tree in the dead of winter. With its leaves gone its outline is clearly visible. At the bottom, of course, is the trunk--cut it and the whole tree topples. Higher up three or four main branches support lesser branches, which in turn support still smaller ones until one comes to the twigs at the edges

Public policies can be thought of in the same way. There is a hierarchy among them in the sense that some (corresponding to the trunk and main branches) support others. Trunk decisions represent basic choices--

Containment represents a trunk decision, while most other defense policies such as the triad or the B-1 are either branches or twigs

Who decides trunk decisions like these? According to the power elite theory, the top of the pyramid usually does. Or it has greatest influence on their formation. The middle levels of government (the Congress, the courts, the states) worry mainly about how best to implement them

The Middle Level of Politics.

Where does this put the workaday politicians, the inhabitants of the middle level of politics? Sadly, the elite school reports, their influence has largely dissipated over the years, leaving them with only the outer limbs and twigs to manage

The Public.

What disturbs power elite theorists most, however, is the demise of the public as an independent force in civic affairs

Citizens have become increasingly alienated and estranged from politics

The containment strategy adopted after World War II illustrates this point

Herein lies a supreme irony of American politics, Mills and his supporters claim. Foreign policy is a trunk. From it grow a host of decisions with far-reaching political, economic, social and moral implications. Since foreign relations affect everyone every day in every way, how can a country be democratic if it takes these matters out of the hands of its citizens?

http://www.mercola.com/2001/sep/15/manipulation.htm ("Trust us, we're experts" , book review) (1)

http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/APGOV_Power_Elite.htm ( H. T. Reynolds, Ph. D. , 1996) (2)

http://www.inspiredbooks.com/Power-Elite.htm (misleaders)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_media (influence-manipulate public opinion)

http://www.umainetoday.umaine.edu/Issues/v2i4/democracy.html (manipulation by politicians)

http://www.truthcampaign.ukf.net/articles/liftingtheveil/manipulation1.html (complete manipulation history)