[lbo-talk] ruling class

[Jim Devine]

Doug:
> He's [C. Wright Mills] got a point about state autonomy - though some of that autonomy
> is a case of people (like central bankers) taking a longer-term view
> than practical commercial sorts are capable of - but I don't agree on
> the military. The US military largely follows orders from civilians.

You're right about following orders, but they do participate in the
"power elite." Back when Mills wrote (the mid-1950s), we had people
like the "mad bomber" (Curtis Lemay) in the Pentagon. He pushed for
nuclear war with the USSR and was listened to (though his position
didn't win).

The Pentagon people in general are are allied with the capitalists of
the military industries, to form the famous military-industrial
complex.
--
Jim Devine / "There can be no real individual freedom in the presence
of economic insecurity." -- Chester Bowles