In the early 1960, Eisenhower spoke to the citizens of the US, warning us about the "Military-Industrial Complex." Mills, a conflict theorist, theorized about the role of the power elite with regard to politics and control over society.
How about the Open Society Foundation? And the district attorneys funded therefrom, soft on crime, soft on the causes of crime, unless you have the wrong politics.
Perhaps you can help me answer a question I’ve been struggling with - why is it that revolutions, mostly (all?) led by the power disenfranchised never really seemed to have succeed by overturning the ‘power elite’ who always seem to rise to the top again and return back to power, perhaps in a different form, but to power once again nevertheless…
Debra, I used to teach a Public Policy course in a college here in Mexico, and even that “The Power Elite” is not too “useful” for traditional PP teaching, I made the reading of Wright Mills’ TPE a mandatory assignment. Some of my students complained about it, because they thought that Wright Mills is outdated, but after they read it properly, they realized that Mills’ ideas are as relevant today as they were in the past. That is because those ideas question the seams of our democracy… and we all know that any passionate student of Political Sciences loves that… hahahahaha About Foucault’s books, they are not easy to read. I also had (have) some issues to understand them, but the one book that gave me the “easiest” entry to his philosophy was “The History of Sexuality”. Maybe it could help you too… but I don’t know… hahaha
Just read “The Military Ascendency” chapter of the PE and was blown away by Mills own take on what Eisenhower termed the military-industrial complex. Goes a long way to say that Mills was/is right.
I am trying to figure out the connection between Eisenhower and Mills because you talk about Eisenhower's speech at the beginning of your video. Does Eisenhower quote Mills at any point in time?
Sammy, The connection is the premise behind conflict theory. I don’t know if Eisenhower cited Mills directly, but you can definitely draw parallels between the ideas of the two men. I hope this helps 😊
Hi I am quite glad I trotted upon this video as I am writing a paper on this. I would totally appreciate some feedback from you or anyone that may be able to answer this because I do not, at this point, have a grasp on the words, "Corporate America." What exactly is Corporate America? Is it all the major companies like Wal-Mart ? I look forward to your reply.
Hi Daniel, Foucault is not my favorite theorist... or perhaps after a horrible introduction to him in a graduate class, I simply abandoned the idea of trying to understand him :) You might find something of value in my video titled "Sociology of the Body and Population Control." While more about Turner's assertions, if you are familiar with Foucault, you'll easily be able to compare and contrast these two theorist's points of view. Hope this helps, Debra
of course there is today, and has been ever since humanity existed, or perhaps ever since life itself existed, because the very concept of power and control is what defines this very universe, the consolidation of energy in to mass and mass into well more intricate patterns of 'power'.
Talcott Parsons, The Distribution of Power in American Society offers an interesting critique of Mills, Power Elite. I've heard the two men strongly dislike one and other and even a rumor that they once actually fought each other. I cant find any evidence of that but its a fun story.
There is a nice book, compiled by G. William Domhoff and Hoyt B. Ballard, called: "C. Wright Mills and the Power Elite". There you would find around 12 essays about The Power Elite, including "The Distribution of Power in American Society" by Talcott Parsons, and many others (like Robert Dahl). Maybe you could find that book intersting.
A Book by rene wormser "tax free foundations: their power and influence" (a congressional led investigation by Senator carrol reece -his committee to congress)
